3.3 Risks and Safety in WhatsApp
One of the most common uses for WhatsApp is unofficial student groups, although it has been used for formal peer assessment activities as well (Güler, 2017). However, official use of WhatsApp by institutions has been slow to develop.
The nature of unofficial student groups means they may contain hundreds of students which means that the channels can be very busy but also include people that you do not directly know. Much of what we have said already about being careful what you post and respond to applies to this app, but there are some specific concerns around the type of accessibility that WhatsApp gives to other students. Particularly as you may be used to using the app, consider the following when using WhatsApp for group chats.
There are a range of privacy settings on WhatsApp that can help you to manage your involvement in the group. You will learn about these in the next activity.
Activity 8 Learning how to use Whatsapp wisely
The following features of WhatsApp are sometimes things that students either don’t know about, or have not had reason to actively explore. Sort them into things you already know about and have used, or those which you may now want to explore.