Positives and Negatives of Online Chat Communities: What are the 'Rainbows' and 'Thunders'?
AuthorAID has created a culture of continuous learning and an informal learning approach which uses online chat communities on platforms such as WhatsApp. In particular, there are four AuthorAID Journal Club groups led by volunteer mentors. They are hosted mainly online. These Journal Clubs exist to deepen thematic conversations of peer mentorship on research matters.
'Rainbows' or Advantages of WhatsApp
AuthorAID members have reported several advantages of using WhatsApp groups, starting from the fact that it is free and easy to install. Other reported advantages are that it is safe, largely secure, reliable, informal, timely and quite convenient. The app's developers initially imposed a group size limit of 257 participants, later allowing a maximum of 524 participants. At present, group sizes are restricted to 1,024 participants, and WhatsApp now also includes 'community groups', which can collate members from distinct groups into a broadcast group.
In the age of 'Meta', there is an increasing need to integrate the wide variety of platforms where members can interact.
In the age of 'Meta', there is an increasing need to integrate the wide variety of platforms where members can interact. The various groupings of online communities composed of AuthorAID members have a particularly useful application for global research collaboration. They also enjoy some additional community benefits such as solidarity and a sense of belonging which are facilitated by enlisting and following each other on a variety of social media platforms. For example, transnational research is now possible.
As regards the potential to fall victim to online identity fraud, members seem to have found formidable ways to sift through misinformation or fake news by cross-checking facts (as disseminated by the same user identity) across various platforms and against other sources. Therefore, members can meet online, collaborate, support each other in building their careers and as champions and ambassadors of the platform.
Disadvantages or 'Thunders' of WhatsApp
Members may experience various challenges associated with asynchronous interactions in online chat platforms, such as infrastructural challenges posed by inconsistent electricity and internet supply in the Global South, which may affect online participation. In addition, personal hardships arising from arduous research challenges may affect their decision to communicate on ever-shifting priorities or missed timelines in virtual team work.
On the downside, sometimes members may be confused by discussion threads, given the asynchronous nature of the teams accessing messages across a variety of time zones. Owing to the occasionally fast pace of conversations, members may report being overwhelmed by the random mix of mundane and important messages. And thus many members prefer an email option to augment the chat platform, especially to relay serious announcements of key AuthorAID events to be sent to their email inboxes through a broadcast email feature called Google Groups, with Google Calendar reminders. Therefore, a database with a working email address really helps to reconnect members who may inadvertently exit WhatsApp, essentially a phone-based app.
In addition, dissemination of diverse and unrelated material outside the mutually agreed group rules may dilute the specificity of relevant conversations especially in 'high traffic' seasons. This may offend certain members so much that they leave for not having their group expectations met.
The group effect is a type of bias that occurs in face-to-face group discussions where some participants moderate their opinions in order to go along with a majority view of the group as a whole.
Moreover, there is often a 'group' effect, where members may perceive requests from fellow members not as their responsibility but rather pertaining to someone else, which may limit proactivity and shared responsibility. The group effect is a type of bias that occurs in face-to-face group discussions where some participants moderate their opinions in order to go along with a majority view of the group as a whole. The result of this group effect is that a consensus may not always be representative of the diverse opinions present in a group.
AuthorAID online group administration
Everything rises and falls with leadership. The day-to-day tasks involved in being an online chat community group administrator involve more than merely admitting new members and moderating members’ conversations. Eliciting members’ research goals and ongoing levels of commitment to being (pro)active are equally important. Therefore, both strategic leadership and management oversight are important traits of a group administrator.
To improve the user experience of WhatsApp platform participants, leaders may be advised to provide a listing of frequently asked questions or FAQs, dubbed 'Common Tricks and Tips for Members' to advise on structural issues such as how to secure a WhatsApp account, change settings to prevent auto-download so as to avoid filling up one's phone memory, editing auto-addition into new groups to prevent access by spammers, pinning the group for easy location sharing and starring messages, as well as storing important documents or links on a computer using WhatsApp Web. Some disadvantages are that new members may not see older content posted before they joined the group; it is not disability-friendly.
Improving functionality through mutually agreed-upon group norms is important.
Improving functionality through mutually agreed-upon group norms is important. The leaders continuously share the overall design and strategy of the Journal Club, including elaborate on-boarding procedures, ongoing feedback on the kinds of content and interactive media types allowed and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of research teams.
Overall, WhatsApp is definitely a communication staple in the Global South, because it is free and easy to use and has morphed quickly from an informal site for sharing memes to a platform for all kinds of revolutionary movements.
Dr. Joyce Wangari Ngugi, PsyD, is a Consultant Psychologist and Research Mentor; AuthorAID Research Steward, Mentor, and Social Sciences Journal Club Co-Facilitator. She is based in Kenya, East Africa, see www.wangari.africa