Queen's University Digital Theory Project

1. The Rise of Instant Messaging
WhatsApp
• November
2009
Facebook
Messenger
• August 2011
Snapchat
• September
2011
Images via Google Advanced Image SearchBy: Florian Ntibarigobeka

2. The Beginning
For millennials ,
instant messaging
really took off with
MSN messenger.
Image via Google Advanced Image Search

3. “…MSN made me realise there was more to
life than talking face-to-face”
Images via Google Advanced Image Search
Source: RIP MSN: A 15 year history of Microsoft’s revolutionary
messenger by Zak Thomas

4. It wasn’t all fun and games though…
Image via Eugene Zemlyanskiy (Flickr) Image via Jean-Pierre Dalbera (Flickr)

5. In 2003, MSN closed its chat room services in various places
across the world, as child safety issues were brought to
attention. It was reported that “one in five children aged 9 to
16 used chat rooms, with more than half having engaged in
sex chat.”
Image via Google Advanced Image Search
Source: RIP MSN: A 15 year history of Microsoft’s revolutionary messenger by Zak Thomas

6. In 2005, MSN was rebranded as
Windows Live Messenger.
Image via mynetx (Flickr)Image via Google Advanced Image Search

7. Windows Live
Messenger merged
with Skype in 2012
With this emergence,
Microsoft’s aim was to
provide users with a
more interpersonal
experience- better video
chat features and
Facebook integration.

8. “In the early days
of messaging, we
interacted on
desktops.”
Source: A brief history: chat, instant messaging and texting for work by Dan Nieves
Images via Google Advanced Image Search

9. The most widely used form of
communication
Immediate back and forth
exchange in real time
Email vs Instant Messaging
Image via Google Advanced Image Search
Image via Jan Persiel (Flickr, modified in
size)

10. Why is Snapchat
so popular?
“Snapchat is a reminder
that constraints have a
social purpose, that there is
beauty in simplicity, and
that the ephemeral is
valuable.”
Image via Ryan NagelMann (Flickr)
Source: Why Snapchat is Valuable: It’s All
About Attention by Danah Boyd

11. Snapchat Benefits
• No risk factor
• Private messaging for a social network
• Personalized experience due to photo-based application
• Face-to-face engagement could lead to business ventures
Source: Four benefits to using Snapchat and its self-destructing
messages in pharmaceutical marketing by Michael Smith

12. “Collecting Twitter
followers is like a
pat on the back”
Source: Digital overload: How we are seduced by
distraction by Erin Anderssen
Image via Kooroshication (Flickr, modified in
size)- bird
Image via Google Advanced Image Search- sign

13. Twitter Benefits
• Gives one a support network
• Lets you examine other people’s perspective
• Gives you a large outlet for self-expression
• Allows you to create observations on social
scales
Source: 5 Misunderstood Benefits of Twitter
by Dave Larson

14. WhatsApp
“...readily available across a
wide selection of
smartphones, including
Android, BlackBerry,
Windows Phone and even
some Nokia/Symbian
phones. ”
Source: iMessage vs WhatsApp: The 2 Most Popular iOS Messaging
Apps Compared by GuidingTech
Images via Google Advanced Image Search

15. WhatsApp Benefits
• Runs on multiple devices
• No international roaming charges
• Backup chat
• Read messages offline
Source: What are the features/Advantages of WhatsApp by
the WhatsApp Guide

16. Dopamine Squirt
Checking Twitter,
Facebook, Snapchat, and
other forms of social media
give us a mental boost of
energy that we may need
throughout the day.
Image via Google Advanced Image
Search

17. On the other hand…
“Facebook, when
visited obsessively, has
been linked to
depression and eating
disorders in teenage
girls.”
Image via Ray MacLean (Flickr)
Source: Digital overload: How we are seduced
by distraction by Erin Anderssen

18. Maria Konnikova argues that “Facebook isn’t the
problem. It’s the symptom”
The fact that we are connected 24/7 allows us to
always be ‘on’. We are always ready to respond to a
message; retweet, regram, and repin something- it
makes us feel important that others are thinking about
us.

