This application has become very popular popular in India, what with it having 200 million users! Of course, one could attribute that figure to our population, but that wouldn't take away from the fact of it being a very popular application.
My enginerd-friends (I just happened to coin that - engineer+nerd=enginerd! If this word ever makes into the OED, I must be given credit) discuss its security features on WhatsApp, the electrician sends me pictures of light fittings using WhatsApp, the residents in the neighbourhood discuss issues on WhatsApp so do my family, former and current colleagues, friends and peers. It took a while for my mother to get comfortable with using it - the convenience of screaming at all her kids at once seemed quite attractive, I suppose - and she did face moments of embarrassment along the way, but we never complained. And if you are lazy to type, just record your message!
But the uses of the application has made us take the related etiquette for granted. Heavy attachments, forwarded messages that have no relevance to the group-interests, dilution of discussions and inaccurate information are quite common. Messages for missing parents and lost pets continue to circulate long after the parent or pet has been found.
A friend had once lamented that her students were citing Wikipedia as a source in their research articles; I was scared to burst her bubble by telling her that people cite WhatsApp forwards in their professional write-ups.
A few days back, I found this on good friend Mukund’s Facebook status: A few Noble Laureates and Harvard Ph.Ds formed a WhatsApp group. On the third day there were senseless forwards in the group.
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