After the global blackout that paralyzed him on Tuesday 25 October, I follow the WhatsApp application. And I’m sure you’ve already consulted me at least once since you woke up … Created in 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, two former Yahoo employees (sorry youngest of our listeners). One of my founders, Jan, says he made me up thinking of his Ukrainian parents whose conversations were monitored by the Soviet authorities. I only have about fifty employees, but in a few years I have conquered 2 billion people in 180 countries, more than a quarter of humanity.
And I have far surpassed my initial instant messaging function since I now manage the sending of photos, locations, voice calls and maybe soon your payments: my dream is to become an application in the image of my Chinese model WeChat that would allow you to do everything, communicate but also buy, spend, the missing link.
A paradox, because my founder’s motto, no advertising, no games and no gadgets, is now being questioned. It is difficult to maintain the principle of encrypted messages for a long time, protected from any use of data, while satisfying a need for profitability. A requirement increased by my acquisition by Facebook and Meta in 2014 for the modest sum of 22 billion dollars. I have since been heavily criticized and even received a record € 225 million fine for violating European data privacy regulations.
Which hasn’t stopped me from taking full advantage of the pandemic thanks to the various confinements. In France in particular my business has jumped by 40%, with the multiplication of the exchange loops … A loop for the family, normal, but also loops for friends, loops for friends, girlfriends, loops for organizing surprises, and loop for the class of children, new nightmare for teachers, with the question falling at 21:00. “Hello everyone … did one of your loved ones take the duvet from our little darling’s elephant?” But also the circuit for the football, tennis or yoga club, “Who forgot his orange water bottle with flowers in the locker room?” And the loops of local residents, “Hello everyone, we have to relaunch the town hall on the development of rue Victor-Hugo, is anyone working on it?” …
Result: hundreds of notifications every day, emoticons, always the same, jokes that we don’t even have time to read. In a few years and thanks to the pandemic I have replaced the bar next to the school, the principal’s office, the pots in the open spaces and sometimes even the football evenings or the evening restaurant … Because admit it, by dint of communicating practically everything day, you would almost sometimes forget the importance of seeing yourself.
