What's WhatsApp?

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Chapter 4 covers Facebook, oh, Facebook. I struggle with Facebook because it's set up so differently from Instagram, which I find much easier to use. Additionally, I feel Instagram targets a younger audience, making me more accustomed to its interface. However, as mentioned in Chapter 4, the Meta Business Suite acquired Instagram for $1 billion and WhatsApp for $19 billion. This confused me. I've never used WhatsApp. It seems like a platform with little conversation around it. I even had to ask my friends what WhatsApp was used for. I thought it was some sort of purchasing site — I was very wrong. But what I find confusing is that I'm always talking or hearing about what my friends post on Instagram and the latest scoop. So from my perspective, Instagram is more popular because my generation is so active on the interface. So why is WhatsApp valued so much more? Even the graph in the book shows Instagram and WhatsApp have the same number of active monthly users. Did Instagram get scammed?

I was intrigued by this startling fact and started reading articles about why WhatsApp is worth so much. One article stated that Meta Business wants to keep WhatsApp ad-free. This is important to note because Instagram does have ads, which allows the platform to make revenue from sponsorships. So, WhatsApp seemingly would be less profitable than Instagram. After reading the entire article about the creation of the Meta Business Suite, I started to learn more about why WhatsApp is different from other social platforms. WhatsApp is valued much higher because of its user base. Although it has the same number of monthly active users as Instagram, those users are much more active and loyal. Additionally, WhatsApp allows cross-border communication, making it easier for large businesses to communicate. This explains why WhatsApp is valued so highly. It acts almost as an alternate iMessage app for global communication — that's actually pretty cool. However, I still wouldn't value it 19 times more than Instagram. But my view is highly biased by how it affects my lifestyle. I need Instagram and have no use for WhatsApp at this stage of my life.

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