Instant Messaging Apps Research Articles

CONTENT ANALYSIS OF READERS’COMMENTS ON MEDIA AGGREGATOR AS FEEDBACK AND FORM OF PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT COVID-19

In the development of communication industry, mass media have evolved and brought the existence of a news aggregator. In Indonesia, a Japanese-based instant messaging apps company has expanded its platform to news aggregator named LINE Today. LINE Today allow their users to share their feedback regarding to the presented news as comments, and narrowed feedback can create the public opinion. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic the news outlet is currently tinged with news about it. This research would like to explore how the public opinion of Indonesian about Covid-19 through the news comments in LINE Today. With quantitative content analysis method, the most commented news about Covid-19 in LINE Today constructed with three kinds of feedback trigger and three determinants of public opinion. The result has shown that the Covid-19 news comments in LINE Today are mostly triggered by the relationship between the commentator and the news subject. Indonesian public opinions regarding to the news about Covid-19 in LINE Today Indonesia are mostly determined by their belief not by fact.

The use of instant messaging in clinical data sharing: the EHRA SMS survey

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Nowadays, instant messaging (IM) provides fast and widespread communication. These platforms and apps enable the physicians to quickly share and send clinical data to their peers, to send information to their patients regarding their illnesses and to be reached for counselling and advise. Nevertheless, the use of IM has never been assessed in the cardiology community up until now. Purpose To assess the habits of cardiologists related to modern communication tools, their primary and secondary uses in clinical practice and the potential differences and preferences between different media in terms of ease of access, usefulness and trustworthiness. Methods An online survey was promoted by the EHRA e-Communication Committee and the EHRA Scientific Initiative Committee during the ESC Digital Health Week. All cardiologists were invited to participate via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and other dedicated channels. The survey consisted of 22 questions and was made anonymous. The questions were made on an individual-basis and collected on SurveyMonkey. Results 287 physicians from 33 countries responded to the survey. The mean age of the respondents was 43.4 ± 11.5 years, and 74.8% of them were male. 88.3% of all respondents routinely sends and 90.3% receives clinical data through IM. IM is used at least once a week (36.4%) or even once or more a day (40.4%) for sharing clinical data. WhatsApp is the most used IM app to share clinical data (79.4%). On a scale of 1 to 5, IM was second only to face-to-face contact (average 4.46) as the preferred method for sharing clinical data (average 3.69) and was considered better than phone calls (average 3.34) and e-mails (average 3.21). Twelve-lead ECGs (88.6%), medical history (61.4%) and echo loops (55.7%) are the data shared most often. Among potential pros of IM, the respondents listed being a fast way of communication (82.0%) and making it easy to contact colleagues (76.7%), while privacy issues regarding IM apps providers (62.7%) and other colleagues (45.6%) were commonly perceived as drawbacks. Only 57.4% of all respondents anonymize clinical data before sharing them through IM, and only 44.0% of the data received are reported to be anonymized. Of note, 29.3% of the respondents were not aware of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on data protection at the time of the survey, and 29.8% do not know if their institution has a specific policy regarding the use of IM for professional use. Conclusions IM apps are used by cardiologists worldwide to share and discuss clinical data and are preferred to many other methods of data sharing, being second only to face-to-face contact. IM are often used and to share many different types of clinical data, being perceived as a fast and easy way of communication. Cardiologists should be sensitised to appropriate use of IM in accordance to GDPR and local policies in order to prevent legal and privacy issues.

Understanding employees' response to work-related after-hours use of instant messaging apps: a stress and coping perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the complex relationships between permeability, work-family conflict, moral disengagement, behavioral disengagement, job strain and job engagement. In addition, this study aims to determine whether moral disengagement acts as a moderator and mediator in the relationship between work-family conflict and behavioral disengagement.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses, using a sample of 176 valid responses.FindingsThe results indicate that permeability is likely to promote work-family conflict, which in turn may trigger moral disengagement. Moral disengagement may lead to behavioral disengagement, which in turn may increase job strain and decrease job engagement. The findings also show that work-family conflict does not have a significant effect on behavioral disengagement, suggesting that moral disengagement fully mediates the influence of work-family conflict on behavioral disengagement. In addition, the moderating effect of moral disengagement is not significant.Originality/valueApplying the transactional model of stress and coping theory and the moral disengagement theory, this study contributes to a better understanding of employees' experience of job strain caused by work-family conflict (induced by permeability of IM usage), as well as the employee's coping response.

