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EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 1
This is an original manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International
Journal of Human-Computer Interaction on 27th August 2023, available
at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2023.2247557
‘The bloody WhatsApp thing’: A qualitative investigation of experiences of social
messaging in a volunteering setting
Rachel Manning1 and Phoebe Brook-Rowland2
1School of Psychology, University of Buckingham, MK18 1EG; 2Centre for Health, Wellbeing
and Behaviour Change, Institute for Sport and Physical Activity Research, University of
Bedfordshire, MK41 9EA
Rachel Manning https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8450-4104
Phoebe Brook-Rowland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6977-6267
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 2
‘The bloody WhatsApp thing’: A qualitative investigation of experiences of social
messaging in a volunteering setting
Abstract
Research on the use of social messaging systems and on volunteering has indicated divergent
experiences of each. We bring together research in these two domains using an examination
of experiences of WhatsApp use by volunteers for a specific charity. Our qualitative analysis
illustrates benefits and challenges of using WhatsApp in this specific context. While
WhatsApp was perceived as facilitating information exchange in support of volunteering
activity, it was also seen as a compromise. Moreover, the perceived noisy intrusion of
WhatsApp alerts and lack of a clear, shared purpose of the group was experienced negatively.
Our findings are used to discuss some of the potential practical implications for volunteer
experiences. We also highlight the potential for our research to contribute to the theoretical
development of our understanding of the volunteering process and introduce the concept of
digital volunteerspaces to point to the potential for future lines of inquiry.
Keywords: WhatsApp, volunteering, digital volunteerspaces, digital volunteerplaces,
qualitative methods, social messaging
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 3
Introduction
Volunteers and volunteer-supporting organisations make use of internet technologies in a
variety of ways (Hackler & Saxton, 2007; Piatak et al, 2018; Raja-Yusof et al, 2016),
however research and theorisation in this area is limited. Moreover, ostensibly conflicting
findings indicate the need for more complexity in our understanding of the contribution of
such technologies to volunteering in specific contexts. For example, research on volunteering
often indicates the benefits of volunteering for wellbeing (e.g. Appau & Awaworyi Churchill,
2019), but also that volunteering is not a universally positive experience (e.g. Gray et al,
2023; Snyder, Omoto & Crain, 1999). Likewise, research has highlighted potential links
between engagement with social messaging and wellbeing, but has also pointed to issues such
as information overload (Ardèvol-Abreu et al, 2022; Matthes et al, 2020), and has in turn
emphasised the need for greater nuance in our understanding (Kaye & Quinn, 2020).
In this paper, we aim to bring together research on volunteering and social messaging
systems by examining the use of WhatsApp by volunteers in the specific context of a
particular charity in the UK. In doing so we aim to contribute both to the exploration of some
of the aforementioned tensions identified in existing research, and to the discussion of how
online social interaction/messaging systems might better support those participating in the
third sector – a sector which has historically been underserved by technology (Voida et al,
2012). Furthermore, we aim to develop the theorisation of volunteering in relation to digital
dimensions of experience.
We begin by setting out the scope of volunteering in the UK and the broader approaches to
the psychology of volunteering that our work seeks to draw on: the Volunteer Process Model
(Omoto & Snyder, 2010) and social identity approach (Social Identity Theory, Tajfel &
Turner, 1979, 1986, and Self Categorisation Theory, Turner et al, 1987). Within this broader
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 4
theoretical context, we highlight some concerns in supporting volunteer experiences, and
begin to consider the role of online social interaction systems in this support. We point to
existing work in the volunteer sector that has focussed specifically on the use of WhatsApp,
highlighting features of this particular messaging application that lend themselves to further
investigation and inform our approach. Our qualitative investigation of volunteer experiences
of WhatsApp is presented and discussed in the remainder of this paper.
