I am a big advocate of apps that give us an alternative to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram cartels when it comes to connecting.

Telegram is an alternative to WhatsApp (which is owned by Facebook).
It is free, has no ads, and is very secure with the option of sending messages with end-to-end encryption.
Note: If you want total encryption security in a basic messaging app Signal (recommended by privacy advocate Edward Snowden) wins hands down.

With Telegram, you can send messages, photos, videos and files of any type (doc, zip, mp3, etc), as well as create groups for up to 200,000 people or channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences. You can write to your phone contacts and find people by their usernames. As a result, Telegram is like SMS and email combined — and can take care of all your personal or business messaging needs. In addition to this, we support end-to-end encrypted voice and video calls, as well as voice chats in groups for thousands of participants.
Source: Telegram FAQ

I deleted my FaceBook and WhatsApp accounts some time ago and switched to using Telegram with zero regrets.

The biggest problem with Telegram is the so-called network effect. In short, many of the people you want to stay in contact with are probably not using it (yet).
Once you download it you don’t have anyone to connect to and you tend to lose interest. And that is fair enough too. Facebook relies on this network effect from its massive user base to prevent any drift to other platforms. And with a captive audience, it can get away with some pretty ethically sketchy practices. Can you tell I’m not a fan?

Well, if you do decide to try out Telegram you are welcome to connect with me to get the ball rolling.
You can follow what I am up to and what I am hooked by in real-time here:

If you are looking for options other than Facebook (and you should be IMHO), Telegram is worth trying and promoting as an alternate option to your friends and family.
Think of it as WhatsApp with a VIP invite.

Dig deeper:

1. DOWNLOAD TELEGRAM iPhone/iPad or Android
2. Telegram FAQ page.
3. Video (12 min) on how to set up and use Telegram.
4. Signal App Very limited functionality compared to the others but SUPER secure.
5. Other things you can do to improve your security and privacy online