I already do, in Europe, where everyone and their mom uses Facebook's WhatsApp for everything. While that evens the playing field, I'm not sure I'd call trading a walled garden for a spyware one a massive victory though.

So who cares that a network nobody uses exists where only people that have an Apple device can login?

Apparently teens and even some adults in the US where they'll miss out on social activities or be mocked or ignored due to not being on iMessage.

That doesn't affect me though as i don't live in the US and am too old for that kind of stuff but I do remember how easy it was to be mocked or bullied as a teen for not having the same stuff as the herd, even before smartphones were a thing.

How do you know if this is really a thing and not just some dramatic story of the week in the media?

It s big in the startup world too, lots of funding happened on iOS-exclusive "Clubhouse.". Black people use Android more, so it is partially back to the old racially exclusive Country Club system.

However, that has nothing to do with iMessage being exclusive to Apple devices.