Ask any smartphone-wielding Indonesian about their messaging apps and they would most likely say a combination of two, maybe three apps, aside from SMS, the usage of which had been in serious decline over the past year. WhatsApp, BlackBerry Messenger, and Line tend to be the top three messaging apps mentioned by Indonesians. Although people do actively use other messaging apps, they are not as prominent on people’s minds.
For most people, WhatsApp and BlackBerry Messenger are still the two dominant messaging apps. While the Asian apps are seen as more playful and casual thanks to the image that their marketing campaigns had been pushing, these two apps are more businesslike and preferred in the workplace.
Microsoft’s Skype is also another one that’s widely accepted in workplaces but most people consider Skype as a video or audio conference tool instead of a text messaging app. Even though Microsoft recently rolled MSN Messenger into Skype, it still remains to be seen whether former MSN members will embrace it.
When communicating with different groups of people however, in recent times it has become a juggling act in managing several different applications and services. One group may prefer the use of one app while others are fans of another app. Certain individuals might also prefer a completely different channel of communication. All this diversity is forcing people to download and sign up to several different apps and services just to maintain communications.
There hasn’t been a prior point in history in which people are so immediately connected through so many different ways yet still face difficulties in deciding which communication channels to use. Some people are reluctant to give away their mobile phone numbers while others insist on traditional means. Some insist on emails, others may not find email practical.
Those with private phone numbers would rule out apps which rely on phone numbers such as Viber and WhatsApp. Those who are on Path, Line or KakaoTalk may keep their profiles private. Google+ can be an issue for those with multiple Gmail or Google Apps email addresses while WeChat is still not popular outside of China. Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime are limited to iOS and OS X devices and still have issues that make the experience less pleasant.
With the rise of all these messaging apps and the eventual outcome of having them as full fledged social networks or platforms, it doesn’t seem like things are becoming easier. On the other hand, the separation of communications channels can make it more practical for people to manage their contacts as they are more likely to immediately know where to look for archives of past conversations with certain people.
These past few years, dozens of companies have been built to launch purpose-built messaging services despite the fact that general messaging apps also serve similar functions. Niches are carved, functions highlighted, features added in, all in the name of doing things differently. Of course, people happily embrace any new service but there’s seemingly little loyalty to each because it’s so easy to switch between these apps and they still serve the same basic purpose.
Ultimately, is having one messaging app more manageable than having several different ones that work in slightly different ways and used by different groups of people? All signs seem to favor people preferring to have different apps, at least for the time being. So which messaging apps do you use?
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