I’m not fussed on WhatsApp to be honest, my friends would learn to text me which is fine.
iMessage is pretty good, RCS comes up now saying not encrypted when using it so that’s a warning to those who care that much.
I’d go signal but I had two contacts when I checked last 
I only noticed it as of recent, I’d be scrolling then get to a full sized ad then when you try to scroll it shows a message as the bottom and a countdown timer and stops you from being able to scroll. Only started noticing it recently
This is the ecosystem they have created. It’s difficult (I very much felt the pain myself!) but you get used to it. Getting rid has multiple benefits and takes you back to a time before smartphones. (I genuinely think there will be a time when basic phones come back in fashion. Probably around the same time my haircut does 
).
WhatsApp is one of the most challenging barriers! It’s doable. But you might miss out on group chats unless you get people onto another decent platforms. You do get to learn who wants to keep in touch though…
iMessage is good. It’s better than SMS and RCS that’s for sure!
I’m not saying it’s the answer but: be cut-throat and bold. I did a status on WhatsApp “I’m on Signal if you want me” for 30 days then deleted. That was years and years ago. Not saying it will work or be the solution for everyone.
Good luck in your quest for freedom though! Warms the heart lol.
Did many move over to signal? I might just land on iMessage/RCS tbh. The three I chat to most seemed to have learnt to text me so that’s ok
Yeah over 40 now!
Stick with iMessage where you can. RCS is still infinitely better than SMS, but not typically e2e encrypted. It’s server side rather than the device. Relatively secure amongst friends/family and provided you’re not worried about the state, trust Google/carrier snooping charters lol, metadata (who/when you contact/device id etc) or aggressive attackers.
Signal for messaging. I have most of my friends and family there now. Work colleagues here in NI are harder to get to change.
I stopped posting in FB a few years ago. Haven’t bothered deleting stuff as they keep it anyway.
I don’t really post anywhere, I have group chats with friends and family, I don’t see the need to broadcast my life to 500 FB “friends” any more (and I grew up with ICQ so I was there for the beginning of it all).
For those wishing to partake in posting, I would advise to get into Mastodon and maaaaybe BlueSky, although that is slowly going the way of Twitter, the toxic people have moved too.
Reddit is the best one for me. Relatively anonymous (not fully as they do log IPs), you can focus on communities that interest you and nothing else, and it’s easy to remove the few ads there are either by paying or by other means.
I think it’s already been mentioned, but the only message service you can probably guarantee all your friends and family do have access to instead of WhatApp is ‘bog standard’ messages. With Apple now playing nicer with Android, you can have group chats and some other more advanced features in those chats now (read receipts, emojis, reactions).
The hard part, as I found out, is that most people now have ‘relegated’ the standard message app on their phone to getting spam and 2FA codes and don’t actually expect people to be trying to personally contact them.
I think, at least in the UK, first switched to WhatsApp in the early 2010’s because it was a ‘free’ alternative to your mobile charges - just pay for data but then send as many messages and as many voice calls as you want when back then mobile phones still charged per minute/per message. These days that’s not generally an issue but we’re creatures of habit and don’t adept as things reset.
Also, Bluesky can be used as more than just an alternative to Twitter - it can also be an Instagram and even a TikTok alternative as well. Check out the apps ‘Flashes for Bluesky’ and ‘Bluescreen for Bluesky’ (by the same developer).
I was reading this and it was something like deleted after x days, except data required for fraud etc.
I was going through all the account centre marketing stuff and the amount of “lists” and merchants that used my data for multiple purposes 
it’s pretty wild.
I had a whopping two contacts on there when I checked it
I do use Reddit a lot, I like it but there can be many a sour trait on there 
Think pretty much everyone did the same, probably around the same time.
I do ponder on losing so many years chats but the amount of times I’ve ever needed to go back through them is zero.
I have BlueSky but there’s little going on, I do like the layout and so far seems more look at this instead of moan and grumble about nothing.
When I had it years ago, I requested my data before deleting the account. It included all of my ‘private’ messages that I had ‘deleted’ years prior…
They are shocking. Instagram is even worse. The whole ‘Meta’ is shocking.
If people are going to use Meta, they’d be better not having the app and just log in using a private browser. They’ll still misuse your data and profile you but at least they won’t have explicit access to your personal and sensitive data at device level. They will probably try and redirect your links to using the app and take you to the App Store multiple times as they prefer you using that for obvious reasons.
Have a look in your App Store under the privacy area to see what they have access to (and that’s only what they tell you…)
Historic data, so be it, it’s done and dusted but I can remove myself going forward for further monetary value.
I’m not rewarded for the use and the fact they want to charge people for avoidance of using your data just riles me even more.
Have to say that, despite working in IT security for a number of years, now that I’m retired I care far less about privacy and what’s happening with my data. I’ve tried most social media platforms and just use iMessage for friends and family, WhatsApp for a couple of groups that are never going to move anywhere else and X for other stuff. I don’t like the adverts in X but I’m not going to pay to remove them and I only look at the Following tab and keep away from the toxic mess in the For You tab.
I ran a Mastodon server for quite some time but got sick of the Far Left activism which was just as toxic as the Far Right on other platforms. X has most of what I want, including companies and organisations that are never going to move anywhere else. I just keep away from the toxicity.
Where do Monzo and Starling post nowadays - they don’t post much on X any longer.
Facebook mostly.
Surprisingly Starling, Chase and Nationwide came in best for privacy having asked Perplexity.
I’ve mostly stuck with Signal for day‑to‑day chats, but I’ve also used face2social a few times whenever I wanted to check whether a profile picture was being reused across different platforms. It gave me some peace of mind before jumping onto smaller or newer networks. For actual social apps, Signal feels closest to WhatsApp without the creeping extras.