Redes de mensajería instantánea. Interacción entre WhatsApp y WeChat

Abstract

This research paper aims to analyze two very popular instant messaging applications in the world: WhatsApp and WeChat. The objective of this research is to study, compare, and relate these two most famous messaging services globally. To achieve this goal, the research has been divided into two distinct parts. First, a theoretical reflection has been considered essential to situate and contextualize the empirical analysis. In this section, called the theoretical framework, the importance of social networks in society and communication is introduced through their evolution and classification. A brief study of the history of instant messaging, including its origin, development, and classification, has also been conducted. Regarding the object of this research, a brief overview of the history of WhatsApp and WeChat and their functions prior to 2020 has been deemed appropriate, culminating in an analysis of their evolution from 2020 to 2023. The analysis of the evolution of these two applications focuses on eight categories: users, individual communication, collective communication, content dissemination, general tools, design, version updates, and the degree of privacy and security, in order to analyze their development trends. In this study, analytical tables have been used to investigate how these two instant messaging applications have evolved and to relate their changes. In second place, a focus group was conducted with eight users of these two applications, all of whom had experience living in China and Spain for a period of time. For this analysis, an analysis sheet was also designed to gather the participants' opinions. This research concludes that, although both applications play a communication role in people's daily lives, they exhibit very different development trends. Since the pandemic, WhatsApp continues to focus on messaging-related functions, emphasizing collective communication features. On the other hand, WeChat has invested heavily in features related to the dissemination of audiovisual content, following current trends. The differences between these two applications are attributed to their distinct positioning: WhatsApp aims to be a specific-function application, while WeChat intends to be an all-in-one application. Furthermore, the results from focus groups organized in this research indicate that these differences are also influenced by cultural factors. Spaniards value a single-function application more, while the Chinese prefer an application that encompasses all functions.