MESSENGERS AS A SET OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (EXPERIENCE OF THE “OUR CHELYABINSK” MEDIA GROUP)

Abstract

Messengers today are actively developing multi-format platforms that are close in their capabilities to social networks. The relevance of the study of this phenomenon is due to six main factors: the popularity of instant messengers, proven by public opinion research; their application in all spheres of socio-cultural life; expansion of functionality; increasing the audience; development of new platforms and separation of instant messengers from social networks; the emergence of trends that are set by messengers. The article examines the development of instant messengers from the point of view of expanding their communication technologies using the example of WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram. The main communication technologies used in messengers are identifi ed according to the following criteria: method of communication, subjects of communication. It is noted that the instant messengers in question originated as mobile services for instant messaging between people. With the advent of Telegram, messengers began their development towards expanding functionality and moving closer to social networks: channels and communities for blogging and the ability to comment on posts appeared. It is noted that today it is messengers that have taken the initiative from social networks in producing trends in the development of the information market: an example is chatbots that automate the connection between a person and a brand, as well as the fact that messengers have begun to separate from social networks and develop in parallel. The role and place of each messenger in the modern world is also analyzed. As an example of brand promotion, the article presents the experience of the “Our Chelyabinsk” media group, which is developing channels in WhatsApp, Viber, and Telegram messengers. The article concludes that messengers, having appeared as narrow-format services, today are a set of multi-format communication technologies and can be used to promote various brands.