What is WhatsApp for?: developing transmedia skills and informal learning strategies through the use of WhatsApp: a case study with teenagers from Spain

Smartphones and WhatsApp are, respectively, the medium and application that Spanish teenagers most want. However, research into the use of WhatsApp is still quantitatively and qualitatively limited. In addition, little research has been carried out regarding its impact on the development of transmedia skills and informal learning strategies outside the classroom. This article aims to expand the knowledge on teenagers’ motivations and their development of transmedia skills and informal learning strategies in relation to their use of WhatsApp. Specifically, a qualitative analysis of data gathered from workshops, interviews, and media diaries is applied as part of a case study methodology involving teenagers from 10 schools located in five different Spanish regions. The results reveal the new WhatsApp uses teenagers are applying in their daily lives as well as the skills and strategies they are developing through said uses in the context of interpersonal and group (WhatsApp groups) interactions: on one hand, production, social, content, and individual management skills, and on the other hand, learning by doing, teaching, and evaluating strategies.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness of Spain (Grant No. CSO2014-56250-R), corresponding to the project Transalfabetismos: Competencias transmedia y estrategias informales de aprendizaje de los adolescentes [Transliteracies: Teenagers’ transmedia skills and informal learning strategies]