All of their products trade on enormous network effects, so I think they'd be very aware of maintaining that barrier to entry for new competitors. They've stumbled badly on that front here, and once competitors gain a foothold it'll be hard to keep them out.
If a new TOS policy with a bunch of legalese can damage the moat I would say the moat is pretty vulnerable.
It seems less clear that the market can deliver a solution for people that post untrue things on the internet.
The network effect in messaging apps is significantly lower than it is in other cases because people are not going to carry two brands of cell phone in their pocket but they very well might have five different messaging apps on their phone.
> It seems less clear that the market can deliver a solution for people that post untrue things on the internet.
It seems less clear that anything could do that ever.
I don't think it changes the calculus, though. WhatsApp will be concerned with all serious threats to their market share, and I certainly would disagree with the position that diminished network effects isn't up there.
The US govt fired the first shot with tiktok. Whatsapp / fb seems to be aloof thinking they are inmune from the fractured web
Google, Facebook and Twitter have been blocked in China for at least a decade now.
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_ma...
China never hid its intentions to control information to its wishes.
China can do whatever it wants , but ultimately it is the US that sets the tone for the web. Arguably China did fire the first shot, and deserve to be condemned by it, but until recently most western countries would stand by the open web principle. I think the US (rightly) has said, we won't tolerate abuse any longer.
Ergo, this has given cover to other countries to question the wisdom of the open web. Its no longer the communist / authoritarian govts that can tap into this.
In other words, the web fragments when free countries decide its acceptable to block back the communists / dictators. I refrain from saying whether it is a wise move, I only posit that it looks inevitable at this point.
I can't edit my original post, but I think this would be more fitting: "USA fires back with the first shot among free western democracies".
I’m moving people to Signal too, but FB has a very good hand here.
They're not going to make it into a WeChat equivalent anytime soon.
Payments are not available in most countries, including countries where private communication are all on the platform.
And their businesses offer is extremely basic and doesn't have any penetration, even in places where 100% of people have the app. Why can't you search a business by name to contact them; why don't businesses put up a link on their website/Google Maps to start communicating with them? Why can't I scan a QR code on their ad and message them?
Where I live Whatsapp runs all private communication, and yet in 6 years Facebook hasn't even tried doing more.
Feel free to revisit this in 24 months. Facebook cannot afford to leave WhatsApp in an easily copied state.