Mobile instant messaging

About: Mobile instant messaging is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 380 publications have been published within this topic receiving 7084 citations.

What's up with whatsapp?: comparing mobile instant messaging behaviors with traditional SMS

Abstract: With the advent of instant mobile messaging applications, traditional SMS is in danger of loosing it's reign as the king of mobile messaging. Applications like WhatsApp allow mobile users to send real-time text messages to individuals or groups of friends at no cost. While there is a vast body of research on traditional text messaging practices, little is understood about how and why people have adopted and appropriated instant mobile messaging applications. The goal of this work is to provide a deeper understanding of the motives and perceptions of a popular mobile messaging application called WhatsApp and to learn more about what this service offers above and beyond traditional SMS. To this end, we present insights from two studies an interview study and a large-scale survey highlighting that while WhatsApp offers benefits such as cost, sense of community and immediacy, SMS is still considered a more reliable, privacy preserving technology for mobile communication.

WhatsApp Goes to School: Mobile Instant Messaging between Teachers and Students.

Abstract: WhatsApp is a Smartphone application for instant messaging. Lately the application's popularity has risen. One of the unique features of the application is its ability to enhance communication within a group. Classroom communication between teaching faculty and high school students using WhatsApp has not yet, to our knowledge, been researched thoroughly. Therefore, we have chosen to conduct an exploratory research project employing a qualitative method. Twelve halfstructured interviews were carried out with teachers who use the application in order to communicate with their pupils. It turns out that class WhatsApp groups are used for four main purposes: communicating with students; nurturing the social atmosphere; creating dialogue and encouraging sharing among students; and as a learning platform. The participants mentioned the technical advantages of WhatsApp, such as simple operation, low cost, availability, and immediacy. They also referred to educational advantages, such as the creation of a pleasant environment and an in-depth acquaintance with fellow students, which had a positive influence upon the manner of conversation. The participants also indicated academic advantages such as the accessibility of learning materials, teacher availability, and the continuation of learning beyond class hours. Nevertheless, there are also challenges and problems. Firstly, there is the technical difficulty that not all high school students possess a Smartphone. Secondly, teachers are apt to be annoyed by the flood of irrelevant and nonsensical messages. Also, educational difficulties may arise, such as incompatibility of language between students and the students' assumptions that their teachers should be available on a 24/7 basis.

Mobile Instant Messaging and Presence Service

Abstract: The invention relates to mobile messaging and presence services. According to one aspect of the invention, a client device of the mobile messaging system adds a qualifier to a presence attribute, the qualifier comprising one or more parameters specifying the use of the attribute. A client device receiving a presence attribute processes the received presence attribute according to the qualifier parameters in said received attribute. Another aspect of the invention is the showing of how to assemble and store presence items with names, attributes and values in a single presence set within a role having an associated authorization group of members that have the right to subscribe to the whole or part of the presence set of the same role.