[Commlist] WhatsApp: from a one-to-one messaging app to a global communication platform, flyer and blurb

Amelia Johns, Ariadna Matamoros Fernandez and Emma Baulch, would like to 
let you know about a new book, out now with Polity Digital Media and 
Society Series.

The book traces the story of WhatsApp’s technical, social and commercial 
development. It charts the rise of WhatsApp through the 2010s, as chat 
apps became a primary mode of communication for many people across the 
world. In this context WhatsApp quickly outpaced rival messaging apps 
and developed into a default communication app for users around the 
world, particularly in the Global South. But after Meta’s purchase of 
WhatsApp in 2014, we argue that WhatsApp took another step in its 
evolution, transforming from a simple, ‘gimmickless’ app into a global 
communication platform, with its business and broadcasting functions 
elevating WhatsApp above its former chat app status. We argue that 
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’.

The book’s chapters chart this evolution across multiple dimensions, 
exploring 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.

Please see the table of contents:

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

To find more information or to purchase go to this link - 
https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=whatsapp-from-a-one-to-one-messaging-app-to-a-global-communication-platform--9781509550524 
<https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=whatsapp-from-a-one-to-one-messaging-app-to-a-global-communication-platform--9781509550524>


---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------