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Comment on WhatsApp appears to have ads now. Good thing I don't really use it anymore.

tiramichu@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

There’s nothing to stop anyone sending you a message on WhatsApp if they have your number, be they an individual or a company.

But it IS absolutely infuriating - not because it’s an advert, but because I don’t want any aspect of my communication with companies to take place on third-party proprietary closed platforms of which that company has no ownership or data control and which would require me to have an account with said platform.

I’m sure many people love being able to contact customer support by shooting them a DM on Instagram, but to me that’s wholly unacceptable.

If companies want to talk to me it should be through email or SMS or email only - because those are the only methods which are providers agnostic.

Email and SMS are like the original federated systems.

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TheBat@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
WhatsApp is an absolute menace here in India. 😣

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- possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Username checks out
  
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thericofactor@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
They can’t send messages out of the blue, you have to contact the company via whatsapp first, after which they have a 24 hour window to reply. Marketing messages are opt in.

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- tiramichu@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I guess that’s part of WhatsApp’s terms of service, good to know.
  
  Either way, my dislike for corporations using closed platforms still stands. I really wish we had some modern, secure and featureful version of SMS - a federated direct messaging system that everyone was on, and yet nobody owned.
  
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- Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I had one of these marketing messages from Amazon this morning. I’ve never contacted them through WhatsApp, and as far as I can remember, have never contacted them outside of their apps. I definitely haven’t contacted them with my phone number.
  
  They have my phone number, but it’s supposed to be for delivery issues, and I’ve withdrawn all advertising and marketing consent.
  
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- zeca@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Maybe thats a law where you live but ive definitely been contacted by a bunch of companies through wpp without having contacted them first.
  
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