Developing psychological understandings of volunteering to consider social messaging
systems
Volunteering is an activity undertaken regularly by millions of people in the UK; in the year
from April 2020 to March 2021, official records indicate that of adults aged over 16, 17% had
formally volunteered and 33% had informally volunteered at least once a month (gov.uk,
2022). In spite of the prevalence of volunteering behaviours, this particular form of prosocial
behaviour has been relatively neglected in Psychology, with research generally favouring
more short term, ‘emergency’ type activity as its target (Penner & Finkelstein, 2008). While
volunteering has key differences to work-based activities, it has additionally been suggested
that the nature and form of volunteering has changed in recent years. For example, some
researchers have indicated that volunteering is becoming less of a collective act and more
individualistic (Van Puyvelde, 2016), with individuals volunteering more episodically and
motivated by specific personal goals they wish to achieve, such as gaining relevant
experience for future employment (Simosi et al, 2015). Such findings are indicative of how
changes in the broader context may in turn impact on volunteer experiences.
Recent social psychological research has increasingly highlighted the group dimension of
prosocial behaviours and volunteer processes in particular (Gray & Stevenson, 2020; Omoto
& Snyder, 2002, 2010). This work draws in particular on the social identity approach (SIA,
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 5
incorporating Social Identity Theory, Tajfel & Turner, 1979, 1986, and Self-Categorization
Theory, Turner et al, 1987), which highlights the importance of group memberships and
group-level processes alongside individual-level factors. So, for example, building on
research that has highlighted the benefits of volunteering for wellbeing (e.g. Appau &
Churchill, 2019), work drawing on the SIA has indicated that group processes mediate the
relationship between volunteering and wellbeing (Bowe et al, 2020). While this work is in its
relative infancy, there is considerable scope to investigate the collective nature of
volunteering (Gray & Stevenson, 2020).
In order to expand this body of research to consider the use of online messaging systems, in
this paper we additionally aim to build on the Volunteer Process Model (VPM) developed by
Omoto, Snyder, and colleagues (Omoto & Snyder, 1995, 2002, 2010). Research using this
approach has highlighted more negative aspects of volunteering experiences (such as in the
case of the stigmatisation of AIDS volunteers, Snyder, Omoto & Crain, 1999, Dwyer, Snyder
& Omoto, 2013; and volunteering during COVID, Gray et al, 2023), thus challenging the idea
that volunteering is straightforwardly related to positive outcomes. The VPM considers
volunteerism as a process that develops over time, and distinguishes three stages of
volunteering; antecedents – what motivates an individual to volunteer; experiences – what
happens during the course of volunteering; and consequences – the outcomes for the
volunteer. In our current paper, we are specifically interested in the experiences stage of the
volunteer process, given the relative lack of attention to this element of the volunteer process
(Vantilborgh & Van Puyvelde, 2018).
Importantly for our current purposes, the VPM (Omoto & Snyder, 1995, 2002, 2010)
proposes a multi-level understanding of influences on the volunteer process: individual
(processes which bring individuals to volunteering and influence the eventual ending of their
involvement), interpersonal/social group (relationships between voluntary staff and paid staff,
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 6
volunteers and service users, and between volunteers), organizational (recruiting, managing
and retaining volunteers), and societal/cultural context (societal structures and cultural
dynamics, Omoto & Snyder, 2010; Snyder & Omoto, 2008). The model provides a broader
structure in which to consider the kinds of collective processes highlighted by the SIA (Bowe
et al, 2020; Gray & Stevenson, 2020). Furthermore, it also provides a framework which, we
will argue, warrants the addition of a ‘digital level’ of volunteer phenomena.
The potential for online messaging systems to support volunteering and volunteer
experiences
Internet technologies have of course been used in a variety of ways by volunteer
organisations, particularly in terms of facilitating recruitment, as well as shaping types of
volunteer opportunities (e.g. Naqshbandi et al, 2020; Raja-Yusof et al, 2016). However, in
line with the relative neglect of volunteering from a psychological perspective, the role of
specific media or online tools in the volunteering process has yet to be fully explored. Online
social messaging systems, by their very nature, appear to offer opportunities to enhance the
support of volunteers – both through direct use by the organisations, but also by facilitating
interaction between volunteers themselves in order to facilitate peer support. Research has
highlighted how communication from volunteer organisations as well as fellow volunteers
can be related to higher levels of volunteer satisfaction and identification, for example
through enhancing a volunteer’s sense of certainty (Kramer et al, 2013). In addition, it has
been shown that giving and receiving support can enhance group identity which can in turn
enhance group efficacy (Haslam et al, 2021).
