1.
Introduction: WhatsApp is a messaging and Voice over IP (VoIP) service that
allows users to send text messages and voice messages, make voice and video
calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other media. WhatsApp’s
client application runs on mobile devices but is also accessible from desktop
computers as long as the user’s mobile device remains connected to the Internet
while they use the desktop app. WhatsApp was founded
in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum and later on acquired by Facebook Inc. in
February 2014.
2.
Features of WhatsApp: WhatsApp provide the following
features to its users
a)
Message: The registered WhatsApp user can send other users a text
message, an image, a voice message, an audio or a video or PDFs, documents,
spreadsheets, slideshows and more within the capacity of 100MB. WhatsApp uses phone’s Internet connection to send
messages and it is much cheaper than that of sending an SMS or MMS.
b)
Voice Call: WhatsApp voice call allows people to make a near free call
in comparison to call through telecommunications companies even when people are
in another country.
c)
Video Call: The WhatsApp video call provides a face-to-face
conversation. WhatsApp video calls use phone’s Internet connection, instead of
cell plan’s voice minutes, so people need not to worry about expensive calling
charges.
d)
Group: WhatsApp allows group of upto 257 contacts through which
people can keep in touch with the members by chats, share messages, photos, and
videos. One can also name and re-name the group, mute or customize
notifications.
e)
Status: WhatsApp status allows one to share text, photo, video and
GIF updates with the people that save their mobile number in their phone and will
disappear after 24 hours.
f)
WhatsApp Web: WhatsApp was officially made available for PCs through a web
client under the name WhatsApp Web. It is
simply an extension of the phone i.e. the web browser mirrors conversations and
messages from mobile device. To use this feature WhatsApp user’s handset must
be connected to the Internet for the browser application to function and it
will keep all of the messages still live on the phone.
g)
WhatsApp Business: WhatsApp Business allows companies to communicate with
customers who use the standard WhatsApp client. The companies can create a catalogue to showcase their products and
services and connect with their customers easily by using tools to automate,
sort and quickly respond to messages.
h)
WhatsApp Payments: WhatsApp Payments is a peer-to-peer money transfer feature
that is currently only available in India.
i)
Security: The latest version of WhatsApp is built on end-to-end
encryption i.e. messages and calls are secured so that only you and the person
you’re communicating with can read or listen to them, and nobody in between,
not even WhatsApp.
3.
Conclusion: WhatsApp
became the world’s most popular messaging application by 2015 and has over 2
billion users worldwide as of February 2020. WhatsApp follows a store and
forward mechanism for exchanging messages between two users. When a user sends
a message, it first travels to the WhatsApp server where it is stored, then the
server repeatedly requests the receiver acknowledge receipt of the message. As
soon as the message is acknowledged, the server drops the message; it is no
longer available in the database of the server. The WhatsApp server keeps the
message only for 30 days in its database when it is not delivered (when the
receiver is not active on WhatsApp for 30 days). Due to the limited number of
people that can be added in a WhatsApp group its usages in organization like
libraries are very limited.
How to Cite this
Article?
APA Citation, 7th Ed.: Barman, B. (2020). A comprehensive book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications.
Chicago 16th Ed.: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. Guwahati:
New Publications, 2020.
MLA Citation 8th Ed: Barman, Badan. A Comprehensive Book on Library and Information Science. New
Publications, 2020.
Badan Barman
at present working as an Assistant Professor in the
Department of Library and Information Science,
Gauhati University, Guwahati-781014,
Assam, India. He is the creator of the LIS Links (http://www.lislinks.com) - India’s most popular social networking
website for Library
and Information Science professionals. He also created the UGC NET Guide (http://www.netugc.com) and LIS Study (http://www.lisstudy.com) website.
No comments:
Post a Comment