Do you use Telegram?

[Jingthing]

I do.

I think it's associated mostly.with Russians and illicit stuff though 

I'm not Russian and I don't use Telegram for illicit stuff.

 

Did you know that the founder of Telegram is kind of a resistance to Putin hero?

 

 

[Hummin]

No meta, tik tok or telegram.

 

Family use Snapchat and Line. 

 

No X either

[Puccini]

None of the people with whom I am messaging use Telegram. For Europe, I use WhatsApp, for Thailand LINE, for China WeChat.

[still kicking]

I used telegram 50 years ago 

[Jingthing]

Yeah I would have guessed that Telegram is not popular with non Russian expats. 

[KhunLA]

I find it strange that people trust new 'service', thinking it's private or secure from prying eyes.  It may have even been set up be the very people they are trying to avoid.  Same with VPNs.

 

Remember decades ago, my CC were having high balance, which were always paid on time and never a minimum payment, as used them mainly for investing.   Then came adverts, for "in trouble, let us help" companies that sprung up.  Hook for me was, "we negotiate your principle and save you money"

 

Thinking, hmm, OK, I'll give it try, nothing to lose.   All they did (for free / red flag), was add up you minimum payment, and request a check for that amount, and they paid you debt for you.   Thought strange as I never paid minimum payments, as hated interest, and always paid off ASAP.

 

One payment cycle, and all my CC were being cancelled.   Say what .. ring them up, and they have no reason to cancel, and can't give me one, as if not  paying off before interest charged, I'd pay them after selling or refinancing what I used them for.

 

I realized what it was, a company set up by the CC companies to give them a heads up, for people in financial trouble, that only made their minimum payments and were in CC hell.  Not me or how I used them.  From my payments, they should have realized that.

 

Worked out great for me, as I have just bought a house using them (cash advance) and had a high balance.  Called each one, and none reinstated my CC, but demanded payment in full ASAP.  I told them all to F'off, as they breached the contract to provide credit if I paid.  Restore my CC and I'll pay, as I please, within the contract.   Strangely all denied, as I guess they thought I was going to tap out the credit lines and not pay. 

 

And strangely, when pointed out, they breached the contract, not me, they never tried to collect the balance.   Best thing that ever happened.   As at that point, I no longer need CC anyway, as one of the last houses I bought.

 

After that, I realized not to trust any company, and their BS.   Want privacy, use us ... yea right.

[thrilled]

LINE rules in Thailand

[Jingthing]

6 minutes ago, thrilled said:

LINE rules in Thailand

Yes, and whatsapp rules Latin America.

But I am using Telegram to communicate with certain people outside of Thailand.

It's really quite good.

There are also Telegram channels which can either be informative or total misinformation. 

[Andycoops]

Never will as I already have WhatsApp and Line 

[Luuk Chaai]

29 minutes ago, thrilled said:

LINE rules in Thailand

 

yes,,, Line works very well    and toparlez with peeps in the US   Google Meet is flawless

[Skeptic7]

Nope

[Freddy42OZ]

I'm in around 20 different chat groups on Telegram, mostly people discussing crypto trading

Around 100 of my friends use Telegram 

[Dirk Z]

Want nothing to do with Zuckerberg. Installed Telegram the day WhatsApp was taken over. Had just installed it. Have been happy with it. Of course have Line here and also WeChat when I go to China. 

[Task Master]

Western Union.

[jingjai9]

I use some of the Digital Nomad and work from home websites and many who advertise for job openings use Telegram. I understand it is a good app for scammers at it is harder to trace people on Telegram.

Is this true? Any experts who can expand on the this?

[Jingthing]

17 minutes ago, jingjai9 said:

I use some of the Digital Nomad and work from home websites and many who advertise for job openings use Telegram. I understand it is a good app for scammers at it is harder to trace people on Telegram.

Is this true? Any experts who can expand on the this?

Probably true.

I think there is a stigma associated with Telegram.

A lot of criminals use it for its privacy features.

[RayWright]

Telegram, all being well looking forward to mine from William. 34 years and counting.

[Caldera]

On 5/22/2024 at 12:23 AM, Jingthing said:

I think it's associated mostly.with Russians and illicit stuff though 

 

You think? Well I think that's nonsense.

 

I like Telegram, it has some pretty cool features that other messengers don't have. 

[Jingthing]

22 minutes ago, Caldera said:

 

You think? Well I think that's nonsense.

 

I like Telegram, it has some pretty cool features that other messengers don't have. 

Yes I think.

I agree it's a great app though.

 

 

https://www.reuters.com/technology/telegram-surpasses-whatsapp-become-russias-top-messenger-megafon-2022-03-21/

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/06/telegram-app-encrypted-messaging-russia/674558/

 

The World’s Most Important App (For Now)

Telegram played a central role in Yevgeny Prigozhin’s revolt—and in so many other chaotic events that have defined recent history.

