TLDR · MISCELLANEOUS

HOW WHATSAPP ATE THE WORLD

restofworld.org28 min read

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

WhatsApp contains an ecosystem of services, features, and connections that make many businesses possible. It is the world's most widely-used messaging app, with 2 billion daily users sending more than 100 billion messages a day in 60 languages across 180 countries. WhatsApp achieved its global dominance in large part by enabling cheap, private, and reliable messaging on almost any phone almost anywhere in the world. The app has transformed into a sort of 'everything app' in the decade since Meta acquired it. This article takes a look at how the app is used in different places and the possibilities it has enabled.