The changes that WhatsApp is introducing lately seem quite innocent at first glance, but I believe that behind many of them there is a real change of direction for this popular application, since they are aim! at an important change in the business model that Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook, has in mind to dominate global communication.
At the end of January and beginning of February 2016, many WhatsApp users were able to see when they enter! their application settings, the payment option for the app, and the text appear!: For life, and this marks a new change for the leading instant messaging company, with almost 1 billion users.
Reminiscing change of course about old times
At the beginning of 2013, the messaging app par excellence decid! to start charging its huge user base, a controversial decision that malaysia phone number library caus! controversy, as many customers who had been using the app up until then did not understand why it was becoming a paid app .
Telegram grew under the protection of the multiple protests and discontent that arose around the start of payment for the use of this station and seat location application, a situation very similar to what happen! with Blablacar and the establishment of its controversial commission, and the subsequent growth in the use of the free transport application Amovens .
Despite having a low cost
less than one euro per year, many users did not like the fact that the use of the application would have a cost , without adding new functionalities that defend! this proposal, but in a few months it was accept! and things return! to normal.
This is a normal situation in marketing. be numbers When a service goes from free to paid, it’s a bit of a shock for the customer. But if the service offers a series of associat! benefits, users ultimately accept paying for the service because of the intrinsic advantages they get from enjoying it. Not using WhatsApp often means being exclud! from conversations with friends and family, and the vast majority of the public had accept! the app as essential to their daily communication.
The most surprising thing about all this is that, after a long period of three years, WhatsApp is now free again , a decision that has gone largely unnotic! by most customers and the m!ia, but clearly surprising for its business model.