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There are many free instant messengers available now which allow to communicate with friends with text, phone call, video, sharing of files, in group or not and keep contact with them even internationally. But only very few of the instant messengers have gained a popularity and attention. Recent studies have shown that the most popular instant messengers are WhatsApp, Viber and Telegram. Even, Facebook acquired WhatsApp due to have huge users. Viber is another messenger with many integrated features that allows the phone calls and sends the text messages for free and there is no subscription like WhatsApp. While Telegram offers the users an open-source platform with no ads, a clean fast interface, asks for no payments whatsoever and the biggest selling point is security. WhatsApp, Viber and Telegram which instant messenger is best? The popularity of Telegram has reached at the top of Google play store and become the most downloaded messaging app in the world today. But at the moment WhatsApp is still the winner!

Learning English is difficult in all non-English speaking countries, including Pakistan, because learning another language after the mother tongue is difficult. This research aimed to improve L2 learners’ communication skills through WhatsApp. This research was experimental; sixty average scoring students were selected through pre-tests for this experiment; then, using the fishbowl random sampling technique, two groups, control and experimental, were formed with 30 students each. It was found that the students who were taught with the help of WhatsApp had excellent communication skills in L2 as compared to those students who were taught by traditional methods without WhatsApp. Osnovni namen pričujoče raziskave je analizirati razvijanje tujejezikovnih komunikacijskih spretnosti pakistanskih dijakov s pomočjo aplikacije WhatsApp. Za ta namen smo izvedli eksperimentalno raziskavo, v kateri je sodelovalo šestdeset dijakov s povprečnimi rezultati, ki so bili izbrani na podlagi predtesta. Sledilo je oblikovanje kontrolne in eksperimentalne skupine, vsaka je zajela 30 učencev, in sicer z uporabo t. i. akvarijske tehnike naključnega vzorčenja. Pri kontrolni skupini smo uporabili tradicionalni pristop poučevanja tujega jezika, medtem ko je eksperimentalna skupina pri pouku uporabljala aplikacijo WhatsApp. Na osnovi rezultatov eksperimenta lahko zaključimo, da so v primerjavi z dijaki kontrolne skupine dijaki, ki so pri pouku uporabljali aplikacijo WhatsApp, pokazali boljše komunikacijske spretnosti v tujem jeziku. 

Younger people are exposed to misinformation that circulates rapidly on their mobile devices through instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp. Under the guise of news, an attractive format and outrage discourse, fake news appeal to their emotions by inviting them to distribute them impulsively. All of this is supported by a device—the mobile phone—in which the action of sharing is a matter of trust. Therefore, they are less likely to check a piece of content before resending it if it comes from a contact in their personal address book. To understand young people’s habits when receiving informative content through WhatsApp and the reasons why they choose to share it or not, this study designed a “Questionnaire on Student Habits for Sharing Fake News on the Mobile” (CHECK-M), to measure young teenagers’ exposure to “fake news” and their behavior. Empirical data, from a sample of 480 adolescents, confirmed that (1) they are more likely to share content if it connects with their interests, regardless of its truthfulness, that (2) trust affects the credibility of information, and that (3) the appearance of newsworthy information ensures that, regardless of the nature of the content, this information is more likely to be shared among young people.

This article examines Somali WhatsApp groups as socio-technical gathering spaces used for emergency assistance during crises. Drawing on multi-sited fieldwork in Nairobi and Mogadishu, and a case study of a WhatsApp group mobilising drought relief in 2022, we explore how platform usage is shaped by social norms, care practices and kinship structures to enable mobilisation, coordination, and distribution of aid. Inspired by scholarship on communicative affordances, we conceptualise WhatsApp kinship groups as closed but scalable online spaces, highlighting assembly and coordination in a context where disasters and emergencies are recurrent. We argue that these groups extend long-standing Somali mutual support systems into digital space, intensifying practices of connectivity and emergency response, while reflecting and potentially reproducing social hierarchies. By analysing Somali WhatsApp usage as situated socio-technical practices, the article contributes to broader debates on digital and diaspora humanitarianism, vernacular giving, and crisis response.

Currently about 2.71 billion humans use a smartphone worldwide. Although smartphone technology has brought many advances, a growing number of scientists discuss potential detrimental effects due to excessive smartphone use. Of importance, the likely culprit to understand over-usage is not the smartphone itself, but the excessive use of applications installed on smartphones. As the current business model of many app-developers foresees an exchange of personal data for allowance to use an app, it is not surprising that many design elements can be found in social media apps and Freemium games prolonging app usage. It is the aim of the present work to analyze several prominent smartphone apps to carve out such elements. As a result of the analysis, a total of six different mechanisms are highlighted to illustrate the prevailing business model in smartphone app development. First, these app-elements are described and second linked to classic psychological/economic theories such as the mere-exposure effect, endowment effect, and Zeigarnik effect, but also to psychological mechanisms triggering social comparison. It is concluded that many of the here presented app-elements on smartphones are able to prolong usage time, but it is very hard to understand such an effect on the level of a single element. A systematic analysis would require insights into app data usually only being available for the app-designers, but not for independent scientists. Nevertheless, the present work supports the notion that it is time to critically reflect on the prevailing business model of ‘user data in exchange for app-use allowance’. Instead of using a service in exchange for data, it ultimately might be better to ban or regulate certain design elements in apps to come up with less addictive products. Instead, users could pay a reasonable fee for an app service.