The Future of New Learning Way for The Visually Impaired Learners: Use Bionic Eye with Voice Assistant

Chatbots can be defined as artificial narrow intelligence (ANI) which can perform a single task such as answering people’s question by harnessing the power of machine learning. There is some educational-related chatbots developed to interact with learners in mobile instant messaging (MIM) apps. Nowadays, there are more and more voice assistant developed in our world. They aim to fulfill user requests by choosing the best intent from multiple options generated by its Automated Speech Recognition and Natural Language Understanding sub-systems. Bionic eye is also still develop for the blind, it plays a vital part by restoring the vision. Technologies that are involved in bionic eyes are-multiple unit artificial retina chip system (MARC). This report describes an approach for the design and development of a voice assistant based on chatbot development basis combined with bionic eye application for an eLearning system with the learner’s personal needs.

You Recommend, I Buy

As an emerging business phenomenon especially in China, instant messaging (IM) based social commerce is growing increasingly popular, attracting hundreds of millions of users and is becoming one important way where people make everyday purchases. Such platforms embed shopping experiences within IM apps, e.g., WeChat, WhatsApp, where real-world friends post and recommend products from the platforms in IM group chats and quite often form lasting recommending/buying relationships. How and why do users engage in IM based social commerce? Do such platforms create novel experiences that are distinct from prior commerce? And do these platforms bring changes to user social lives and relationships? To shed light on these questions, we launched a qualitative study where we carried out semi-structured interviews on 12 instant messaging based social commerce users in China. We showed that IM based social commerce: 1) enables more reachable, cost-reducing, and immersive user shopping experience, 2) shapes user decision-making process in shopping through pre-existing social relationship, mutual trust, shared identity, and community norm, and 3) creates novel social interactions, which can contribute to new tie formation while maintaining existing social relationships. We demonstrate that all these unique aspects link closely to the characteristics of IM platforms, as well as the coupling of user social and economic lives under such business model. Our study provides important research and design implications for social commerce, and decentralized, trusted socio-technical systems in general.

Evaluation of a Short-Term Digital Group Intervention to Relieve Mental Distress and Promote Well-Being Among Community-Dwelling Older Individuals During the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Study Protocol.

Older individuals are at an increased risk of experiencing adverse social and health consequences due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to manage it, such as social distancing. To promote community-dwelling older individuals' well-being during this time, the aims of the current project are to develop effective strategies in order (a) to increase older individuals' digital literacy, and (b) to help them acquire behavioral and cognitive skills that will improve their coping abilities with the stressful situation created as a result of the pandemic, as well as reducing adverse mental health effects. The project comprises an intervention arm that includes digital group sessions for older individuals meant to improve their digital literacy, promote their effective coping, and relieve their mental distress and loneliness. Subjects receive a short-term (seven sessions), twice-weekly, digitally guided group intervention through Zoom (a video conferencing app), and WhatsApp (instant messaging app). The wait list control-group participants receive twice-weekly telephone calls from a research assistant during a parallel period. Web-based questionnaires are filled in pre- and post-participation. The effectiveness of the intervention will be analyzed by comparing pre- and post-measures, between intervention and control groups. This protocol offers a model for helping to support vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is applicable regardless of the outbreak of a global health crisis or the imposition of lockdown rules; in fact, it has the potential to contribute to the social inclusion of vulnerable populations during routine times as well as during emergencies. Furthermore, ideas for future expansion include the integration of multilingual facilitators in order to reach seniors from underserved minority groups in various social contexts, even across borders.

Instant messaging apps and data protection: combining to improve hip fracture care?

IntroductionThe General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) continues to have implications for how healthcare information is managed and shared. This presents challenges as telemedicine plays a more central role in service healthcare service provision, particularly since the beginning of 2020. We aim to measure how improved communication through a GDPR-compliant messaging app can influence time-dependent key performance indicators for hip fracture management in a tertiary-referral trauma hospital.Methods Using an instant messaging service, a hip fracture group was created and access was provided to all stakeholders in hip fracture care—trainee and consultant emergency physicians and orthopaedic surgeons, as well as advanced nurse practitioners, bed managers, ward managers and theatre managers. Irish Hip Fracture Database (IHFD) standard compliance was compared from April to December 2017 and April to December 2018.ResultsTwo periods in 2017 and 2018 saw 121 and 122 hip fracture patients admitted, respectively. Mean time to admission to an orthopaedic ward in 2017 was 47 ± 42.9 h and 33.3 ± 42 h in 2018 (P = 0.5). Mean time to surgery in 2017 was 83.66 ± 53.46 h and 39.11 ± 10.84 h in 2018 (p = 0.026).ConclusionsIrish Hip Fracture Database Standards present a challenge to orthopaedic departments competing with other hospital specialties for access to beds and theatre space. The introduction of a GDPR-compliant social media messaging service has contributed to significantly reducing the time to surgery for these patients. Streamlining communication through messaging services has and continues to be vital to improving care for hip fracture patients, both in the healthcare environment and beyond.

