Following WhatsApp's questionable changes to its privacy policy, there's a lot of conversation about ditching the app and moving to a new messenger app. 

Obviously, there are a lot of options out there and it's going to be a challenge to move each & every user to a completely new app. Imagine convincing your family members to switch to a new app and move those family WhatsApp groups to a new app!

© Reuters

Well, a Reddit user decided to do pull off a little trick to make people move from WhatsApp. The user who goes by the name of "i_killed_reddit" decided to start a new post with a message and asked everyone to share it widely.

“We need as many Indians to download Signal as possible,” the user wrote on 'r/india'. "“The only way Indian Unkills [referring to "uncles"] will start using it is if there is a tadka of Proud Indian feeling sentiment," the post read further.

The post has since been deleted from the subreddit since it was marked as misinformation, however, here's a screenshot of the post -

So #proud 🇮🇳

pic.twitter.com/nB2cUdAj37

The post, as you can see, reads how Signal was created by a poor villager's son from UP who passed from IIT and how WhatsApp was going to shut down because of not being able to handle the traffic of 'Good Morning' messages. 

In the end, it also notes how forwarding the message will get you a free gift voucher from Flipkart.

None of the info mentioned in that post is true. But it screams 'Proud Indian Feeling' sentiment and even tickles the 'Aatmanirbhar' nerves of people who are into it. It looks like your typical 'Fake WhatsApp Forward Message' that takes round across multiple groups.

© Reuters

In fact, the message has already started circulating across various WhatsApp groups, which is hilarious. So it's safe to say that the mission was accomplished. 

While we don't advocate spreading fake news on WhatsApp or any platform, we have to admit that this was a great hack to make people switch to a new app.

The post is making people switch to a new app called Signal, which is very similar to WhatsApp and is more privacy focussed. 

Signal has a lot of WhatsApp features already and we think it's a great alternative to WhatsApp.

View the full article