Thus, given the potential for online messaging systems to facilitate communication amongst
group members, as well as between organisations and its members, the use of such systems
by volunteer organisations may facilitate the development of a collective level of volunteer
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 7
belonging that in turn enhances the support and thereby the retention of volunteers. The use
of online messaging systems therefore offers considerable potential to support various stages
of the volunteer process, as well as enhancing the delivery of volunteer services in the context
of fewer resources (Piatak et al, 2018; Raja-Yusof et al, 2016).
However, while such technologies initially appear to offer a number of advantages for
volunteer-supporting organisations, it is notable from the wider literature on social
networking sites and smartphone usage, that contrasting effects have been found, particularly
in terms of the implications for wellbeing. This somewhat echoes the traditionally positive
association between wellbeing and volunteering (e.g. Appau & Awaworyi Churchill, 2019)
that contrasts with findings that that this is not always the case (e.g. Snyder et al, 1999; Gray
et al, 2023), which we noted earlier. For example, researchers have highlighted how
smartphones in particular have contributed to a sense of people being ‘Permanently Online
and Permanently Connected’ (POPC): the feeling that messages received require an
immediate response, which has in turn been demonstrated as having a negative effect on
wellbeing (e.g. Matthes et al, 2020). As Matthes et al point out, smartphone-facilitated social
networking sites (SNS) in particular may, on the one hand, be empowering, but, on the other,
overwhelm. Notifications can be experienced as an interruption to primary tasks, and can be
perceived as requiring an immediate response. Karapanos et al (2016) have illustrated
dissatisfying experiences with WhatsApp in particular, including unwanted group
participation and lack of control over one’s availability. Likewise, Ardèvol-Abreu et al
(2022) illustrate how the various dimensions of technostress are evident (albeit in context-
specific ways) in social messaging system use. As Kaye and Quinn (2020) have highlighted
for instant messaging more generally, there are a variety of factors that impact on the
relationship between wellbeing and the use of such technologies. Such complexity indicates
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 8
the need for continued, in-depth investigation of this medium in order to examine its use in
different contexts.
We therefore begin our investigation by focusing on one specific messaging application:
WhatsApp. As one of the most widely used messenger apps (Statista, 2022), research has
highlighted the use of WhatsApp in enabling social interactions between individuals and
within groups, as well as for maintaining friendships (Kaye & Quinn, 2020). Kaye and Quinn
(2020) have illustrated how a sense of affiliation to others in a WhatsApp group is important,
and that a sense of group identity may be derived through such online social interaction
systems. WhatsApp is therefore a particularly interesting medium to explore in a volunteering
context given the different social practices that the app affords. For example, Karapanos et al
(2016) have highlighted the heightened sense of presence WhatsApp users experience, as
well as the ‘social, informational, and conversational communications’ (p. 889) that it
supports, and which contribute to its high frequency use.
Research has highlighted the utility of WhatsApp in a variety of volunteer settings, such as
keeping a count of street homeless in Catalonia (Calvo & Carbonell, 2017), keeping blood
donors up to date (Lakshmi & Ramakrishnan, 2017), and connecting student health
volunteers (Farmer, Liu & Dotson, 2016). In particular, a case study of a blood donors’
WhatsApp group found that members assume particular roles within the chat and tend to
become more active with time (Lakshmi & Ramakrishnan, 2017). In this case study
volunteers were found to regulate content of the conversation themselves, keeping
information strictly relevant to the cause. Yet the exploration in such contexts is in its relative
infancy, and further highlights the importance of context and associated differences in
experience.
The current study
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 9
Our overall empirical aim in the current study is therefore to examine the experiences of the
use of WhatsApp by volunteers for a particular charity in the UK. Through this core aim we
begin to explore in more detail some of the tensions highlighted in the bodies of literature
presented above, and answer the question of how volunteers in a specific charity context
perceive the use of WhatsApp in the support of their volunteering. In so doing, we aim to
contribute to discussion of how social messaging might better support those participating in
the third sector, given its general underutilization of technology (Voida et al, 2012).
