I can’t use them because I can’t convince anybody to switch with me. I talk to most people on discord and I’d rather move to using Matrix, but I can’t convince any of my friends or family or anyone I know to use anything else.

  • sebb@lemmy.ml
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    12 days ago

    “I could add you to our group chat. Do you have Signal?” Just that. No questions asked. No convincing to anything. Either “Yes” or “Let me just download”. Surprised honestly how many people either have it already or at least know it. Obviously might work if you ever talk to a person 1-1, but starting a group chat only takes 2 people 😉

  • satanmat@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    We use it at work, or rather I use it to text people at work I like.

    Working with info sec people helps. But I explained it and had them read about it and we all got on board.

    All you really can do is explain that text (sms) isn’t secure and that Signal is. And let people know you want to use it. But yes I wouldn’t try and force it that generally just annoys people.

  • m_f@midwest.social
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    14 days ago

    I bought everyone in my family a drink to get them to use Signal. Worked great and we’re still on it.

    Don’t bother trying to sell people on privacy etc, for the most part. Show them Giphy integration, stickers, Stories, etc and show them that it’s fun. Signal has done great work there, in making it “noob-friendly”

  • merde alors@sh.itjust.works
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    14 days ago

    it takes some time but people get on signal when you explain it’s advantages over whatsApp.

    i had only one contact on signal when i started using it. Now almost all my contacts are on it.

    it helps if people care about you and rather die than write an email 🙃

  • Orbituary@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    Signal is my preference. I am not going to go around proselytizing to people about it, though. I typically respond and use text as readily. It’s not my job change people. I just change what I’m willing to say openly on anyother platform.

  • OhHiMarx@lemmygrad.ml
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    14 days ago

    Anyone who thinks a secure messaging app is all they need to keep their communications private from government snooping is a fool. All of the end-to-end encryption in the world won’t really accomplish anything when there are any number of other ways to read your screen, log keys, etc. The app just encrypts messages, what happens after that on the user’s device is outside of the app’s design.

    Never assume any digital device is safe. Never.

    • pmk@lemmy.sdf.org
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      13 days ago

      This is why my preferred way of communicating is to sit in darkness and construct one-time pad ciphers which I then put in a new safe that I don’t have the combination to unlock and is welded shut and dropped into the ocean. But other than that I like to use grapheneOS and matrix. I can’t be sure it’s 100% private, but I am 100% sure that facebook isn’t private, so I’d rather use matrix.

  • bruhSoulz@lemmy.ml
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    13 days ago

    Use whatever you use now less and less and when they ask why u late just claim ur discord app was bugging or u were “talking to ur friends” on element.

  • dingdongitsabear@lemmy.ml
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    13 days ago

    I’m running several opensource alternatives for clients (rocketchat, prosody, matrix) and I’ve transitioned privately from telegram and XMPP to matrix. the pushback from users is immense, they find every possible reason and excuse to stick with the messengers they’re used to and use “the new stuff” for the bare minimum.

    privately it’s easy easier, that’s the only way you can get ahold of me, so if you need/want me, that’s where I am at. for a short while tried to make it work with signal, but a) the phone number thing is a deal breaker (usernames get me only halfway there) and b) I switch and use multiple devices often and that thing is downright hostile towards people who own/use > 2 devices.

    bear in mind, I’m in a dictatorial position. they have to do what I say and even with that, it’s an uphill battle. it doesn’t help that the stuff they’re now forced to use has subpar to downright dogshit UX.

    the new, shiny, superawesome, superfast element x… is crap. I thought Signal was crap - this is another level. I don’t mean for me, it’s crap from the point of casual users, they are coming from the super polished world of telegram and imessage and twitter and friends and everything about this is off-putting. a lot of them need help setting this up, especially if it’s a multi-device scenario.

    the immediate future looks bleak and I don’t see an important development on the horizon that would change any of this. but, that’s how telegram spread, early adopters switching to it and promoting it and dragging normies along. let’s hope for a repeat.

  • azalty@jlai.lu
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    13 days ago

    I’ve tried Signal, Session, Matrix and SimpleX and the most convenient one is Signal. Some will refuse to switch, some, the closest people to you, will agree but probably just for you, unless they see an interest in signal themselves

  • Anna@lemmy.ml
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    13 days ago

    I started donating to signal and told the family that they have to use it now otherwise it would be waste of money. And everyone switched immediately.

  • monovergent 🏁@lemmy.ml
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    13 days ago

    When a colleague or new friend asks me to exchange contacts, I offer them the option to be part of my “main phone club” by getting Signal, Wire, or Element/Matrix.

    I have a separate phone to handle SMS and Whatsapp. That covers 99% of cases, if they want something esoteric like Instagram/Snapchat/iMessage, then that’s too bad. I’ll turn off Airplane mode and check this secondary phone when I’m seated and comfortable like during my lunch break or when I get home. If, say, Johnny is running an event and needs me to text back whenever from 10 to 12, then I’ll generally leave my phone on for that time period. If there’s something sensitive but not particularly urgent, I’ll save it for the next time we meet in person.

    If someone wants to message me at any random time of the day without prior notice and have a quick response back, they’ll have to join my main phone club.