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New “WhatsApp by Facebook” loading screen causes some users to threaten to abandon the app

Somehow, this is what it took for some users.

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Some WhatsApp users are threatening to rage-quit this globally highly popular messaging platform over a minor user interface change introduced by the app’s owner, Facebook.

However small – it seems to be highly triggering for at least a number of users, according to The Metro.

The change is the “From Facebook” loading screen message.

On the face of it, it’s nothing but a simple statement of fact – Facebook paid a lot of money to acquire WhatsApp back in the day – $19 billion, to be exact – and it now seems to finally want to associate the world’s most widely used messaging app ever more closely with its own name.

Or does it? The new loading screen with the message comes on the heels of Facebook’s recent decision to visually rebrand when it comes to acquisitions like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Oculus – where the giant is represented as “merely” their parent company.

Unlike the “parent” and owner, these platforms have been by-and-large unaffected by the ongoing barrage of accusations and vilification from pretty much every corner of political, ideological, and activist spectrum over the past three or so years, that have largely tarnished Facebook’s original brand.

In other words – the rebranding, and then, the assertion of association with Facebook – seems to be an attempt to kill two birds with one stone. Make sure those who use and love using WhatsApp and Instagram continue to feel blissfully oblivious of Facebook and its iconic logo most of the time – but then quickly remind them every time they launch the app that they are in fact on Facebook – thanks to the new “From Facebook” message.

“Really want to delete WhatsApp every time I see this ‘from Facebook’ loading page,” said one user on Twitter.

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Others still are said to have posted, “Seeing ‘WhatsApp from Facebook’ makes me want to delete it’,” and, “Feels invasive.”

Is this a case of Metro cherry-picking a couple of tweets to drive home a point – or is there real dissatisfaction with Facebook’s latest move, that might indicate the rebranding’s failure? As is the case with so many of these things, only time will tell.

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