Young Women's Continuance Intentions to use Communication and Social Media Apps

The rapid adoption of smartphones in the last few years indicates the changing scenario of communication patterns. The mobile app market is taking prime space in the digital world with high adoption and year-on-year growth rate. Out of all the categories, social media and communication (instant messaging apps) consume more than half of the digital time in most of the countries across the world. Generally, men and women have different patterns for preferences and usage of any particular thing. Similarly, preferences for mobile applications and usage styles also differ amongst them. Literature supports the fact that the usage of mobile apps among women is high compared with men. Thus, this study focused on the impact of satisfaction and attitude on the continuance intention of usage for communication and social media apps among young women. A hypothesized model was developed by the authors to find out the impact of perceived usefulness, enjoyment, and confirmation of expectations on satisfaction and attitude for the continuance usage of communication and social media apps. The data were collected by circulating the questionnaire on online and offline platforms. A total of 263 respondents from four different regions of Gujarat were considered for the analysis, and model validation was done by adopting the structural equation modelling method. The results confirmed that satisfaction was the strongest predictor for the continuance usage of communication and social media apps led by perceived usefulness and confirmation of expectations, while attitude significantly affected continuance usage led by perceived enjoyment.

A survey of mHealth use from a physician perspective in paediatric emergency care in the UK and Ireland

There has been a drive towards increased digitalisation in healthcare. The aim was to provide a snapshot of current apps, instant messaging, and smartphone photography use in paediatric emergency care. A web-based self-report questionnaire was performed. Individual physicians working in paediatric emergency care recorded their personal practice. One hundred ninety-eight medical doctors completed the survey. Eight percent of respondents had access to institutional mobile devices to run medical apps. Eighty-six percent of respondents used medical apps on their personal mobile device, with 78% using Apple iOS devices. Forty-seven percent of respondents used formulary apps daily. Forty-nine percent of respondents had between 1–5 medical apps on their personal mobile device. Respondents who used medical apps had a total of 845 medical apps installed on their personal device, accounted for by 56 specific apps. The British National Formulary (BNF/BNFc) app was installed on the personal mobile device of 96% of respondents that use medical apps. Forty percent of respondents had patient confidentiality concerns when using medical apps. Thirty-eight percent of respondents have used consumer instant messaging services, 6% secure specialist messaging services, and 29% smartphone photography when seeking patient management advice.ConclusionApp use on the personal mobile devices, in the absence of access to institutional devices, was widespread, especially the use of a national formulary app. Instant messaging and smartphone photography were less common. A strategic decision has to be made to either provide staff with institutional devices or use software solutions to address data governance concerns when using personal devices.What is Known:• mHealth use by junior doctors and medical students is widespread.• Clinicians’ use of instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp is the widespread in the UK and Ireland, in the absence of alternatives.What is New:• Personal mobile device use was widespread in the absence of alternatives, with the British National Formulary nearly universally downloaded to physicians’ personal mobile devices.• A third of respondents used instant messaging and smartphone photography on their personal mobile device when seeking patient management advice from other teams in the absence of alternatives.

Forensic analysis of instant messaging apps: Decrypting Wickr and private text messaging data

Currently, obtaining digital evidence from instant messaging (IM) apps is being considered. IM apps store personal user data, e.g., user information, chat messages, and multimedia files, most IM apps protect the stored data using secure cryptographic algorithms such that only an authorized person can access the app data. Accordingly, it is important to develop a decryption method for IM app data for digital forensic investigations. In this paper, we present how the database and main files of IM apps are stored and encrypted, as well as how the apps verify passwords. We also present a decryption methodology for the databases and multimedia files of two IM apps, i.e., Wickr and Private Text Messaging, which provide various secure communications, e.g., text messages and multimedia files. The decrypted data of these IM apps was verified in simulations.

Community-based population monitoring for large baleen whales: the case study of Bryde's whale in Beibu Gulf of China.

