It has gained a great net-effect across normie/midwits. Things like open source clients, some tolerance with violent/porn/pirated content, and a scammy narrative of being a "better/private/secure whatsapp".

I really hate it, but a lot of people are here, the net effect is huge and it is "just a bit better but still bad so so bad" than the popular platforms from Zuckerberg/chineses/Musk...