And no, I can't simply stop using or ask friends to move to an alternative. I'm from Brazil and that thing is so popular and mainstream, that even stores or public services use it.
Just this week, I had to report an animal abuse case to the authorities, and the official communication channel I had to use was through whatsapp.
It's sad to see how dependent of a single proprietary service for something so important we allowed ourselves to become...
Sometimes they do, but then they will take much more time to give you a response.
Sometimes, they simply don't have n alternative, like my city's local service for reporting broken streetlights.