Popular brands with sardonic replies on their competitor’s social media profiles are not an unusual sight, but the latest one involving Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal seems to have gone a bit too far. In a tweet earlier this week, Telegram took to Twitter to share a snarky meme featuring WhatsApp and Facebook.
Social Media Battle Between WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram
Telegram posted a meme on Twitter showing the evolution of Windows’ classic Recycle Bin icon. Towards the end, it added one for 2021 with WhatsApp and Facebook in the Recycle Bin. Everyone instantly had a damn meme moment, especially since WhatsApp is trying to rebuild its image after a controversial privacy policy update. You can take a look at the meme in question below:
— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) May 14, 2021
Now, this means war for social media managers. Just a few hours later, the Facebook-owned company responded with a meme that showed how Telegram is not end-to-end encrypted by default. In case you are out of the loop, Telegram doesn’t use end-to-end encryption for regular chats and uses client-server encryption instead. You will have to use this nifty Telegram trick called “secret chats” to get end-to-end encryption.
You can read more on how some of the most popular messaging apps use encryption in our article on WhatsApp vs Telegram vs Signal comparison.
Telegram admin: "…and what people dont know is we’re not end-to-end encrypted by default" pic.twitter.com/yac1iSMc27
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) May 14, 2021
Telegram then replied saying their ‘users know how things work’ and how they have open-sourced their apps to prove it.
.@WhatsApp Our users know how things work, and have the open source apps to PROVE it. You… talk to the screenshot 🤚 it says you’re lying. pic.twitter.com/aSUotBGWh0
— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) May 15, 2021
In a separate instance, WhatsApp made another attempt to clarify its privacy policy update to users. It posted a tweet saying it can’t see your personal messages, and it won’t delete your account on 15th May if you don’t accept the privacy policy. That’s because WhatsApp plans to gradually limit features for users who don’t accept the privacy policy instead.
*checks calendar. pours coffee*. OK. Let’s do this. No, we can’t see your personal messages. No, we won’t delete your account. Yes, you can accept at any time.
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) May 14, 2021
To this, Signal quoted the tweet and encouraged followers to switch to privacy instead of having to settle. Take a look at that tweet below:
*checks calendar. pours coffee.* Today’s a great day to switch to privacy. https://t.co/1fIvUmpPJr
— Signal (@signalapp) May 15, 2021
While it is certainly entertaining to see how platforms take on their competitors in creative ways, it’s a reminder for uninitiated users who might not be aware of the pitfalls of using the app they’re using. With all that said, if you’re planning to move from WhatsApp, you can go through our guides on how to switch from WhatsApp to Signal and switching from WhatsApp to Telegram.
