Is WhatsApp Going To Charge For Picture Messages?

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Is WhatsApp going to charge us to send and receive picture messages from 1 March onwards?

Find out what’s going on, and what the FACTS really are!

 

Claim : WhatsApp Is Going To Charge For Picture Messages!

This viral claim is spreading like wildfire on WhatsApp, with people asking – is this true?

Please note: Starting from March 1st, all pictures of “good morning, good morning, happy weekend, etc.” will be charged, and it is a two-way charge (sending and receiving), please use text for greetings , Don’t use pictures! Thank you

请各位注意：从3月1日开始，凡是“问好“的早安丶上午好丶周未快乐等等的图片都要收费了，而且是双向收费（发与收），请各位问候要用文字，不要用图片！谢谢

Ambil perhatian: Bermula dari 1 Mac, semua gambar2 “selamat pagi, selamat berhujung minggu, dan sebagainya” akan dikenakan bayaran, dan ianya adalah bayaran dua-hala(hantar dan terima), tolong gunakan teks untuk ucapan. Jangan gunakan gambar2! Terima kasih.

 

No, WhatsApp Is NOT Going To Charge For Picture Messages!

Such viral messages have been circulating for years, often being modified to change the date or details. But the premise is always the same – WhatsApp will start charging us.

This latest version is most likely an attempt to stop people from sending all those irritating Good Morning and Happy Weekend messages.

The truth is – WhatsApp is NOT going to charge for sending or receiving picture messages.

In fact, it does not make sense for WhatsApp to charge us to use their free messaging service. Here are the reasons why…

Reason #1 : WhatsApp Needs To Stay Free

WhatsApp became big by providing a FREE messaging service, and that includes the ability to send and receive picture messages.

Even when they tried to monetise WhatsApp without charging users for messages, they were roundly criticised and many abandoned them for Telegram and Signal.

Charging for their free messaging service will merely trigger a massive exodus to alternative free messaging services like Telegram, Signal, WeChat, Line, KakaoTalk, etc.

Reason #2 : WhatsApp Needs Us As Their Product

WhatsApp will probably charge companies using their (still free) WhatsApp Business app, and introduce payment services to make money.

But they will always keep messaging free for end-users, because we are their “product”. WhatsApp needs a massive number of users to “sell” to businesses, including those on Facebook.

Our metadata is useful to advertisers on Facebook, and eventually, WhatsApp will likely charge businesses for the right to access their massive user base.

Ultimately, it does not make business sense for WhatsApp to charge end users like us.

Reason #3 : WhatsApp Does Not Have The Ability To Charge Us

Think about it for a second – did you ever give WhatsApp your credit card details? Or did they introduce any payment method?

If not, how on Earth are they ever going to charge you?

There is simply NO WAY for WhatsApp to charge us anything. Not until they ask for our credit card details, or introduce some kind of payment method.

Reason #4 : There Would Be Advanced Warning

Even if WhatsApp really wanted to charge for messaging, they cannot just start charging on-the-sly.

Remember the big hoohah over the change in privacy policy? It only happened because they had to tell people that they were changing it, and ask them to accept those changes.

So if it does come to pass that WhatsApp will start charging for messages, they will have to inform you in advanced and you will have the opportunity to switch to an alternative messaging service.

 

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