Can someone exlplain Telegram to me?

[Vindicator]

Prior to the Purge, I had a pretty good network of conservative grapevine nodes on Twitter that allowed me with a brief glance at my feed, to get a pretty good idea of what was going on, vs what the propaganda organs were trying to make people believe was going on. Now most of those I followed are posting on Telegram, but it appears to be an instant messaging service that wants access to my Contacts in order to operate. Definitely NOT something I'm interested in.

So...how does one use this app without doxing themselves? Right now I have a bunch of tabs open to different people's accounts, and try to remember to check on them occasionally. That doesn't work on my phone, though, which is typically what I use to check in on the news.

Also, some poking around showed it to be owned by Russians operating out of Dubai or something like that...also seems sketchy.

Goats are pretty smart; thought I'd ask what y'all think of Telegram.

[Nosferatjew]

Wow... you kids really don't know shit... a telegram was like text messaging before cell phones.

Example:

[The_Venerable]

I haven't used it but I don't trust anything that wants my phone number or any unreasonable permissions. It allows free speech though, and people are desperate to be able to speak freely, which is why it is exploding in popularity (and why people put up with AOU's shit at poal).

But.. if you just want to follow and stay up-to-date with an account, consider making a custom home page viewtopic.php?f=6&t=819. This is how I "follow" people/things I am interested in without having to have an account.

[TheGreatWhiteHope]

Wow... you kids really don't know shit... a telegram was like text messaging before cell phones.

And a candygram was like a text from Ted Kaczynski.

Example:

phpBB [video]

[Deleted User 2149]

I use it. Can't explain the technicalities but I follow several telegram channels and I can't see their numbers, just their usernames. It's more user friendly than signal, obviously whatsapp is a no-no.

[doginventer]

Go to privacy settings and hide your phone number.
I deny access to contacts and photo library, the only downside I have noticed is I can’t save pics.

[Vindicator]

But.. if you just want to follow and stay up-to-date with an account, consider making a custom home page

Great idea. I used to do that back in the 90's!

[Deleted User 2149]

PS. Telegram has a feature whereby you can choose a user name. In other words, a name other than the one used to set up your phone. So you don't doxx yourself.