I have two opinions I want to post today:

1. You should install Signal on your phone and computer. Connect with your friends and partners on it. Use it casually, regularly, for non-sensitive messages. You'll probably never *need* an encrypted messenger, but if you someday hit a rare case where it's useful? Better it's already set up *before* you need it. Signal still requires a phone# for signup but you can use a username to message.

(This is Mastodon, so you're likely far ahead of me on this)