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The purpose of this study is to examine the dark side of instant messaging from the technological and societal perspectives.

With the help of literature review and different theories, a model has been developed conceptually. Later the model has been validated using statistical method. The authors have used 304 responses from the survey method, and this sample has been used to statistically validate the conceptual model.

This paper has been able to explicitly investigate and identify how different instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, WeChat in the form of electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) are contributing toward increase of mob lynching cases. The paper also highlights the important to have effective and enforceable regulation to regulate instant messaging services to the citizens.

The findings cannot be generalized as the data is collected from India only. Moreover, the study is cross-sectional in nature. To get the comprehensive results, a longitudinal study needs to be conducted. This study considered seven constructs with one moderator. Having more predictors with other boundary conditions might have increased the explanative power of the model.

Instant messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, WeChat and so on are disseminating quick unverified information to the common people. This information sometimes is disseminated in inappropriate and exaggerated forms. This makes the instant messaging (WhatsApp) users' sentiment readily heated in some cases. They take such an action as mob lynching. This study determines the predictors of mob lynching along with the moderator impact of instant messaging in the society.

There are only a few studies those have explored the dark side of instant messaging. The proposed theoretical model is a unique model, which shows the predictors of mob lynching along with the negative consequences of the instant messaging (WhatsApp) in the society. From this perspective, this study can be considered as a unique study.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Mobile instant messaging is a potential avenue for customer service and marketing departments to explore. Yet there are significant issues with the wholesale adoption of MIM apps.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The purpose of this study is to explore the pros and cons of WhatsApp communication service and its likely effects on consumer behavior and one’s perception of luxury brands.

This study conducted 27 in-depth interviews with UK-based participants. This study used NVivo12 to thematically analyze the collected data.

The findings indicate that perceived communication convenience, searching for prepurchase information, intimate consumer–brand relationship, perceived self-worth and the thrill of a new service positively contribute to luxury customers’ acceptance of WhatsApp communication usage. Nevertheless, many factors including push promotional strategy, poor service quality, brand “massification” effect, deficient sensory experience, fear of financial risk and deceptive practices, all curbed the participants’ acceptance of this communication platform. When service is poor, all these factors jeopardized the luxury image, causing an impaired brand image, accompanied with negative word of mouth and in some instances, unexpected anticonsumption reactions.

This study carries the limitations of any exploratory and qualitative research. Therefore, future research should replicate this study in other areas and for other instant messaging platforms.

The implications of this study serve as a reference for luxury brands’ managers when managing their WhatsApp service. This study provides important insights into the risk of using WhatsApp by luxury brands to communicate with customers. The overall conclusion is that WhatsApp communication service requires a close, supervised and innovative use to benefit luxury brands.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the topic of WhatsApp usage as a communication mean in the luxury industry is still largely underexplored, hence filling a gap in the literature that needs to be addressed given its significant implications.

This study examines Iran-US migrants' use of the most popular messaging application in Iran—Telegram—and shows how they use it to manage their migration information practices.

This study took a qualitative observation approach. Over the course of six months, over 80 h of observations were conducted on Iran-US migration-related settings within Telegram.

This work identifies the information practices that emerge as users seek and share information related to Iran-US migration. Telegram plays a vital role across the immigration stages, predominantly in the pre-migration stage. This work also shows how the constraints and features of Telegram influence users' information sharing and seeking practices.

The findings support the implication that a social media platform that provides multiple ways to interact is likely to better support niche or unanticipated uses.

This study is the first of its kind to explore Iranian Immigrants information practices in the US. The immigration information practices observed during this study represent a valuable example of end-user appropriation within extraordinary constraints, which may be of use in other information-seeking contexts where dedicated or bespoke tools are impractical or ill-advised.

Mobile instant messaging (MIM) applications have grown profusely worldwide in recent years in tandem with increased smartphone usage. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among perceived benefits, personality traits, MIM satisfaction, and social capital responses.

This paper uses partial least squares-SEM to investigate proposed hypotheses based on a sample of 1,519 WhatsApp users.

The results indicate that perceived benefits of MIM and personality traits have a positive influence on MIM satisfaction; and MIM satisfaction in turn has a positive effect on users’ social capital responses. MIM satisfaction partially mediates the relationships between perceived benefits, traits, and social capital. Additionally, the results indicate positive significant effect of Gen X and Y on social capital among other control variables.

This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on MIM. The results also provide important implications for MIM application developers and instigate future research in the MIM platform.

This study is the first attempt in integrating perceived benefits, personality traits, and social capital in MIM literature.

The purpose of this paper is to envision the benefits of applying the Instant Messaging (IM) paradigm in pervasive computing environments. With IM in such an environment, all smart entities, human or not, can interact using IM as the unified interface. To realize this vision, the design of a Smart Instant Messaging (SIM) system is proposed, which features context‐aware presence management, user‐centric resource configuration, and adaptive grouping.