Citizen science is a popular method for the long-term monitoring of the distribution of wild animals. The application of these methods in different species and environments still poses challenges, especially for aquatic animals. In this study, we investigated the distribution of the Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni) in the Beibu Gulf of China by using scientific boat-based surveys and citizen science approaches using 2 different methods of data collection. First, we built our mobile app (Whale Guard) and installed it on fishermen's phones. Second, we used a popular instant messaging app (WeChat) to create an online fisherman community. We found that the mobile phone app collected far fewer reports (5 reports) than the online community group (42 reports, P < 0.01). By using a variety of incentives, we maintained the fisherman's community's activity without significant user loss (P < 0.01). We also found that the locations collected by social media applications in this study were consistent with observations from scientific boat-based transect surveys. The sightings distribution of Bryde's whales differed from those in previous surveys in that they were present across larger areas. Social media apps reported that 69% of reports was confirmed by more than one person, whereas Whale Guard reports were much lower (0, P <0.001). Community-based citizen science can greatly contribute to the long-term monitoring of Bryde's whales, and it has successfully overcome the challenges of data accessibility, accuracy, and fragmentation. Our study shows how to appropriately use citizen science in different community groups and community-based approaches make them useful for large baleen whale surveys.

Haunting shame and haunted bodies: Mixed feelings and entangled times in the online sharing of personal images

Taking photos of oneself and sharing them on social media or instant messaging apps is a practice haunted by shame. Although both media and popular wisdom view it as a simple exercise in narcissism and vanity, research into this practice shows contradictions, ambivalence, and tensions. Drawing on an empirical study carried out with young adults in Madrid, we explore the ambivalence, or “conflicting desires” as one interviewee put it, associated with affective and attention economies involved in this practice. Despite being a common, everyday activity, taking photos of oneself, seeing oneself in them, and sharing them generates mixed feelings, ranging from pleasure at seeing and playing around with one’s image, to estrangement and disquiet. We analyze how different kinds of shame are elicited. We also explore the time entanglement of both shame and the sharing of personal images online, in which memories of the past are intertwined with forms of continuity and discontinuity between the past and the present, and with the expectation of what will be remembered in the future.

Forensic analysis of open-source XMPP/Jabber multi-client instant messaging apps on Android smartphones

In the quest for a panacea to ensure digital privacy, many users have switched to using decentralized open-source Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol multi-client instant messaging (IM) apps for secure end-to-end communication. In this paper, we present a forensic analysis of the artefacts generated on Android smartphones by Conversations and Xabber apps. We identified databases maintained by each app and external Secure Digital card directories that store local copies of user metadata. We analysed each app’s storage locations for forensic artefacts and how they can be used in a forensic investigation. The results in this paper show a detailed analysis of forensic files of interest which can be correlated to identify the local user’s multiple IM accounts and contact list, contents of messages exchanged with contacts, deleted files, time, and dates in the order of their occurrence. The contributions of this research include a comprehensive description of artefacts, which are of forensic interest, for each app analysed.

Technology and Conference Interpreting: an introduction to the use of instant messaging apps

This article presents the use of well-known instant messaging apps in conventional conference interpreting situations, as a tool to enhance real-time communication between a team of interpreters, thereby improving coordination before, during and after an assignment, and enabling the interpreters to present a highly professional image to event organizers and delegates.

Exploring the use of social media sites for health professionals' engagement and productivity in public sector hospitals

PurposeCompetitive pressure and social influence for technology adoption have increased among developed, developing and emerging countries. The influence of social structure, organizational forces and political forces varies between public sector hospitals in countries where there are more social media restrictions. This study aims to explore how the use of social media can influence employee engagement and productivity in the workplaces of public sector hospitals.Design/methodology/approachThe study follows a social constructivist approach to understand employee attitudes, motivation culture, political forces and the local context. Data were collected from health professionals of five public sector hospitals using a non-directive and semi-structured interview method.FindingsThe results show that the use of social media sites has increased collaboration, coordination and cooperation among health professionals, especially in critical situations. They are more socialized, connected and engaged, thus helping them to exchange useful knowledge using instant messaging apps. Conversely, there are no organizational polices and specific laws and too little support from management and senior doctors to drive the use of social networking sites in public hospitals. The use of social media has enhanced health professionals' engagement and productivity as they are able to share their expertise, knowledge and information with their colleagues and subordinates.Research limitations/implicationsThe results can guide policy-makers, researchers, hospitals, doctors and the Ministry of Health about the positive use of social networking sites in the workplace. The positive use of social networking sites in the workplace can enhance information, knowledge and coordination which may help to enhance employee engagement and productivity.Originality/valueThe present study has provided a social media health organization workplace (SMHOW) model which explains how individual and organizational contexts can influence the actual use of social media in healthcare organizations.