19. Facebook uses network science to create a profile of
you, based off of what information you allow it to see.
When signing up for an account, Facebook asks you
for permission to view a number of things, including:
• Email contacts (if you’re on a desktop computer)
• Phone contacts (if you’re on a smartphone)

20. Controversy
On August 7th, 2014, Nicole
Bogart argued the
controversial permissions
that Facebook’s messaging
app asks users to accept.

21. Android
• “On Android, all permissions are
asked for upfront when you download
an app- so the user sees requests for
permission to ‘allow the app to record
audio,’ for example, before they may
know there is an audio recording
feature.”
iOS
• “…asks the user to grant
permission to use features as
they try to access them in the
app.”
Operating Systems
Source: Is Facebook’s Messenger app as scary as it
sounds? By Nicole Bogart

22. Multicommunication
• 47% of Canadians own a smartphone.
• “We live in a time of multicommunicating,
where no one person gets attention for
long.”
• Because we are always connected, it makes
it hard for us to focus on the task at hand in
the workplace, school and elsewhere. Source: Sorry to be rude, but my smartphone needs my
attention by Leah Eichler
Image via Pixabay

23. Digital Literacy
These 6 key aspects of digital literacy exemplify how
we should approach instant messaging in our daily
lives:
1. Finding and Verifying
2. Ethics and Empathy
3. Privacy and Security
4. Digital Health
5. Consumer Awareness
6. Community Engagement Image via Google Advanced Image Search
Source: Use, understand, and create: Towards A Comprehensive Canadian Digital
Literacy Approach by Matthew Johnson

24. Final Thoughts
In today’s digital age, instant messaging has taken over as the
primary means of communication. We are able to send a text,
snap, tweet, Facebook message and more, to whomever we
please- across different parts of the world.

25. Works Cited
Bogart, Nicole. "Is Facebook's Messenger App as Scary as It Sounds?" Global News Is Facebooks Messenger App as Scary as It Sounds. 07 Aug. 2014. Web. 12 June 2015.
Boyd, Danah. "Why Snapchat Is Valuable: It's All About Attention." Linkedin. 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 June 2015.
Bradley, Tony. "Email vs. IM vs. SMS: Choosing the Right One." PCWorld. 13 Jan. 2012. Web. 12 June 2015.
Dewey, Caitlin. "How Facebook Knows Who All Your Friends Are, Even Better than You Do." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 12 June 2015.
"Digital Overload: How We Are Seduced by Distraction." The Globe and Mail. Erin Anderssen, 29 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 June 2015.
Eichler, Leah. "Sorry to Be Rude, but My Smartphone Needs My Attention." The Globe and Mail. 4 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 June 2015.
"IMessage vs WhatsApp: Which Is the Better IOS Messaging App?" Guiding Tech. Web. 12 June 2015.
Johnson, Matthew. "Use, Understand & Create: Towards a Comprehensive Canadian Digital Literacy Curriculum." Use, Understand & Create: Towards a Comprehensive Canadian Digital
Literacy Curriculum. 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 June 2015.
Konnikova, Maria. "How Facebook Makes Us Unhappy." Queen's University Proxy Service. 10 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 June 2015.
Larson, Dave. "5 Misunderstood Great Benefits Of Twitter - - The Buffer Blog." Buffer Social. 25 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 June 2015.
Nieves, Dan. "The History of Work Messaging." Cotap. 09 Dec. 2014. Web. 12 June 2015.
Smith, Michael. "Four Benefits to Using Snapchat and Its Self-destructing Messages in Pharmaceutical Marketing." The Talk. Web. 12 June 2015.
Thomas, Zak. "RIP MSN: A 15 Year History of Microsoft's Revolutionary Messenger | ITProPortal.com." ITProPortal. 02 Sept. 2014. Web. 12 June 2015.
Vilches, Jose. "It's Official: Skype Will Replace Windows Live Messenger Soon." TechSpot. 6 Nov. 2012. Web. 12 June 2015.
"What Are the Features / Advantages of WhatsApp Messenger? - WhatsApp Guide." WhatsApp Guide. 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 June 2015.