Additionally, we aim to build on work that has highlighted the varied effects of mobile
messaging use by examining experiences in additional populations (Ardèvol-Abreu et al,
2022). Thus we are particularly concerned with the ways in which internet technologies and
specific forms of social media can impact on volunteer experiences. Therefore, following
Omoto and Snyder’s (2010) VPM, we focus here on the ways in which online social
interaction systems, and the use of WhatsApp in particular, impact on volunteers’ experiences
of their volunteering once it has been initiated (in contrast to the use of such resources in
recruiting volunteers, for example).
More generally, and in line with the suggestions of Kaye and Quinn (2020) regarding the
need for research that looks at “specific forms of internet-based communication [as it] may be
better at establishing their efficacy in promoting certain social interactions with specific types
of users and thus provide greater nuance on their impact on psychological outcomes” (p.
197), we aim to bring more nuance to our understanding of the role of internet-enabled
technologies through a qualitative investigation of volunteer interactions. Qualitative research
in related areas such as charitable donation, for example, has usefully illustrated a range of
more nuanced concerns that are at stake (Dalton, Madden, Chamberlain, Carr & Lyons, 2008;
Stevenson & Manning, 2010). Our analytic approach – a reflexive thematic analysis (Braun
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 10
& Clarke, 2006, 2019, 2022) – seeks to explore in depth the different shared meanings and
experiences of volunteers in relation to our chosen communication medium.
The specific research context we have selected is of particular interest in its own right.
Volunteers in our chosen setting, which we explain in more detail in the following section,
volunteer ‘in person’, but may not ever meet other volunteers in person. These volunteers do
not often work with other volunteers or paid members of the organisation they volunteer for,
but they are all members of volunteer WhatsApp groups. As such, this specific context
contrasts somewhat with more common forms of WhatsApp use, as WhatsApp group
members tend to have existing connections (Kaye & Quinn, 2020). Rather, they are a group
with a shared purpose, but (initially at least) involving those not known to each other in
person. In this way we illustrate the important role of digital volunteerspaces/places
1
in the
experience of WhatsApp use in a volunteer setting.
Our paper therefore makes the following core contributions, through examining the
experiences of WhatsApp in a volunteering setting. Firstly, from an empirical perspective, we
present a detailed examination of participants’ experiences of WhatsApp in a specific group
context (volunteer members of a specific charitable organisation), thereby adding a more
nuanced understanding to the use and experience of this technology in a specific context.
Secondly, from a theoretical perspective, we illustrate the potential utility of attention to an
additional level of volunteer experience (cf. the Volunteer Process Model of Omoto and
Snyder, 2010): the digital. We do this primarily via our proposal of the importance of
exploring the role of digital volunteerspaces/places in the volunteer process. Lastly, from a
practical perspective, we examine a specific context that is unlike many other WhatsApp
1
We indicate a separation between volunteerspace and volunteerplace here to reflect the (somewhat slippery)
distinction between the workspace and workplaces, whereby the former refers to a more individual level of
space for working, and the latter involves more collectively inhabited, organisationally chosen architectures (e.g.
Ferreira et al, 2021). We illustrate this point further later in the paper.
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 11
contexts, as the participants in our specific context of interest do not comprise of known
others such as friends, family, or colleagues. Instead they are a group who are brought
together solely due to their membership of a specific organisation (a charity), and may never
have met before ‘offline’ – and, indeed, may never do so. In so doing, we aim to begin to
examine some of the practical challenges in using such a medium in this context, and use our
analysis to formulate implications for practice.
Methodology
Research context and participants
The volunteer context that we focus on in this paper is a charity (referred to in the remainder
of this paper as ‘The Charity’) based in the South of England, UK, which was established in
2018 to support the street homeless in a medium sized town (c. 200,000 residents). At the
time of data collection, The Charity consisted of a board of six trustees, one paid member of
staff and around 80 volunteers. Guests of The Charity had access to showers and a kitchen
and were provided a hot evening meal, which was cooked off site by one of the cooking
volunteers (on a rota system) and prepared by a group of volunteers on site (shift volunteers).
