Meta is ruining WhatsApp with ads, but I still can’t leave it

When WhatsApp was acquired by Meta (then Facebook) over a decade ago, people immediately began to fairly speculate that ads would eventually seep into what had, until then, been a refreshingly ad-free messaging experience. And yet, quite surprisingly, WhatsApp managed to stay mostly unspoiled, even though bits of Instagram and Facebook (like Stories and Communities) kept sneaking in.

That sunny stretch is starting to fade at last. If you’ve been following the news, you’d know the dreaded day is finally here. WhatsApp is getting ads in the Status section. And honestly, it sucks — mostly because I can’t do anything no matter how strongly I feel against it.

Facebook’s been teasing ads on WhatsApp since forever — like it wanted us to mentally prepare and go numb before the inevitable finally happened. We’ve been hearing murmurs since 2018, with the occasional reminder sprinkled in over the years.

To be fair, even though formal ads hadn’t arrived until now, WhatsApp hasn’t exactly been ad-free either. The app opened up to businesses, supposedly to let brands send order updates and other “helpful” messages. But when have businesses not hijacked a platform to bombard us with promotional crap? It’s gotten so plentiful that my WhatsApp block list is now full of spammy business accounts. WhatsApp’s only solution is that useless “STOP” message and a block button.

But apparently those brand plugs weren’t enough. Somewhere in a Meta boardroom, Zuck must’ve yelled, “More ads!”

My problem isn’t that WhatsApp is adding ads per se — it’s that I can’t afford to leave even if I want to.

WhatsApp is easily the most-used app on my phone. I rely on it to stay in touch with family through video calls, chats, and group conversations. I’m in at least ten different friend groups where we either make plans or gossip about the ones who didn’t show up. WhatsApp is how I talk to people across countries without stressing about international call rates. Even my work WhatsApp (which is thankfully far more structured) is full of active groups with clients, PR people, and my team.

So no, my life won’t completely fall apart without WhatsApp. But it would show cracks immediately. I’d miss work updates. Important calls from abroad wouldn’t come through. I wouldn’t be able to share big life updates — or photos of what I made for dinner. And that last one’s the real tragedy.

I did try quitting the app during the privacy policy backlash a few years ago and jumped to alternatives like Telegram and Signal for a couple of weeks. But I came crawling back soon enough. While I kept getting notifications that ‘so-and-so joined Telegram,’ nobody stayed there. Everyone was still on WhatsApp, ending my rebellion streak within a week.

Social apps have their own vibe hierarchy. The likes of Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are public spaces with a decent network effect, but nothing like messaging apps. WhatsApp isn’t just some random online crowd you met in school and forgot about. It’s your actual people — your parents, your closest friends, your family groups, your long-distance partner.

If I quit WhatsApp, I’d lose the only way I have to stay in touch with a bunch of important people. Unless every single one of them switches to a common platform, there’s no real way out. And let’s be honest, getting billions of people to leave an app that’s practically muscle memory at this point? No, sir, not happening.

Even convincing people to consider another app is a nightmare. Sure, you and I might be open to alternatives. But try telling your mum and her siblings — who finally figured out how to send voice notes and forward those annoying good morning GIFs — that it’s time to learn a new app. I can already hear a barrage of support calls coming from a mile away, being the designated family tech troubleshooter.

And realistically speaking, most people don’t really care. The ads are coming to Stories, the easily ignorable section of WhatsApp. Nobody’s going to notice an occasional promoted video in the carousel, let alone leave the app because of it.

And Meta is smart enough to know that. That’s why they’re rolling it out slowly and cautiously, just to Stories for now. It’s less intrusive, doesn’t force-change user habits, and still allows Meta to silently inject ads into WhatsApp. That’s how you hit three birds with a single stone.

No matter how much ads in WhatsApp piss me off, I know I’m not leaving. I’m one of those people. Stories is a feature I never use anyway — like the dusty dumbbells sitting in the corner of my room. So, no, this isn’t enough to push me away.

But if one day Meta’s boardroom decides to push ads into chats, that’s when I’d seriously reconsider. That’s where I’d draw the line.

Still, I wonder, even then, would the network effect win again? Would I stay just because I’d be the only fella screaming into the void on Signal?

Because while being a lone wolf might look desirable in a movie, in the world of messaging apps, it’s just kind of stupid.