I am soon moving out for university and am going to meet a bunch of new folks. But I was wondering how do you go about approaching this with privacy in mind?
It is a little bit whonky to ask someone you just met to download Signal, if it is a group of people then it is more acceptable, or like how do you keep in contact if they don’t use any of the messaging platforms you use such as Signal and Telegram, and if you don’t use any of the ones they use such as Whatsapp or Instagram DMs (yes zoomers in the US use these) or Snapchat? Do you just use SMS where videos are absolute shit quality and you have no privacy there either?
Let me know how you deal with this issue.
Ultimately you will have to make some concessions in regards to privacy. Most people aren’t going to install Signal just to talk to you because it does not fit their use case.
I’m also gen z and from the US, I go to university, and most people who I know use Whatsapp or Discord to communicate. While Whatsapp is not perfect, their messages are end-to-end encrypted, which is much better than most other mainstream platforms (I would honestly say that it is better than Telegram). Discord can at least be accessed through a browser with an email alias.
My preference for communication would be:
Best realistic case: Whatsapp or iMessage (if you have an Apple device)
Reluctantly use: Discord, Instagram, Telegram, SMS, any messenger that can be accessed through the browser without installing an app
I think this is the most real answer. It kinda is all about tradeoffs.
If creating connections is more valuable to you than using some unsavory social media, then you have your answer.
I also think it is pretty hard to actually reduce identifying informatiom from these apps. Just based on your social network, the piece can be fitted. In addition, your college gives up a ton of your identifying info (gmail, contracted apps…). I’m not sure there are perfect answers.