• TICHAVANASHE MUPETI IN this era of smart phones and other IT devices, communication is being dominated by networking platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp and Viber, to name a few.
Among those, applications like Viber and Skype already allow a person to make phone calls, and even video calls.
So what’s the big deal about WhatsApp getting that function? Perhaps because it is one of, if not the most used application in Africa.
WhatsApp, a messaging application that was purchased by Facebook for over US$19 billion, is one of the most downloaded paid apps in the world. Having registered over 700 million users in January, WhatsApp is definitely a busy application.
“I cannot live without WhatsApp! Fast, and easy to share my messages, pictures and other multimedia with friends,” says Dalah Hapulile, a 33-year-old Windhoek marketing and PR officer.
Adding the calling function to this communication powerhouse will prove to be a real challenge for the traditional telecommunications worldwide. The calling functionality is only available in the newest version of WhatsApp and can be download from the WhatsApp website. One cannot call another user of WhatsApp user unless the person receiving the call also has this new version of the application.
Well, it’s a way of sending text to anyone on the platform, anywhere in the world, at a very low price. It’s also possible to send audio and video messages as well as pictures. This is all done using your mobile 3G/4G internet connection, or WIFI, which is what makes it so cheap.
The addition of the calling function means cheaper calling using the internet. WhatsApp is already a must-have application for mobile users, and has, over time, replaced the use of text messages. Perhaps, in the same way, this will take over network and landline-based calls in the future.
One of WhatsApp’s most beloved features is the group chat. This is a function that permits users to make groups of up to 100 people, and they can all share texts and multimedia in a group context. This is very useful for group communication. Each user can have a profile picture as well as a status that can say what they are up to. It also has a ‘last seen at’, which shows the last time a user was seen online (good thing it’s not ‘last seen with’).
WhatsApp is an application for all ages, and especially useful for communicating with those beyond borders. Silas David, a 19-year-old Geo IT at the Polytechnic of Namibia, says WhatsApp has been an easy, cheap way to communicate with friends and group chats are a lot of fun.
Vernon Swanepoel, a 42-year-old tour operator based in Windhoek says, WhatsApp is very useful, especially to stay in touch with his parents in Cape Town and sister in England. “I can easily keep in touch with my whole family”
