It seems that Meta is low-key following the "everything app" goal that Elon Musk wanted for Twitter/X, tying products like WhatsApp, Instagram, Threads while at the same time distancing themselves from the Facebook brand.
For example, WhatsApp is a chat app that has been enhanced to have Business Accounts, which allows for Bots, Stores and Payments. Further integration with Instagram could potentially use these features to tie together content+business. Threads is an enhancement over Instagram to add textual content.
It'll never catch on in the US, though. We don't need the functionality that an "everything app" like WeChat would provide. WeChat took off because it filled in a big gap for its users. The US already has a robust and diversified financial market and payments infrastructure that Zuck won't have any chance of breaking into.
Who fucking cares?? If you still use WhatsApp in 2023+ then you deserve to get fucked by meta, same thing is you use IG or FB. You only have yourself to blame.
In India nobody texts on anything but WhatsApp and in Puerto Rico no buisiness has a website it's all just Facebook pages. I am a huge privacy advocate but unfortunately I still depend on terrible tech due to the stubbornness of society.
I refuse to the last resort to use any service that belongs to Meta. If a business only has a Facebook page then it will not have me as a customer under any circumstances. Btw I don't use WhatsApp since 2017, I just use Signal for all