WhatsApp is simple, and we love it. We WhatsApp our friends to inform them that we’re waiting outside their door; we WhatsApp our family on the opposite side of the world from us, and of course, all our messages are encrypted, or simply put, secured with locks.
But what is messaging? Looking at it in more detail, the Cambridge Dictionary defines messaging as a ‘process of sending someone a short message using a mobile phone or computer’ through various mediums that may range from social media networks (such as Facebook) to smartphones (SMS). Statista predicts that by 2021, 2.5 billion people around the globe will use messengers via the mobile phone. But, why the adoption of mobile chat apps has been growing so fast?
Although research that explains why messaging apps have been growing exponentially is limited, this article will explore a few findings that have been established on this topic so far, focusing on the instant messaging app — WhatsApp. The study conducted by Karen Church and Rodrigo de Oliveira, for instance, provides some food for thought as it reveals a better understanding about why people use WhatsApp and prefer this messenger over another communication platform.
Messengers are free of charge
According to academics, one of the main reasons users spend their time in WhatsApp is because it provides them with various options. For instance, it allows them to send, receive and forward various texts that include images, GIFs, audio, and video at no cost, plus, it’s free of charge for both parties. Today, WhatsApp — together with other messaging apps — also allows users to send video messages, which may even be edited before sending. All these features have been provided for free and users believe that this is one of the most valuable aspects of messengers.
The power of social influence
People often influence our thoughts and actions. And the second reason, discovered by Church and Oliveira, which plays a crucial role in terms of WhatsApp usage and its popularity — is the social influence. Social influence refers to the situations when people change their actions to meet their social group’s expectations. Unsurprisingly, scholars find that one of the reasons participants install messengers is because everyone else uses them regularly.
Informal & simple
When compared to SMS and email, WhatsApp — of course along with other messengers — is perceived to be more ‘conversational in nature, more fluid and more natural.’ The manner of communication in chat apps is usually relaxed and straightforward. Some of the participants of the study have even indicated that WhatsApp is similar to talking to someone face-to-face.
Community & sense of connection
Another valuable aspect that the participants had stated about WhatsApp is that it’s a community or a place where everyone exists. Indeed, the word ‘community’ in terms of messaging may bring to mind Marshall McLuhan’s popular metaphor the “global village.” McLuhan referred to it in an attempt to explain that in the future, people around the globe will be connected through different channels and technologies. Moreover, it’s necessary to note that participants didn’t feel the same sense of ‘community’ with other forms of communication, particularly with traditional text messages.
“The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village.” Marshall McLuhan (The Gutenberg Galaxy, 1962).
Immediacy & useful information
The study also indicates that the speed and immediacy at which messages are being delivered on WhatsApp plays an essential role in its popularity. People are aware that texts via messengers are delivered faster when compared to other communication channels. Furthermore, chat apps provide more details about the interaction and process, in other words, they allow users to check whether and when the messages were delivered, sent or read and, if the users were online or typing the message. In addition, it shows when the person opened the app last. The participants of the research considered this type of information to be quite useful.
Reliability & guarantee
As we take everything that has been mentioned above into consideration, we cannot be surprised that WhatsApp builds a certain level of trust. In other words, and as research finds, the visual feedback offered by WhatsApp causes no doubts in terms of messages being delivered.
Now, since we’ve looked at some reasons why messengers have become a huge part of our daily lives, it’s time to acknowledge that these platforms have altered the way we communicate with one another.
P.s. In case you would like to discover how to interact with customers via messaging apps and learn about Messenger-Based Sales, then you should check out Delivered for free.
And thank you for reading this! :)
