I wouldn’t mind if EU made it mandatory for them to be. I really hate that I have to use Whatsapp because it’s the sole way I can stay in touch with people I must be able to contact.
I also wouldn’t mind “swapping” to contacting my friend via Discord if the federation was made so I could use a different means of contacting them such as Revolt.
I know Beeper exists, but you still need to have account with the platform you don’t like and in Whatsapp case’s, you need Whatsapp installed.
I did it too. Most of my contacts were not willing to switch. My colleagues at work stayed in their WhatsApp group, and many of my close friends did too. I essentially cut myself off from most of my social circles and threw myself into social isolation. Not a good time.
I ended up rejoining WhatsApp and concluded that in this instance, my mental health is more valuable than the privacy I gain by not participating in WhatsApp.
