Yeah have the same issue. Why tf are all the normies using this dogwater called wattsapp is beyond me.
I just stopped using those apps, if anybody wants to reach me, they have my number. Suddenly I have a bit more free time. Win win.

I also tried to make my friends use signal or anything that respects privacy, but it was almost impossible. They were used to their platform which is instagram or discord, and they didnt want to move since they had no reason except privacy, which is not their major problem.

While we are at it, how do I get my fellow older millennials to use it?

This probably won’t work for everyone but I ended up deleting social media accounts. After that, I made more of an effort to maintain the relationships I cared about. I texted more, called more, invited them out more, etc.

Slowly but surely, they became annoyed with regular SMS and I offered telegram or signal as an alternative because it gave them features they were accustomed to on social media messaging platforms.

Luckily, my friends liked me enough to download another app to keep in contact

Just send them the app url and let them know you do private chats on a private messenger. Show them all the fun stuff like stickers, GIFS, groups, stories, etc. Save the delete messages stuff for later.

To be honest I can't say I blame you; It's absolutely impossible to get people to move away from a platform without a hard reason.

It's absurd how often people in general are simply afraid to simply read their screen and try new things on a device.

Maybe you don't... https://dessalines.github.io/essays/why_not_signal.html

CIA Funding CIA → RFA → OTF → Signal. While this article by Yasha Levine gets into the details, it is no secret that the original funder of Open Whisper Systems (the previous name for signal’s development team), was the Open Technology Fund: itself publicly listed as a subsidiary of Radio Free Asia, a US state-run organization whose main goal (along with the other “Radio Free” incarnations such as Radio Free Europe, or Free Cuba Radio) is regime change for those Asian governments who don’t align with the US’s foreign policy interests.

Pay them or buy them a beer.

I recently started sending trivia questions to my friends in group chats on the old horrible comms. To get the cash rewards for winning answers, they must respond to me on the specified decentralized comms (Nextcloud, Session, XMPP, Matrix, Simplex, fediverse..). It costs me some money, but we are having fun while they learn new things.

We should be aware that signal might not be the promised lands. It was created by a CIA affiliate. It's also suspectible to National Security Letters from the U.S., requiring it to disclose information about its users.

Also why does signal need my phone number?

A viable alternative might be France based Olvid. But I haven't done much research on them.

Sources:

• https://archive.ph/Lhe24
• https://yasha.substack.com/p/signal-is-a-government-op-85e
• https://olvid.io/en/

Just get yourself an iPhone and use iMessage with them. Problem solved!

I'm an Android and Signal user, BTW, so /s, naturally