[okatsu]

Signal did what those things failed to do which is to actually gain some popularity outside of HN. I hope Matrix takes off! In the meantime if people are convincing their families and friends to get on Signal then that's a net positive to me.

[jsgo]

@ynniv - because if you can coax a friend who isn't on anything but Facebook to use Signal over, say, Messenger, then it is a net win. Is it perfect? No. Is it a better situation than the current? Yes.

[ashooner]

Exactly. Signal's most important feature is that it isn't Facebook.

[ynniv]

What's the point of gaining traction if it doesn't deliver on its fundamental promise?

[ashooner]

Because the theoretical possibility of being monitored on Signal is preferable to the near-certainty of being monitored on Facebook Messenger.

[ynniv]

That's a strawman: you need to beat boring SMS and PSTN, not Facebook Messenger.

[ashooner]

Until I started forcing them to when I quit Facebook, I had no acquaintances that used SMS, they all use FB Messenger. This is the problem.