Mobile Instant Messaging System Research Articles

'Mandami un messaggio’: sulla comunicazione con i messaggi di testo come possibilità, costrizione e desiderio

'Send me a message': on communication with text messages as possibility, constriction and desire. The responsibility for deciding if, how and when an artefact shoud be used does not fall solely on the user. A significant amount of research in the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) has highlighted the complex interrelationship that determines the way we use objects. Many elements attributable to both the social sphere and the technological dimension are responsible for the way the device is effectively used. In this article we intend to, firstly, understand the distribution scheme of responsibility proposed by the literature, in which users, objects and relative contexts constitute and configure practices of use. Secondly, we will try to explore a particular configuration of this scheme in which user's responsibility is greatly diminished. To illustrate and analyze the main aspects of this configuration, we will focus on the use of mobile instant messaging systems. This case study allows us to observe the ways in which smartphones, in certain contexts, impose a particular behaviour on people, reducing their responsibility in choosing the mode of use.

A Model for Social Communication Network in Mobile Instant Messaging Systems

Mobile instant messaging (MIM) systems have provided very convenient ways for communication and information exchange in recent years. Interesting features of these applications have made them important platforms for spreading information, idea, behavior, and rumor. In contrast to traditional social networks, communication in MIM applications is not necessarily based on friendship relations. In group-based communication and broadcasting in channels that are prominent features of MIM systems, users may send messages to and receive messages from people with whom do not already have friendly relations. This kind of communication leads to the creation of special network in which not only users and their contact lists but also groups and channels are involved. Existing complex network models are not sufficiently expressive to represent this kind of communication network. In this article, we introduce the concept of social communication network (SCN) to be able to consider special structural properties of communications in MIM systems and propose a model for representing and generating the SCN in MIM systems. The proposed model covers all social communications between users, groups, and channels and exhibits the statistics observed in real-world data. We also redefine some existing properties and introduce some new properties of the MIM network that earlier models of complex networks do not capture. To evaluate the proposed model, we conduct a number of simulation experiments on the model and compare the results with a real-world graph that we have extracted from Telegram. The results show that SCN derived by the model is highly compatible with the real-world graph. The proposed model provides a useful basis for analysis and evaluation of MIM network properties.

An empirical analysis of the determinants of mobile instant messaging appropriation in university learning

Research on technology adoption often profiles device usability (such as perceived usefulness) and user dispositions (such as perceived ease of use) as the prime determinants of effective technology adoption. Since any process of technology adoption cannot be conceived out of its situated contexts, this paper argues that any pre-occupation with technology acceptance from the perspective of device usability and user dispositions potentially negates enabling contexts that make successful adoption a reality. Contributing to contemporary debates on technology adoption, this study presents flexible mobile learning contexts comprising cost (device cost and communication cost), device capabilities (portability, collaborative capabilities), and learner traits (learner control) as antecedents that enable the sustainable uptake of emerging technologies. To explore the acceptance and capacity of mobile instant messaging systems to improve student performance, the study draws on these antecedents, develops a factor model and empirically tests it on tertiary students at a South African University of Technology. The study involved 223 national diploma and bachelor’s degree students and employed partial least squares for statistical analysis. Overall, the proposed model displayed a good fit with the data and rendered satisfactory explanatory power for students’ acceptance of mobile learning. Findings suggest that device portability, communication cost, collaborative capabilities of device and learner control are the main drivers of flexible learning in mobile environments. Flexible learning context facilitated by learner control was found to have a positive influence on attitude towards mobile learning and exhibited the highest path coefficient of the overall model. The study implication is that educators need to create varied learning opportunities that leverage learner control of learning in mobile learning systems to enhance flexible mobile learning. The study also confirmed the statistical significance of the original Technology Acceptance Model constructs.

A Novel System Architecture for Mobile Campus Information Push Systems

E-mail, SMS (Short Message Service) and traditional mobile information push methods cannot meet the need of mobile digital campus systems due to no prompt, inefficiency, expensive and low acceptance rate. Mobile PubSub (publish-subscribe) system and mobile instant messaging system are two ways to implement mobile information push. The former mainly adopts HTTP polling mode to request updated information, but its efficiency is low. On the contrary, the latter has good instantaneity, but it lacks subscribe capability and cannot push information on demand. Also, most of mobile information push systems provide text message service only, and cannot support streaming media service. To solve these problems, in this paper, a novel system architecture is proposed by combining the PubSub protocol (PubSubHubbub), instant messaging protocol (XMPP, Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) and streaming media protocol (RTMP, Real-Time Messaging Protocol). Also a new mobile campus information push system based on this novel hybrid system architecture is designed and implemented. Our experimental results have shown that our push system can provide reliable streaming media service with high efficiency and instantaneity. Index Terms—Mobile Push, PubSubHubbub, XMPP, RTMP

Key identifiers and spelling conventions in MXit-lingo as found in conversations with Dr Math

Different human languages look different from other human languages. To use a term from the computer industry, each human language has its own “look and feel”. European English speakers can easily recognise a phrase such as “Comment allez-vous?” as being written in French while the phrase “¿Habla usted español?” is written in Spanish. Each language has its own letter frequencies, word frequencies and other identifiers. This paper describes key identifiers in MXit lingo as found in Dr Math conversations. MXit is a mobile instant messaging system which originated in South Africa and is expanding to other countries. Dr Math is a mobile tutoring system which uses MXit as a communication protocol. Primary and secondary school pupils can receive help with the mathematics homework using the Dr Math tutoring system. The pupils use MXit on their cell phones and the tutors use traditional Internet workstations. After exploring how MXit lingo is written, this paper will briefly explore why MXit lingo is written the way it is. By identifying and describing the orthographic conventions visible in the spelling of MXit lingo, although with some theoretical support, insight into the purposeful and functional nature of written, mobile communication will be revealed. In highlighting spelling that is influenced by Black South African English, an attempt will be made to contribute to the empirical development of a field of study that explores the construction of words used in South African mobile communication.Keywords: MXit, Math, letters, writing, orthographyDisciplines: Linguistics, mathematics, information technology

MXit it up in the media: Media discourse analysis on a mobile instant messaging system

Mobile instant messaging has the potential of providing the youth not only with a social space where they can interact and bond but also with a learning environment. MXit is the most popular mobile instant messaging application in South Africa. Due to its nascency, little academic research has been done on the application. The application has drawn considerable local media interest; however, most of the media coverage has been negative. Media discourse of the application is of academic interest, since media discourse is one of the many ways through which reality is constructed. This means there is a relationship between media discourse and public opinion. Distortions in the media may misinform and engender impaired decision making amongst policymakers as well as members of the public. Discourse analysis can reveal distortions in media communication and counter misinformation. Using critical discourse analysis, we have analysed the media discourse on MXit by employing the Habermasian concept of the ideal speech situation and its validity claims as a conceptual tool. The analysis shows that (i) the media discourse is fraught with distortions; (ii) the media have mainly used the voice of adults to legitimise the discourse and the voices of the youth who are the main users of the application are missing; and (iii) there seems to be a moral panic developing around the use of MXit.