Anthony Wong showed an ICQ chat on his phone last week. JOYU WANG/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Dropping WhatsApp? Nostalgia Drives Users to ICQ
Before social media was about algorithms and viral misinformation, kids in Hong Kong loved a clunky instant-messaging service used on dial-up PCs. Now they’re grown up, and back.
By Newley Purnell and Joyu Wang
Jan. 24, 2021 10:35 am ET
HONG KONG—WhatsApp users around the world who are worried about the company’s shifting policy on data privacy are flocking to rival messaging apps such as Signal and Telegram.

In Hong Kong, some are choosing an alternative that reminds them of their childhood—before algorithms, Big Tech and viral misinformation.

ICQ was a pioneering, mid-1990s…

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