The Charity had one WhatsApp group for shift volunteers scheduling, one for cooking
volunteers scheduling (both including the site manager and trustees), and one for all
volunteers, the site manager and trustees.
Nine participants, four men and five women, were recruited to the study. All participants
were over 18. Seven were currently volunteering as shift or cooking volunteers with The
Charity, while two had started as shift or cooking volunteers and had since become
(volunteer) trustees of The Charity. Participants had tenure with The Charity ranging from 2
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 12
months to 18 months at the time of the research (see Table 1 below). Five of our participants
had volunteered before, and three participants were also volunteering elsewhere. As
illustrated in Table 1, participants chose their own pseudonyms as part of the research
process.
(Table 1 should appear here)
Data Collection
Participants were recruited via The Charity’s Volunteer WhatsApp group, of which the
second author (AUTHOR INTIALS) was a member, and were asked to contact AUTHOR
INITIALS directly. Interested participants were sent a link to an Information Sheet and
Consent Form on the Jisc Online Surveys platform. Following return of the Consent Form
from each participant, a telephone interview was scheduled. Telephone interviews were
recorded using otter.ai software. Participants were asked not to be on site of The Charity
during the telephone interview. A semi-structured telephone interview protocol was designed,
informed by previous literature on volunteer support (e.g. Kappelides et al, 2019) and
volunteer WhatsApp use (e.g. Lakshmi & Ramakrishnan, 2017), as well as the specific
interests of The Charity. A link to an online version of the interview questions was later put
in the WhatsApp group, for anybody else who wanted to participate but did want to use the
telephone call format. The Jisc Online Surveys platform was also used for the online survey.
One participant used this option. The Charity Chair gave written approval for the study,
permission for the use of WhatsApp for recruitment, and approved the interview protocol.
Analytic approach
We analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2019, 2022),
within a broadly critical realist, contextualist approach that highlights the contextualised
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 13
nature of both peoples’ experiences and of our own research. As Braun and Clarke (2006)
suggest, among other advantages, reflexive thematic analysis enables links to be made to
existing theoretical frameworks, similarities and differences across the data to be identified,
and is also useful in applied settings, thereby suiting our concern with both theoretical
development and practical application. This approach therefore enabled us to focus on
patterns of meaning in the dataset while being sensitive to existing frameworks, such as the
VPM (Omoto & Snyder, 2010).
We paid specific attention in the analytic process to experiences of using WhatsApp and how
these related to volunteers’ experiences more generally. Following Braun and Clarke (2006,
2022), we initially undertook a process of familiarisation with the data during and following
transcription, which consisted of multiple reads of the transcripts, noting elements of the data
relevant to the research question, including all explicit references to WhatsApp. Then codes
capturing these elements were developed and assigned to all data of relevance to the research
question. The codes were then assessed for similarities and iteratively organised into distinct
groupings, which were developed into themes. Following initial formulation, these themes
were re-examined and the raw data revisited. Successive thematic maps and theme
descriptions were generated until the researchers agreed that the overall analysis captured the
core features of the dataset in relation to our research question. As researchers we worked
initially in parallel, both initially working through each stage separately, and then working
together to integrate our individual analytic insights in a more serial manner (e.g. a written
draft from one author being revised by the other). The report writing phase was central to this
integration and particularly to the latter stages of analysis, where further analytic
developments were made. The finalisation of the paper constituted the end point of analysis
(Braun & Clarke, 2022; Trainor & Bundon, 2020). An initial summary report of the data was
also provided to The Charity chair.
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 14
The second author had volunteered with The Charity for 18 months preceding the interviews.
The research experience of speaking to others who volunteered at The Charity contrasted
with her own volunteer experience with The Charity and was reflected on as appropriate as
part of the regular reflexive element of the analysis phase. The first author was not a
volunteer with The Charity, and therefore our contrasting experiences were additionally
drawn on and discussed in order to develop the analysis.
The study received ethical approval from the School of Psychology Ethics Committee at
University of Buckingham (PWEC219/43U) and was conducted in line with the BPS Code of
Human Research Ethics. As such, informed consent was received in advance of participation
from all participants, and the right to withdraw was an element of the informed consent
process. Any identifying information was removed during transcription, and as noted
participants chose their own pseudonyms during the data collection phase.