The present study explores the uses of WhatsApp groups in the education context. It examines utilities and burdens associated with educational WhatsApp groups. The study also explores how the presence of teachers in the groups can influence the group functioning. In the first study chats of four WhatsApp groups of one year, where two groups were included teacher and two groups were without teachers, were analyzed. In the second study, interviews were conducted with two participants from each group, a total of eight participants. The results of the studies show that the major functions these groups serve are mostly education-related. However, apart from academic uses, students do use this platform for wishing/congratulations, for extra curriculum activities as well as for entertainment purposes. In addition, the results show that the presence of the teacher influences the group conversation significantly. Though students reported that sometimes these WhatsApp groups become burden and take a lot of time, but they also believe that is unavoidable, since these WhatsApp groups not only provide them important information related to class, exam, holidays, etc., but members are also able to connect with others and involve in non-academic activities.

Instagram and WhatsApp are two social media and networking services introduced in 2010. They are currently subsidiaries of Facebook, Inc., California, USA. Using evidence from the published literature and case reports indexed in PubMed and other sources, we present an overview of the various applications of Instagram and WhatsApp in health and healthcare. We also briefly describe the main issues surrounding the uses of these two apps in health and medicine.

Social media as a fast-growing mode of communication has disruptive tendencies that create language change in digital contexts. A global trend of language transformation from words to pictograms (graphicons) in digital communication is observed in messaging language use, usually initiated by the young people in online interactions which eventually becomes established. This paper examines the functional use of graphicons such as emoji, sticker, GIF and meme as effective communication tools in digital conversations. Specifically, the study aims at exploring usage trends and meaningful ways the visual icons are used to achieve communication goals with or without texts. Data was purposefully drawn from 309 screenshot messages obtained from the respective class representatives of the selected classes’ WhatsApp platforms of students in Accounting, Computer and Systems Engineering Departments of the University of Lagos. 203 google questionnaires and follow-up unstructured interviews were also used to collect data. Pragmatic analysis of data was conducted using the Gricean cooperative principles or conversational maxims as the theoretical underpinning. Results show that emoji and sticker in particular, are an intrinsic part of young people’s social media communication with strong chances of sustained usage. They are used mainly for reaction, rapport management and message clarification. New functional and more expressive graphicons are recommended for technological devices. This paper not only expands literature in the field of linguistics, but also contributes to the fields of digital/computer communication and language development. It also fosters knowledge, facilitates understanding in digital user experience and adds pedagogical stimulus for students and software developers.

Introduction: The technological advancements have transformed the society into a global forum influencing the educational processes and learning environments. Medical education is no exemption with an increasing trend to use the social media and smart phones for teaching and learning. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube and Edmodo are the platforms promoting collaborative learning, improved communication and knowledge sharing. Aim: This study aims to review the use of smart phones and social media in the context of medical education. It reviews the usage of smart phone and social medical applications including Facebook, WhatsApp and Edmodo for teaching and learning in medical education. Results: The use of personal smartphones for teaching and learning among medical community is highly prevalent and increasing day by day. Medical students use the mobile application for online textbooks (70%), medical podcasts (60%), medical calculator (75%), online lecture (50%) and notes taking (45%). Relevant studies conclude that the majority of students use smart phones for education (62.7%), communication (81.7%) and recreation (82.5%). Social media has a great potential in educational setting and provide students a chance to involve, share and express knowledge and information with each other. Facebook, WhatsApp and Edmodo are the commonly used applications having multiple benefits like collaboration, feedback and engagement but negative aspects including addiction, distraction and maintenance of privacy have also been found. Conclusion: The review article concludes that social media is a powerful instrument for social interactions and is also used as a tool for teaching and learning. The integration of social media with traditional class teaching in medical education has clear advantages but there is a debate about the probable disadvantages as well.

Objective This qualitative study analyzes communication practices, roles, and rules developed by family members while participating in a three‐generation WhatsApp family group (WFG). Background Although instant messaging applications such as WhatsApp have become increasingly popular with families worldwide, study findings of the digital family formation process, roles, rules, and family communication styles have remained fragmented. Combining the rich familism ideology with technological skills makes the Israel digital family a good study case. Method We conducted 43 semistructured interviews with WFG participants representing three generations of Jewish Israeli families. Results All WFGs were organized in the form of a three‐generation family tree, including one or a couple of older people in the core and a significant number of their younger relatives in the upper tree levels, where WFG membership was used as a marker of family belonging. WFG members played roles of kinkeepers, flickerers (rarely commenting participants), and silent warm experts. WFGs used two rules for communication—problematic discourse avoidance and exaggerated writing style—and two strategies for enforcing those rules—temporarily excluding rule breakers from the general group or ignoring messages of offending participant(s). Conclusion Maintaining the WFG is not a single initiative but a collective, well‐coordinated endeavor of all family generations, which helps to include grandparents in the digital family, gives WFG participants a sense of family belonging, and reproduces the image of the untroubled family. Implications The research findings can be helpful for educators, family therapists, social workers, and social policy professionals. Moreover, the study's results can benefit families who want to open WhatsApp family groups.