<p>‘Fascinating and authoritative. This genuinely international and cosmopolitan study shows the ways that WhatsApp is decisively shaped, especially in the Global South.’<br /><b>Gerard Goggin, The University of Sydney</b><br /><br />‘With a refreshing personal touch, the authors retrace how a seemingly simple chat app morphed into a global communication and business platform.’<br /><b>David B. Nieborg, University of Toronto</b></p>

In the 2010s, as chat apps became a primary mode of communication for many people across the world, WhatsApp quickly outpaced rival messaging apps and developed into a platform.

In this book, the authors provide a comprehensive account of WhatsApp’s global growth. Charting WhatsApp’s evolution from its founding in 2009 to the present day, they argue that WhatsApp has been transformed from a simple, ‘gimmickless’ app into a global communication platform. Understanding this development can shed light on the trajectory of Meta’s industrial development, and how digital economies and social media landscapes are evolving with the rise of ‘superapps’. This book explores how WhatsApp’s unique characteristics mediate new kinds of social and commercial transactions; how they pose new opportunities and challenges for platform regulation, civic participation and democracy; and how they give rise to new kinds of digital literacy as WhatsApp becomes integrated into everyday digital cultures across the globe.

Accessibly written, this book is an essential resource for students and scholars of digital media, cultural studies, and media and communications.

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Acknowledgements

 

Introduction

Chapter One: Why WhatsApp Matters

Chapter Two: Platform Biography

Chapter Three: Everyday Uses of WhatsApp

Chapter Four: WhatsApp Publics: Activism, News, Disorder

Chapter Five: WhatsApp Business Model

Chapter Six: WhatsApp Futures

 

Notes

References

Index

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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781509550524
Publisert
2023-12-15
Utgiver
Vendor
Polity Press
Vekt
408 gr
Høyde
218 mm
Bredde
160 mm
Dybde
31 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
220

Om bidragsyterne

Amelia Johns is Associate Professor in Digital and Social Media at the University of Technology Sydney.

Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández is Senior Lecturer in Digital Media at Queensland University of Technology.

Emma Baulch is Associate Professor of Media and Communication in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Monash University Malaysia.

is Associate Professor in Digital and Social Media at the University of Technology Sydney.