The encrypted messaging app Signal recently made an enormous upgrade to its apps that could change everything about encrypted services. They added stickers. Now, it would be easy to dismiss this innovation as pointless. Frivolous, even. It's exactly because these stickers are frivolous that this is so important.

Signal's Stickers

It was surprisingly easy to ignore this earth-shattering event. That's partly because of the weird way in which you're supposed to find the sticker packs. Instead of a centralized store, like the one Apple uses in its Messages app, Signal has a more anarchic system. While Signal hosts the stickers, they're uploaded by individuals and there's no single place to seek them out.

Instead, the stickers spread virally. When someone sends you a sticker, you can tap and see the rest of the pack. If you like it, you can download the whole thing and add it to your sticker palette. While some unofficial Signal sticker search engines have popped up, the best way to find one seems to be searching the hashtag #makeprivacystick on Twitter. Hopefully, that will change.

True to form, Signal delivers something fun with a hefty dose of encryption. From a Signal blog post:

"Sticker packs in Signal are fully encrypted. Every sticker pack consists of a random ID and a symmetric 'pack key' that encrypts the pack name, author name, and sticker media. This pack key is never stored on the Signal service. Instead, users automatically exchange pack keys with each other when they send stickers through the encrypted Signal Protocol messaging channel. Stickers are transmitted as standard encrypted attachments (with padding), and sticker packs are never associated with the creator's Signal account. The result is that sticker contents and other information are opaque to the Signal service by default."

To be fair, Signal isn't the first secure messaging platform to include stickers. Not by a long shot. Telegram, notably, offers a variety of services and has an extremely robust collection of stickers. Viber was an early sticker adopter in the secure messaging space, and Wickr did some early work with custom emoji. WhatsApp also has numerous stickers, among other doodads, and notably secures its messages with the Signal protocol.

Image via Signal

Why Are You Talking About Stickers?

So what's the big deal? It's about adoption.

One of the most frustrating facets of 21st-century life is trying to convince your friends to use the same apps as you. Not out of loyalty to the app, but because apps are increasingly walled off from each other. Paying for meals now involves negotiating between a dozen different apps. I've spent years trying to convince you, dear reader, to try Mastodon. Sending messages is no different. Sure, you can use SMS, but if you want an encrypted discussion or want to take advantage of other bells and whistles, you need to get people on the same app. Otherwise, you can't communicate.

When I gave up my iPhone a few years ago, losing the Messages app was the worst part. I had tons of dumb little stickers that I used all the time. If I had an iPhone today, I would be using memoji and sending those singing emoji videos to everyone. I've also struggled to get other people to join me on Signal, in no small part because it just doesn't do as much as Messages or WhatsApp. With stickers, Signal is letting everyone know that this app is no longer only for a small clutch of weirdos like me. It's for everyone, and it can do anything the competition can.

A secure tool isn't a good tool if no one is using it. In fact, I'd argue that it's a hindrance to what should be the overarching goal of making the world a little bit safer for people.

Making Security Usable

Traditionally, security and privacy-minded apps have valued technical expertise over silly little things like stickers, navigation that makes sense, and even buttons that work. While this all might be unnecessary, people want to use apps that are, well, usable. When faced with the choice between using a frustrating—but secure—product and one that looks good and is fun to use, the second option is going to be the most popular.

Not only is there nothing wrong with being popular, it's critical for social tools like Signal to matter. People have built several open-source social media platforms, and none of them take off precisely because no one can find their friends on them. Similarly, what's the point in a secure messaging platform if you can't send secure messages to anyone? Shouting out the void is just as useless in plaintext as it is end-to-end encrypted.

And, just a reminder: it's okay for things to be fun. In fact, let's go one step further: why shouldn't security-related apps be fun? The belief that convenience or good design somehow takes away from quality is ridiculous.

On the flip side of the argument: it's worth wondering why people would want to switch from a fun, usable, and popular option to something that is the opposite of all those things. It's a little lazy to argue that people are simply ignorant. Given the frequency with which Facebook's sins are in the headlines, I'd bet most people know that it's a shady platform. People may consider the trade-off of their privacy for something entertaining and engaging to be worthwhile. Instead of shaming people for making that choice, it's better to offer an alternative that's engaging and secure.

Are stickers dumb? Absolutely. But they're also fun, and sending messages is a social experience, and that's supposed to be fun. And maybe, hopefully, it will get a few more people to stick with Signal.

Zozo the French Bulldog stickers by Arrow Bowie

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