Dear facebook,meta or whatever the fuck you call yourselevs these days , PLEASE leave WhatsApp statuses the fuck alone, PLEASE!. Thank you

In this age of social media that is no longer even truly social, few things are left to us as humans. We all know that most of what you see on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, Threads—mention it—isn’t really what you want to see. I remember when Facebook was just about my friends, what they were doing, and keeping up with people. But these days, every single social media platform is just a tool of addiction—a dopamine-chasing, zombie-like doom-scrolling nightmare. The videos, pictures, posts, and media you see aren’t things you care about anymore. They’re all just designed to keep you addicted to these apps.

So many psychologists have done research on this, and so many people have revealed the evil decisions and tricks these apps employ to optimize addiction—and, of course, revenue. But that’s not what this article is about. This is about the platforms that were supposed to be different.

There's a very good talke by the CEO of patreon about this. Even the ones that claim to be about real people and real connections are falling prey to this. Most apps these days are just optimizing for followers, which is fine—I mean, they just have my email, and I can change that anytime. But WhatsApp is different.

WhatsApp isn’t like any other social media. It’s more personal because it’s tied to a phone number. By the time someone finds you on WhatsApp, it’s clear you’ve exchanged phone numbers, or at least talked or met in person. It’s not like Instagram, where it’s just, “Oh, here’s my page; please follow me.” It’s personal. It’s not supposed to be another media platform where, when I check statuses, I get fed mass-generated BS designed to go viral. It’s the platform I use to check on the people I actually know in real life and actually give a damn about.

A WhatsApp status has been the only real feed left, at least to me, because:

  1. The stories were organized chronologically—by the time they were posted—not by "what the algorithm thinks I want to see."
  2. Again, I know these people. I have their PHONE NUMBERS. Not some follow, not some celebrity, but an actual phone number.

It was the only place left where I felt in control, not controlled by some algorithm deciding for me and only showing me what it thinks I want to see.

But all of this is ending soon. Today, I woke up and realized my WhatsApp statuses are no longer organized by time but by "what the algorithm thinks" I want to see. F*ck. Yes, f*ck, Because that means soon, I won’t be shown certain peoples things—because the algorithm thinks I don’t want to see them—and the same bubble that exists on every other social media platform will start all over again. And you can be very sure ads are coming next. Soon, they’ll start showing statuses from people who aren’t even in your contacts.

I don’t know about you, but I keep my phone number private and guard it carefully, am not out here trying to "grow my whatsApp status viewers", fuck no. WhatsApp statuses have been a safe haven for me—a place where I see only what I want to see. But after seeing what Meta has done, I’m sad. The only place left where I could see things I care about from people I actually know is now falling apart. The last frontier is coming down.

What’s left, honestly? Please don’t come for our text messages next. Please.

I know these companies need to make money or whatever, but honestly, you’re already selling our data. Can’t you just leave us this one thing without trying to maximize profits? Please leave WhatsApp alone. Please. Please.

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