Three prototype versions of a client have been implemented and their performance in terms of memory usage and response time evaluated.

The SIM system was found to transcend current IM products by having new features including context‐aware presence management, user‐centric resource configuration, and adaptive grouping support.

The system described here extends the Jabber‐based IM framework and relies on an ontology‐based supporting middleware to handle the chore of retrieving and interpreting contextual information.

In recent years, instant messaging platforms like WhatsApp have gained substantial popularity in both academic and practical domains. However, despite this growth, there is a lack of a comprehensive overview of the literature in this field. The primary purpose of this study is to bridge this gap by analyzing a substantial dataset of 12,947 articles retrieved from the Dimensions.ai, database spanning from 2011 to March 2023.

To achieve the authors' objective, the authors employ bibliometric analysis techniques. The authors delve into various bibliometric networks, including citation networks, co-citation networks, collaboration networks, keywords and bibliographic couplings. These methods allow for the uncovering of the social and conceptual structures within the academic discourse surrounding WhatsApp.

The authors' analysis reveals several significant findings. Firstly, the authors observe a remarkable and continuous growth in the number of academic studies dedicated to WhatsApp over time. Notably, two prevalent themes emerge: the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the role of WhatsApp in the realm of social media. Furthermore, the authors' study highlights diverse applications of WhatsApp, including its utilization in education and learning, as a communication tool, in medical education, cyberpsychology, security, psychology and behavioral learning.

This paper contributes to the field by offering a comprehensive overview of the scholarly research landscape related to WhatsApp. The findings not only illuminate the burgeoning interest in WhatsApp among researchers but also provide insights into the diverse domains where WhatsApp is making an impact. The analysis of bibliometric networks offers a unique perspective on the social and conceptual structures within this field, shedding light on emerging trends and influential research. This study thus serves as a valuable resource for scholars, practitioners and policymakers seeking to navigate the evolving landscape of WhatsApp research. The study will also be useful for researchers interested in conducting bibliometric analysis using Dimensions.ai, a free database.

The purpose of this paper is to explore participants’ attitudes and receptivity to a #CondomEmoji campaign insofar as investigating whether attitudes and receptivity were important predictors for brand impression and intention to buy.

This study involved 206 research participants who live in Jakarta and Surabaya and who answered online questionnaires to measure attitudes, receptivity to #CondomEmoji advertising, brand impression and intention to buy condoms. Questionnaires were circulated on several social media platforms and instant messaging apps. The participants were asked to watch the #CondomEmoji advertising video before proceeding to fill out the questionnaires.

Research findings suggested that participants mostly held negative attitudes and receptivity to the campaign. Non-sexually active participants were more likely to perceive the advertising as offensive. Attitudes and receptivity were good predictors for brand impression, yet attitude was not significantly attributed to intention to buy condoms. The result was stronger in sexually active participants.

Non-sexually active young people need to be more informed about healthy sexual behavior so that they would not feel embarrassed to discuss and ask about sexual behavior. A socially acceptable condom-use advertising campaign needs to be conducted to lessen the resistance of conservative audiences.

This paper offers an insight into how conservative audiences may respond to social-media-based campaign of safer sex.

This study was conducted to achieve the following objectives: (1) determine the differences and reasons for using outgroup OSNs by gender, age and student groups (Mainland and Hong Kong [HK] students); (2) uncover the impact of online social networks (OSNs) on the development of Mainland–HK friendships and (3) determine the roles of different OSNs (social networking sites [SNSs] and instant messaging platforms [IMPs]) in the development of intercultural friendships in the real world.

To explore how OSNs facilitate (or inhibit) intercultural interactions, 198 students completed a questionnaire and 24 students participated in follow-up semi-structured interviews examining the role of OSNs in intercultural friendship development.

Results revealed that demographic and motivational preferences for using outgroup-OSNs differed among students. Both IMPs and SNSs helped students maintain friendships using little effort, whereas it tended to strengthen their existing social networks, rather than helping to start new friendships. IMPs helped develop a sense of “presence awareness”, strengthening pre-existing friendships and solidifying offline connections. SNSs also assisted students in exploring their shared interests while revealing their values and cultural differences.

The authors’ findings offered empirical evidence on social exchange theory and anxiety-uncertainty management theory regarding the perceived benefit of OSNs on students' friendship development.

The study sheds light on the differences between Mainland Chinese and HK students, including participants' perceptions of different friendship stages.

This study is interested in the roles of different SNSs and IMPs in intercultural friendship development, especially their strengths and weaknesses as perceived by students. Also, the authors are curious about how students select and use IMPs and SNSs differently according to their individual preferences and needs. To the authors’ knowledge, the dynamic link between online communication and intercultural friendship development has not been thoroughly examined in the field of intercultural communication.