Mobile Messaging Is a Phenomenon - Essay Example

Mobile Messaging Introduction Mobile messaging is a phenomenon that has been witnessed all over the world. Mobile messaging refers to the creation, the storage and exchanging of texts, images and voice messages through electronic means aided by the use of a mobile phone. The growth and use of mobile messaging in the world has grown exponentially especially with the rollout of the various applications that support mobile messaging. This has further been boosted by the increased use of smartphones in the current society. The use of mobile messaging has been widely associated with the youth but the trend has changed with even the older generation widely using mobile messaging (Honan, 2013). Studies have shown that currently, about one billion people in the world use mobile messaging services. This has been projected to grow to about two billion users in the next three years (Khalaf, 2014). Some of the mobile messaging platforms that have been widely used in the world include Facebook, Whatsapp, Snapchat, Kik and Messenger. Different users have different preferences when it comes to the choice of platform to be used. However, cases of use of multiple platforms are also common. With the increase in the use of smartphones, mobile messaging has also grown rapidly. Smartphones war has also been caused by the rise and popularity of mobile messaging applications. Handset manufacturing companies such as Samsung and Apple have fought fiercely in popularizing their smartphones basically as a result of the popularity of mobile messaging. Due to this rapid rise in the use of mobile messaging services, a lot of studies have been carried out on this topic. The studies have shown that the growth or increased use of mobile messaging supported by platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Messenger and Kik has impacted heavily on the society. The impacts of mobile messaging on the society have been both positive and negative. One of the straight forward advantages of the use of mobile messaging is that it provides a form of communication in the society. Mobile messaging is real time. The messages or data that is sent from one mobile phone handset to another is received in real time. This therefore allow for sharing of information very fast and hence providing a channel of communication. The current world is a world where communication has become an important element in the day today life of an individual. Mobile messaging, unlike calls, is free and therefore allows for communication just by few keystrokes. This has allowed people in various regions of the world to share important information and life moments through texts, photos and short videos. This has allowed people to keep in touch even though they are miles apart. Use of mobile messaging has opened up communication between businesses and the customers. Businesses have also appreciated the importance of social messaging as a source of information. Mobile messaging has enabled customers to tell businesses exactly what products they want from the organizations. The customers are able to send messages describing the kind of products that they want to the organizations. This kind of communication is beneficial both to the customer and to the business itself. On the side of the customer, it helps ensure that they get and buy exactly what they want easily. In addition, the customers do not have to spend a lot of time on phone talking to the business whenever they have complaints about the products they have bought. On the side of the business, mobile messaging has enabled them to fully understand the needs of their customers. They can also use the information they get from the clients through mobile messaging to tailor their products and services to make the more appealing. Mobile messaging has not only provided a channel or communication. It has also provided a platform for sharing knowledge and information. Because mobile messaging is a free platform that only requires internet connection at times, people have used it to share information about different issues. Various users have used mobile messaging applications such as Whatsapp and Facebook to discuss topics ranging from culture, sports and health. People have used mobile messaging applications around the world to discuss the politics of their respective countries especially during the election periods. This has therefore ensured flow of information in the society. Mobile messaging has been used as a tool for communication in the society. Various organizations have used mobile messaging to provide vital information about health, politics and the current events in the society. This has been successful because the messages reach the targeted audience in real time and allows them to seek answers on any question that they may have about that given issue or topic (Henderson, 2013). Mobile messaging has facilitated the learning of art of communication and culture circulation. Mobile messaging uses texts, pictures and videos as a mode of communication. The users learn how to express themselves using these avenues .Due to the fact that mobile messaging allows for passage of information over a wide geographical location, it therefore allows for circulation of cultures (Henderson, 2013). Mobile messaging is also beneficial to the society since it allows for rapid passage of information about a certain issue. Mobile messaging has been used as a way of creating massive cross polarization in the society. Mobile messaging platforms have been widely used to sensitize people on issues that are of great important to the society. For example during the uprisings that have been recently witnessed in the Arab countries such as Tunisia and Egypt, mobile messaging played an important role of polarizing the society and mobilizing the society to fight toward a common cause. This made it possible to topple the dictatorial regimes that had ruled these nations for several years (Bilton, 2014). Mobile messaging has also been used as a security tool in the society. People have been able to use mobile messaging platforms such as Whatsapp to provide vital security tips and information to the law enforcement agencies. Crimes such as robbery, child abuse, drug trafficking and illegal; possession of fire rams have been reported to the law enforcement agencies through the means of mobile messaging. This has resulted to reduced crime rates in the society as the instantaneous nature of reporting these incidences have facilitated rapid response to counter them. In this manner, mobile messaging has been beneficial to the society. Mobile messaging has several positive effects in the society as discussed above. However, it has also impacted negatively on the society. Most of these impacts result from the fact that in some cases, people use mobile messages to communicate with people that they do not know in person. Mobile messaging normally allows for the easy sharing of information and photographs with people in different locations worldwide. Mobile messaging platforms such as Whatsapp allow for instant sharing of texts, images and videos. This may lead to the invasion of the privacy of individuals. It is as a result of people giving out information about themselves to