Hannah Doran representation held within the app is also worth noting . Indeed , Anable notes that “ on the levels of representation and mechanics , [ mobile games ] can seem like fantasy ” ( Anable 2018 : 90 ). Therefore , although there are a multitude of apps that could be used to evidence the mobile-asmirror , in our application of the term , we are interested in a social media messaging app ’ s capacity to reflect real life , real lived experiences , and a real sense of self that is not bound by the conventions of fiction .
Another quick justification is to be made to explain our selection of WhatsApp and Discord as apps for exploration over say Facebook or Twitter . One may argue that these apps are very similar in the sense that they are all types of social media apps , along with Instagram , Snapchat , and more outdated sites such as Bebo and MySpace . Indeed , this is true , and as Frosh points out , “ the development of ‘ polymedia ’” induces a sense of “ awareness of the range of media available for different purposes ” ( Frosh 2019 : 7 ). One can recall the postphenomenological study done with four women by Warfield mentioned earlier . Within the study , a woman reflects on a selfie she has just taken :
So that one ’ s “ okay .” Like I would share that more over Snapchat but not over , maybe Instagram , but not Facebook . ( Warfield 2017 : 87 )
And so , we can identify the main capability of all social media apps to be world-producing in their own ways ( Frosh 2019 ). However , a key distinction lies with the priority and focus of the social interaction . Simply
28 put , Facebook and Twitter are social media platforms , whereas WhatsApp and Discord are social media messaging platforms . Partaking in posting a ‘ status ’ on Facebook can be akin to shouting into a void in the sense that it gets posted in your ‘ profile page ’ ( formerly known as ‘ wall ’) and does not dictate a response from anyone you are ‘ friends ’ with on there . I am more interested in the mobile-as-mirror in relation to the social media messaging platforms of WhatsApp and Discord because interaction on these platforms – one sending a message – in a sense dictates a response because everyone else in your WhatsApp ‘ group chat ’ or Discord ‘ server ’ ordinarily would get a notification to respond . Social media apps invite people to speak , social media messaging apps invite people to converse . Conversation occurring can be a key starting point for the reflection of other worlds . I will briefly explain the make-up of the WhatsApp and Discord mobile apps separately before suggesting how each app , through the mobile-as-mirror , can generate , construct , and reveal worlds ( Frosh , 2019 ).
WhatsApp was founded in 2009 as an alternative means of texting that uses the internet , instead of an SMS that uses mobile network access . Purchased by Facebook in 2014 , WhatsApp has more than 2 billion users that can send messages , images , documents , GPS location , and voice notes via one-on-one messaging and / or via group chats ( WhatsApp Inc 2020 ). Discord was founded in 2015 as a means for people to converse whilst they were