The Messaging Apps Mostly Used On Every Nigerian Smartphone.

When instant messaging or short message service (SMS) began in 20???
it broke a huge gap in communication. Suddenly everyone can express
themselves in a telegram -like format.
That was the Blackberry ' BIG DEAL', Evryone wanted in. If you had a
blackberry back then, even as a business executive, you are on top of
your game.


Therefore every executive had to scramble for the that wonder machine.
But now, all that paparazzi moves are done with. Smart phones are
every where in different colours and flavours of operating systems. Or
f you like, the four most popular smart phone system - IOS, Android,
Rims and Windows.

Good enough, but all these platforms now crazily engage youths, well,
mostly, in a frenzy, with messaging Apps that says 'I can do anything
for you', But in all of this confusion to get a chunk of a bite off
users, some particular Apps stand out.

Messaging apps are greatly used because they allow users to send free
texts and multimedia messages to individuals or groups.But when you
say multimedia, you hit on videos right? Yes. A study found that above
the need for people to message, and send images, video conferencing and
live video chats , real time occurrences will need to be captured by
users. Device manufacturers, newspapers going comatose and free press
have been some of the reasons for this. So every App maker wants in.

Below are some of the top used messaging apps.

1. Whatsapp Messenger: WhatsApp Messenger is an instant messaging app which lets you exchange messages without having to pay unlike Short Message Service (SMS) but requires an internet in form of  a data connection which can be bought at lower rates from the various network providers or a wiFi connection. Whatsapp calling was introduced on the android platform earlier this year (April 2015) and have also just introduced a video call feature which is being used by few but seems to be gaining grounds as days wind on.  If you don’t have whatsapp, you should get it.

2. Facebook: Facebook is a general interest social networking website and service where users can post comments, share photographs and links to news or other interesting content on the Web, play games, chat live, and even stream live videos. Shared contents can be made publicly accessible,
or it can be shared only among a selected group of friends or family, or with a single person. It's almost the easiest way to find old friends. If you want to connect to the world, then you should sign up on facebook.

3. Facebook Messenger: Facebook messenger is an instant messaging service and software application which provides text and voice communication.  Messenger lets Facebook users chat with friends both on mobile and on the main website.

 4. Instagram: Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them either publicly or privately on the app, as well as through a variety of other social networking platforms.

5.  Blackberry Messenger:  BBM is an Internet-based instant messenger application included on blackberry devices that allows messaging and voice calls between BlackBerry, iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile  users.

6. Twitter: Twitter is a free social networking service that allows registered members to broadcast short posts called tweets. Twitter members can broadcast tweets and follow other users' tweets by using multiple platforms and devices.

 7. SnapChat: You've probably heard about Snapchat. It's the popular mobile app that allows you to send videos and pictures, both of which will self destruct after a few seconds of a person viewing them.

Snapchat is also a fun messaging app. You can capture a photo or brief video with it, then add a caption or doodle or filter/lens over top, and send the finished creation (called a snap) to a friend.





In conclusion, from my observations, i personally think the aforementioned social media apps are mostly used because they make communication with friends, family, clients/customers or business partners easier. They also allow for wide range of marketing of products and services. 

Whatsapp seem to standout from all other messaging apps because of the
free access it affords to its users. Unlike other apps, all you need
to start a whatsapp chat is a mobile network number and active data. Just download the app, input your number and you're set, so far youhave internet connection. Statistics have it that whatsapp messenger
has over 700 million monthly active users, over 27 Billion messages are sent in one day and over 400 million photos are shared daily compared to 500 million messages recorded by twitter on a daily basis
while facebook records an impressive number of over 10 billion messages. Facebook seem to outrun whatsapp in the number of video views on a daily basis which is up to 8 Billion views per day.