WhatsApp, are you free?
It's natural to look suspiciously at freebies. Especially when they come from a commercial company like Facebook. I don't think I have paid 0.99 cents to WhatsApp so far despite my excessive usage of the app, but I am suddenly wary when they say they are making the service entirely free.
Well first off, providing the subscription at 0.99 cents for a year is as good as providing the service for free from a consumer standpoint. However, with a base of 990 mm users, this still means about a billion dollars for the company, a sizeable amount to forego. (Currently, the company is collecting this fee only in few markets. Their last year collection was only about $120 mm). Where is whatsapp going to earn from by giving up this money?
The answer is a troubling one for consumers of social media. Most companies in this space are monetising currently through advertisements, or more disturbingly by selling insights based on user data. While no company actively claims to do the latter, the fact that many targeted ads appear on your email and Facebook pages indicates that this is happening.
So yes, WhatsApp looking to invite businesses to its platform is a terrifying thing. The chats on this medium are far more personal than the information on Facebook or twitter, because these are often private conversations - and the implications to privacy will be far more severe if this data is "shared" with commercial organisations.
Even if WhatsApp uses the less evil mode of monetising - namely advertisements, it is still troubling. Imagine getting spam calls on your WhatsApp from companies ten times a day. Or having your messaging disturbed by an announcement from banks. After slow progress on DoNotDisturb which is still not fully established in telephony, I am afraid to imagine what will it mean to have my data shared extensively with businesses. And the example from WeChat, the China platform that is being referred to as the role model for the new WhatsApp is not very encouraging - the level of advertisement in this platform is already high and not exclusive.
There are a few examples which Koum has cited in his announcement, which look like good use of the platform without being intrusive (Your bank could inform you about a fraudulent transaction, or your airline could inform you about a flight delay). The question is, isn't this happening relatively effectively through sms today? Is WhatsApp intending to offer a lower cost solution compared to telephony? And once a bank or airline has my number, what stops it from misusing the information for advertising purpose?
It seems that despite the best intentions of its founders, WhatsApp may go down a path not very compatible with its users. I personally think I will prefer to pay for the service than be the commodity being paid for.