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I use telegram and signal for different purposes and people.
I'm surprised no-one mentioned XMPP/Snikket nor matrix. Both platforms are FOSS, selfhostable and thus gives you total control over your means of communication. Check them out if you're curious (I prefer matrix, but snikket is more lightweight and easier to selfhost).
Telegram with my gf and family, discord with friends. Fb messenger is awful to say the least
Telegram for family, friends, work and actually for everything I can think of.
Discord for gaming with friends, not as a messenger but as voice comms mainly.
Whatsapp for very legacy stuff, haven't had a notification in a couple of years. Maybe it's time to uninstall, finally.
Hope i am not intruding, but you are aware of the privacy-shortcomings of Telegram? They are quite severe if one is not aware of them.
Whatsapp in general. Telegram with my wife. Messages with my kid.
That doesn't sound annoying at all lol
I guess at some point the kids will get to Telegram (probably using a dumb phone at the moment?)
telegram isnt really save though, so you might want to not switch to it
Agreed. May best to get family and close friends on Signal right away. Telegram is horribly unsecure.
Signal >>>>>>>> WhatsApp > texting > Telegram >>>>>>> Messenger.
Mandatory "don't put Signal and Telegram in the same sentence" notice. Not to be a snob, but Telegram is not "secure and private", all chats are not end-to-end encrypted by default, everything is stored on Telegram's servers with "forever-ever" retention. The end-to-end encryption is opt in, uses a dodgy encryption algorithm and has some limitations in terms of who you can contact and from what device etc.
Telegram is owned by Pavel Durov who also created the largest Russian social media platform VK, which later was overtaken by Russian state as a tool for crowd control and propaganda. Even if we assume that Pavel no longer has any ties with Russia and its "government", his biography should still raise at least some questions around whether one should trust Telegram.
And finally, Telegram seems to be going the "everything app" route lately, which makes it a one stop shop of personal communication, public channels, news, bots, stories etc. (you name it). While it is not a bad thing in objective terms, these features are not built with privacy in mind, as that would pose quite a technical challenge. This means that Telegram's privacy and security will only be sacrificed more and more to get more of the social features out of the door.
/rant over/
I agree with every point. The last paragraph doesn't have to be a problem though: telegram has very open and really nice APIs and enjoys a lot of FOSS 3rd party apps (only matched by matrix). Of course, we can only enjoy that as long the API usage is still free to use...
The last paragraph doesnβt have to be a problem though
It is not yet, but the trajectory implies it may become a problem down the road. We're, sadly, living this decade, where you can no longer ignore where a certain service is heading and how it monetises itself.
I like to give Pavel the benefit of the doubt and assume he was not a willing participant when Russia took over VK. That said, it still happened, so what is to stop them from taking over Telegram too whether he is complicit or not?