Assessing mobile instant messenger networks with donated data.

ABSTRACT: Despite the increasing popularity and societal relevance of mobile instant messenger services (MIMSs) such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal, the vast majority of the research on social media is focused on the "traditional" social media platforms such as Twitter (X) and Facebook, mostly due to the difficulty of accessing MIMSs data. Consequently, little is known about even the most basic topological features of societal-scale instant messenger networks. To overcome this knowledge gap, we employ the innovative approach of data donation by respondents of a high-quality probability-based panel in the Netherlands (the LISS panel) to collect user data while preserving their privacy. Focusing on WhatsApp as the most popular MIMS, this study collects the first measurement of MIMS usage on a nation

SUBMITTER: Corten R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12819457 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature