What’s Up with WhatsApp: Reflections on the Evolving Use of a Messaging Service by Students in Higher Education

Students are increasingly using social media with instant messaging, to build educational communities. Personal experience from my own teaching practice suggested the majority of the student cohort were engaged in these groups. When interviewing students about their sense of community in online spaces, the strength of feeling expressed about the risks and benefits of joining WhatsApp groups outweighed all other social media apps. This article uses interview data, in combination with teaching experience, to briefly reflect upon WhatsApp use in education. It concludes with a proposed pathway for further scholarship on this important emerging area of university life.