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by qubex
3088 days ago
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Hotmail and WhatsApp are very different because the first is devoid of network effects, whilst the second isn’t. What I mean by this is that a Hotmail account can send and/or receive email from any other email account, and hence the relevant number for calculating utility is how many other people have email accounts. This means that an email user can migrate from their previous email provider (Hotmail?) to (say) Gmail and not experience any change in utility because they continue to be a part of the same network. WhatsApp on the other hand only communicates with other users that have WhatsApp, so choosing to use another messaging service means you cease to be a member of your existing network and cannot automatically communicate with all your existing contacts unless they also switch networks (or add an app to their phone — I currently have no less than eight messaging apps to stay in contact with various people). This means that transitions cannot be gradual and unilateral. This in turn means that incumbent Hotmail was more fragile vis-a-vis newcomers such as Gmail than WhatsApp is. |
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And if you have full contact access, they you really don't loose much network, except the groups. Ya but it does need a strong motivation for a switch to happen immediately (With hotmail it was ofcourse the lack of usernames for new users + the 1GB tier in gmail). With WhatsApp there is no strong motivation but perhaps a slower shift due to fatigue/privacy mentioned above.