[daejung]

In France, many politicians use Telegram.

In Europe, I use SIGNAL

[DTL2014]

yes i use it - on account of the fact that when i upgraded my IP14-15 , i assumed that the back up would carry my Line and whatsapp accounts over .They didnt.and now line and wh want me to register a new number in order to activate the service. anyone actually tried to contact wh or line ? impossible!

[Muhendis]

I've only ever sent one telegram in my life...........

[SportRider]

On 5/22/2024 at 7:10 AM, KhunLA said:

I find it strange that people trust new 'service', thinking it's private or secure from prying eyes.  It may have even been set up be the very people they are trying to avoid.  Same with VPNs.

 

Remember decades ago, my CC were having high balance, which were always paid on time and never a minimum payment, as used them mainly for investing.   Then came adverts, for "in trouble, let us help" companies that sprung up.  Hook for me was, "we negotiate your principle and save you money"

 

Thinking, hmm, OK, I'll give it try, nothing to lose.   All they did (for free / red flag), was add up you minimum payment, and request a check for that amount, and they paid you debt for you.   Thought strange as I never paid minimum payments, as hated interest, and always paid off ASAP.

 

One payment cycle, and all my CC were being cancelled.   Say what .. ring them up, and they have no reason to cancel, and can't give me one, as if not  paying off before interest charged, I'd pay them after selling or refinancing what I used them for.

 

I realized what it was, a company set up by the CC companies to give them a heads up, for people in financial trouble, that only made their minimum payments and were in CC hell.  Not me or how I used them.  From my payments, they should have realized that.

 

Worked out great for me, as I have just bought a house using them (cash advance) and had a high balance.  Called each one, and none reinstated my CC, but demanded payment in full ASAP.  I told them all to F'off, as they breached the contract to provide credit if I paid.  Restore my CC and I'll pay, as I please, within the contract.   Strangely all denied, as I guess they thought I was going to tap out the credit lines and not pay. 

 

And strangely, when pointed out, they breached the contract, not me, they never tried to collect the balance.   Best thing that ever happened.   As at that point, I no longer need CC anyway, as one of the last houses I bought.

 

After that, I realized not to trust any company, and their BS.   Want privacy, use us ... yea right.

You bought a house on your credit card and then told the bank to eff off?  Awesome. 

[Random8]

Telegram is by far the most popular messaging app in Cambodia.  Difficult to conduct some business without it. 

 

Telegram addresses listed on business cards and on street signage there.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, SportRider said:

You bought a house on your credit card and then told the bank to eff off?  Awesome. 

Yea, thought that was pretty cool myself.   I flat out told them, restore my credit, and you'll get paid.  Easily a 10 yr customer, never late, never minimum payments.   Bunch of Visas, Gold AmExpr, which had a 10k line credit, almost max'd, along with CC limits.

 

They simply wouldn't budge.  Can't think of a better customer rating before that.  More surprising, after the initial call, they didn't bother me for repayment.   Did sell to 2nd market, and I got 1 call from any of them, simply told them not to call again.  If they did, I'd file legal action.   Most past the statue of limitations, and my home address was in Pennsylvania, where only the govt can repo or garnish earnings.  They all would have been paid within 6 - 12 month, as I never carried CC debt long.

 

After house revamped, I always refinanced against the house and paid them off.   Their records should have showed my excellent payment history.  Mind boggling their thinking.  

 

They of course dinged my credit, which I no longer needed anymore, as my 4th and final rental unit, and I was starting to be flush in cash.

[Marcous]

I use Skype and Viber, my mother, who is getting on a bit, manages to use Viber OK but did manage to disconnect herself from that for a while.

 

I was wondering if Telegram would be easier for her to use. 

[Seppius]

According to this, LINE not in the top 6 worldwide use

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/258749/most-popular-global-mobile-messenger-apps/

 

 

[Flying Saucage]

I kicked WhatsApp from my mobile years ago already due to gross violations of my privacy:

 

My contacts in Thailand who only used Facebook but not WhatsApp got friend-recommendations for my closest contacts in Europe, despite I never used Facebook myself. So it's clrea that WhatsApp shared my personal address book with Facebook. An absolute no-go.

 

Regarding Telegram, governments seem to hate Telegram and therefore spread a lot of propaganda against it. It's a period of quality in my opinion. Remember that Telegram was very popular also amongst the youth protesters in Asia. And that's also the reason why these governments love WhatApp. Facebook is one of the most controversial players in social media anyway.

 

Telegram is technically also by far the most advanced app. You can edit, you can create folders, you have the news channels.

 

I used also Signal, but this was technically poor.

 

Today I use Telegram (preferred) and LINE (very nice stickers). All my contacts followed me to Telegram. They understood my point.