strangers A lot of people have resorted to the use of social media as a way of interaction. After meeting people in these social networking sites, they establish communication with the new friends through the use of mobile messaging. This trend has therefore impacted negatively on the lives of such people as they have ended up being unable to socialize in the real world. These people are therefore not able to meet ‘real’ people in real environments. Studies have also shown that just like other social networking platforms, mobile messaging has negative effects on health. Research has shown that some teenagers are addicted to the use of phones and mobile messaging. These teenagers spend virtually all their time communicating with their friends. This is due to the fact that mobile messaging is cheaper compared to other forms of communication such as calls. This has led to negative health behaviors like depression and use of drugs. In extreme cases this has led to loss of lives through suicide. Mobile messaging has also led to isolation in the society. Some people in the society have become addicted to mobile messaging applications such as Whatsapp and Snapshot and they spend almost the whole day communicating with their friends indoors. This trend where people are spending a lot of time chatting through mobile messaging services has prevented a lot of people from spending time outdoors to connect with other human beings This lack of physical interaction with other human beings may lead to symptoms like anxiety and depression which impact negatively on the lives of the individuals (Do, 2012) Mobile messaging has also resulted into identity theft. This is because a lot of people easily share information about themselves with the people with they do not know. When these strangers get this information, some of them normally use the persomnl details of the other party to carry out criminal acts such as murder and fraud. This at times leads to the innocent individual being arrested for crimes he or she did not commit and knows nothing about (Honan, 2013). Mobile messaging also impacts negatively on the ethics and values of the society. As stated earlier, some mobile messaging platforms such as Whatsapp allows for sharing of videos and picture. This makes it easy for the users to share videos and pictures that may erode the values of a society. Mobile messaging has allowed for the sharing of pornographic videos and other forms of pornographic materials among users (Julian, 2014.) This has made it easy for even young children to access these materials since they can easily get them from their friends who send them by mobile messaging. In the long run, it leads to destruction of the values of the society at large because of the rapid rate at which these materials are shared in the society (Moore, 2013). Mobile messaging has also impacted on language that is used in the society. When using mobile messaging services, most users tend to use short forms of words and sentences that are not grammatically correct (Harold2013.This therefore has affected the language use in the society with others finding it difficult to differentiate between when to use official language that is grammatically correct and when to use the short forms that are common in the messages that they send. This has affected the quality of both written and spoken language in a society (Koikai, 2013). Mobile messaging has also been used to aid criminal activities in the society. This is because the mobile messaging platforms provide a means of communication that is reliable and fasts. Criminals have used these platforms to organize criminal activities such as robberies and abductions. Mobile messaging has provided them with a means of sharing information in real time hence aiding their criminal acts (Kincel, 2014). Mobile messaging platform has also been used to spread lies, false information and propaganda in the society. This is because this channel of communication is free and can be used to send the same message to very many users at once. This has been negatively exploited by some people to spread false information in the society. The spread of propaganda especially during election periods has been aided by the use of mobile messaging and this has had devastating impact on the society. Mobile messaging has also been used to polarize different groups of people against one another. Such cases have been witnessed especially in societies and countries that do not have the resources to check against spreading of provoking or inciting information through the use of mobile messaging platforms (Russell, 2012). This problem has been witnessed in African countries where communities have been polarized and incited against each other by means of mobile messaging. A good example is Kenya where during the 2007 general elections that resulted in post election violence, mobile messaging was used by some leader and citizens to spread inflammatory messages that led to fighting among tribes. Conclusion Mobile messaging has grown rapidly worldwide and still continues to grow. It has several positive impacts as well as negative impacts. Therefore clear balance on its use is required to check against the negative impacts it may have on the society References Bilton, N., 2014. The Messaging Apps War. [Online](26/2/2014) Available at http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/the-messaging-app-wars-are-just-getting- started/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 Accessed on 21/5/2014 Do, H, 2012, Facebok vs. Tweeter [online](13/1/2014)Available http://wikibrains.com/map/537b4380e4b0568301250e61#.U3wJavldWSo Accessed on 21/5/2014 Henderson, M, 2013, ‘Positive Impacts of Social Media and Mobile Messaging’. Forbes Woman.29/12/2014 Accessed on 21/5/2014 Honan, M, 2013.Why Everyone Can Still Win in the Messaging War, [online](11/10/2013) Available at http://www.wired.com/2013/12/confusing-message/ Accessed on 21/5/2014 Honan, M., 2013. Twitter Makes Its Pay for Private Messaging. [Online] (12/10/2013) Available at: [(21/05/2013] Accessed on 21/5/2014 Kincel, B., 2014. ‘The Negative Impacts of Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp’, Applied Social Psychology, 27/2/2014 Accessed on 21/5/2014 Khalaf, S., 2014 Mobile. News Grows 115% in 2013 Propelled by Messaging Apps [online] 13/1/2014 Available at http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/07/04/mobile-messaging-apps- the-threat-to-facebook-and-other-social-networks/ ,Accessed on 21/5/2014 Koikai, E., 2013. ‘The Negative Impacts of Social Media on our Lives’, The Moose,8/5/2013 Julian, L, 2014.Who is Winning the War [online] (19/5/2014) Available at http://wikibrains.com/map/537b4380e4b0568301250e61#.U3wJavldWSo, Accessed on 21/5/2014 Harold,K, 2013, The Art of Messaging [online](9/12/2013)Available at https://flipboard.com/section/messaging-war-b02u4n ,Accessed on 21/5/2014 Moore, D, 2013. Mobile Messaging. [12/5/2013](27/12/2013)Available at http://theartofmessaging.com/Apps#.U3yI6vldWSo , Accessed on 21/5/2014 Russell, J, 2012, Mobile-Messaging Apps: The Threats of Facebook& Other Social Networks. [online]13/01/2014Available at http://www.flurry.com/bid/103601/Mobile- Use-Grows-115-in-2013-Propelled-by-Messaging , Accessed on 21/5/2014 Read More