A Brief Study on Data Communication and Computer Networks

A computer network, sometimes known as a data network, is a kind of telecommunications network that enables computers to communicate with one another. Data is passed between networked computing devices through data links in computer networks. Cable or wireless media are used to establish connections (network links) between nodes. The Internet is the most well-known computer network. Network nodes are computer devices that originate, transport, and terminate data on a network. Hosts such as personal computers, phones, servers, and networking gear are examples of nodes. When one device can share information with another device, whether or not they have a direct connection, they are said to be networked together. Access to the World Wide Web, shared usage of application and storage servers, printers, and fax machines, and the use of email and instant messaging apps are all supported via computer networks. The physical medium used to carry signals, the communications protocols used to arrange network traffic, the network's scale, topology, and organizational intent all vary across computer networks.

Work-related Mobile Instant Messaging Use After Work Hours During Covid-19 Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has a far-reaching impact on workplace practices with billions of employees worldwide have to alter work patterns. Most employees fully embraced digital technologies, including mobile instant messaging (MIM) apps, to fulfil their work obligations under new normal. However, the work-related MIM use does not translate into good practice. Its use has extended beyond the contracted schedule, worsening work-life balance, job satisfaction and job performance among employees. Despite the gradual easing of lockdown measures, work-related MIM use after work hours will likely continue to an undetermined period as herd immunity is yet to achieve. Therefore, this captures the urgency to understand the mechanism on how work-related MIM use after work hours can be beneficial to employees during the pandemic, which is under-represented. The study elicited data through an online survey from 368 full-time employees in Malaysia. The evidence suggested employees who obtained information sharing gratification, mobile convenience gratification and self-presentation gratification enjoyed better WLB, subsequently formed higher job satisfaction and ultimately enhance their job performance, based on the postulation of the Uses and Gratification theory and Job Demands-Resources theory. Thus, work-related MIM use after work hours should not be interpreted negatively. Both researchers and practitioners should work jointly on how to implement practices concerning healthy yet sustainable MIM use after work hours to be more resilient for future pandemics.

What's up? Mobile instant messaging apps and the truckers′ uprising in Brazil

This study aims to investigate the trajectory of the truckers' uprising in Brazil in May 2018 - one of the hitherto largest social movement enabled by WhatsApp in the world - in order to understand its relationship with the use of this mobile instant messaging app. Thus, by applying the Actor-Network Theory as the theoretical and methodological lens associated with a single case study, one identified the relevant actors in the development of the socio-technical network related to this truckers' strike that occurred in Brazil. The study sets forth that this movement comprised sundry actors aligned around a single obligatory passage point – the social networks enabled by WhatsApp – and reveals that WhatsApp, with its specific dynamics, played a crucial role in an uprising that took place in a country of continental dimensions such as Brazil, favoring change in the way the demonstrators gathered and interacted, leading formal organizations to be less necessary and broadening the political participation of the society. Finally, one concluded that WhatsApp enabled a power shift from government to truck drivers and their unions, which indicates the need for a new digital governance based on distribution and transparency of information, accountability, and participation of citizens in government decisions to curb new uprisings enabled by mobile instant messaging apps.

Chatting in a mobile chamber: effects of instant messenger use on tolerance toward political misinformation among South Koreans

ABSTRACT Amid growing scholarly interest in identifying potential explanations for the persistence of fake news from an international context, this study explores the relationship between instant messaging (IM) app use and attitudes regarding political falsehoods. Using a 2018 survey from a nationally representative sample of South Korean adults, path analysis reveals that network homogeneity indirectly predicts citizens’ tolerant attitudes toward misinformation, through frequency of real-time chat app use for political communication. This process is moderated by the perceptions we hold of our political discussion partners. These results further previous understanding of IM as an intimate political communication channel that may foster consonant belief systems. Implications of our findings are discussed.

Drive Campaigns : "Anti-Sharing Images/Photographs Harassing Women On Instant Messaging Apps Phone Visting"

The presence of cross-platformmessaging apps on smartphone allows people to instantlyshare information and images/photos. However, the development of this informationtechnology also opens opportunities for the spread of gender-based of images/photos thattend to harass women. The act of harassing women through images/photos, whetherproducing or sharing them can be categorized as a violation of the law, as regulated in Law ofthe Republic of Indonesia No. 7 year 1984 on the Ratification of the Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. This study focuses on theimportance of campaign of"Anti-sharing images/ photos that harassed women in instantmessaging apps on smartphone? as a form of social and cultural responsibility in thecommunity. Qualitatively, the discussion uses the theory of design sociology as a solution tosolve problems through campaign media. The results of this study discussions are expectedto build public awareness to stop sharing habits or create images /photos that harass women,and invite people to jointly fight it.