Recent intrusive changes in the privacy policy of WhatsApp (including the sharing of never before seen amounts of unencrypted user data with the parent company Facebook) have prompted a mass exodus of WhatsApp users to the secure and open-source alternative Signal. I have been hoping for a change like this for years. I wrote a non-technical blog post about the problems with WhatsApp in detail, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of other messaging apps as well.
I really only use Signal as a drop-in replacement for SMS. It’s not something I use to communicate with people who don’t already have my phone number. Signal is a nonstarter for that sort of thing.
Unfortunately everyone uses Discord for online communities now. Matrix? XMPP? Not even on the map.
at least the Element/Matrix devs are aware of this and working actively towards replacing Discord. IMHO Discord is a UX hell, I’ve sadly been using it for years (lots of communities I frequent are there) but still misclick myself into an audio room or have to search for features.