brianacton
Latest
WhatsApp co-founder tweets '#deleteFacebook'
While calls for users to eliminate their presence on Facebook have increased due to reports of how Cambridge Analytica allegedly used the platform, most of them haven't come from anyone walking around with a few billion dollars of Facebook's money. WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton left the company last year, and today simply tweeted "It is time. #deletefacebook."
Signal Messenger receives $50 million from WhatsApp co-founder
WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton left Facebook in 2017 to start a non-profit. Turns out that non-profit involves another messaging app: Signal. In a blog post, Signal chief Moxie Marlinspike has announced the launch of Signal Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was made possible by the $50,000,000 in funding Acton provided. Signal's secure messaging app is a popular choice among privacy-focused users, including staff members of the US Senate. Even though it's a fairly recognizable name, it's been having financial troubles that make it hard to hire more people to develop new features.
WhatsApp co-founder leaves to start a nonprofit
Just about three years after his company's acquisition by Facebook, Brian Acton has announced he's departing WhatsApp. Eight years ago Acton, along with Jan Koum, launched the messaging app that now counts more than a billion daily users, quickly spreading across many mobile platforms to create a worldwide community of users even in areas where iOS and Android hadn't reached yet. Now, thanks to the "flexibility" from selling a company for $22 billion (Forbes estimates his wealth at $6.5 billion) Acton is launching a non-profit that is "focused at the intersection of nonprofit, technology and communications." There aren't a lot of details on his decision or exactly what will come next, but it comes at a time when Whatsapp is moving on from its original form. Beyond squabbles with governments over encryption and privacy, the platform has added filesharing, mobile payments, status updates and acting as a communication tool for businesses.
WhatsApp founder says he doesn't want to hurt carriers, much
Given how much the world has already noticed that instant messaging can be cheaper than SMS, it's surprising to see the founder of WhatsApp trying to persuade carriers that he's actually doing them a favor. In an interview with Reuters, Brian Acton said that his messaging service is "facilitating a broad movement to data plans," from which carriers "stand to benefit quite substantially." While it's certainly true that smartphones and data plans make nice margins for operators, Acton's thesis also slithers around some slightly inconvenient evidence. According to analysts at Ovum, carriers lost $13.9 billion in SMS revenues last year, and are set to lose another $23 billion this year. All the while, WhatsApp's traffic is growing rapidly, with total messages doubling from one billion in October 2011 to two billion in February. With data costs falling around the world, and with platforms like WhatsApp running on lower-priced handsets (such as those running Nokia S40), it's the consumer, not the carrier, who ought to be charmed.
