At some point in time in the media and digital coverage, which has moved forward by leaps and bounds in the XXI Century, WhatsApp, an instant messaging application came into the picture. This communication service changed the immediacy concept to convey any type of information to other people in real time.
The innovative nature of this communication channel attracted the attention of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, who valued the potential of WhatsApp and undoubtedly disbursed USD 1 billion in 2014 to improve its communication firms holding and to compete at the same level with Twitter for the market dominance and Internet users.
With the addition of WhatsApp by Zuckerberg to its communication portfolio, the Business To Consumer (B2C) benefits became stronger and were preserved.
- The audience increased to 1 billion users.
- Elimination of the user subscription model. Therefore, anyone can download it on a mobile device, without spending a penny.
- The value added by the respect for user privacy as the foundation of its corporate management.
- The implementation of the WhatsApp Web platform in Google Chrome, so users can access the application from their computers. This provides an additional benefit: a multi-platform nature.
- Zero advertising on the application.
Even the largest international media have valued WhatsApp as a working tool to achieve direct and quick contact with their audiences through their real time coverage of important events, reaching the international community. The BBC used the service for the real time coverage of parliament elections in India and to disseminate information during the Ebola crisis.
Along the same lines, the Propublica web site invites all readers to receive updates and information on research reports by getting a membership in this channel.
The preservation of these additional benefits and the corporate autonomy of WhatsApp vis-à-vis Facebook enable a communication revolution, transparency and the elimination of geographical borders through our smartphones and, in fact, in our other devices.