Results and Discussion
Our analysis of volunteers’ experiences of using WhatsApp resulted in the following core
themes: meeting a need for information exchange, better the devil you know, a noisy intruder,
and the problem of signal to noise. These themes and related subthemes are shown in Figure
1, and are described, illustrated, and discussed below.
(Figure 1 should appear here)
Meeting a need for information exchange
WhatsApp was seen as a positive aspect of the support volunteers received from The Charity,
but specifically in terms of its utility as a medium for information exchange. The broadcast
format of WhatsApp, whereby a single WhatsApp group member can instantly message the
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 15
entire group, enabled all members of the group to request help or advice from all other
members of the group at once, and likewise The Charity to get information to all members at
once. Participants highlighted the various ways in which WhatsApp enabled them to obtain
information in an effective way and appreciated the speed with which they could receive a
response to queries that they had: WhatsApp provided them with a clear route to people who
could resolve their queries, as well as a means through which to receive the answer. This
speedy form of communication was in this way seen as helpful and useful.
Thus, when asked about what The Charity did well, WhatsApp appeared to be a relatively
salient element, and when asked directly about WhatsApp, many participants responded
positively. The two extracts from Emmanuel and Annie below illustrate these two initial
features of experiences of WhatsApp.
AUTHOR: And what do you think that The Charity does well in supporting its volunteers?
Emmanuel: Erm I would say the WhatsApp group is really good
AUTHOR: How helpful do you find the WhatsApp group?
Annie: Oh, it’s really brilliant, its brilliant
Emmanuel’s response exemplifies the salience of WhatsApp as an element of organisational
support: as the immediate response to the question from AUTHOR of what The Charity did
well in supporting volunteers. The WhatsApp group was thus often referred to
straightforwardly as a ‘really good’ thing, as illustrated by Emmanuel. Further, Annie’s
response to AUTHOR’s question illustrates an enthusiasm about its positive benefits (‘really
brilliant’). In this way, WhatsApp was indicated by many volunteers to be an effective
element of support from The Charity.
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 16
More specifically, the core perceived benefit of WhatsApp that participants spoke about was
its utility in requesting, receiving and disseminating information to assist in volunteer
activity. The perceived benefits of the medium were largely practical in nature, and related to
the specific ways in which the application could facilitate communications between the
organisation and its volunteers. An example of this comes from Bachatero’s response below.
AUTHOR: erm how helpful do you find the WhatsApp group?
Bachatero: erm … I think it’s good to get you know kind of updates, information
Here Bachatero indicates how features such as knowing updates and information form the
basis of what makes the WhatsApp group useful. These sentiments support previous findings
that have highlighted one of the benefits of social media in NGO contexts as information
sharing (Raja-Yusof et al, 2016). Therefore, as these extracts illustrate, the receipt of practical
information from others (and site manage and trustees of The Charity in particular) was
considered to be facilitated by WhatsApp. This in turn was seen to facilitate the volunteers’
role.
While participants talked about the informational effectiveness of the application, this was
often delimited with qualifications around its efficacy; for this group, WhatsApp appeared to
be useful for the specific purpose of informational exchange, and little else. This is illustrated
initially in Annie’s response to a question about how often she uses the WhatsApp group.
AUTHOR: how much do you use the WhatsApp group?
Annie: erm if I need to, to be fairly honest, if I need to I will write on it, like for a meal, or to
find out about the meal or questions I have I would use it
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 17
Annie’s answer illustrates the boundaried nature of the perceived utility of WhatsApp. Her
response highlights how participants’ use of the WhatsApp group was primarily driven by
perceived need – and specifically the need for information. So Annie here talks about how
she would use the WhatsApp group if she needed information about the meal that she would
be involved in cooking. Thus the enthusiasm for the app illustrated by Annie earlier – as
‘brilliant’ – turns out to be only for the purpose of getting questions answered. Clem similarly
illustrates this boundaried utility of WhatsApp.
Clem: Erm, the erm, when they put up about the code changes that helpful, erm but other than
that I don’t really sort of find it particularly helpful … that sounds bad does it?
This extract from Clem underscores our participants’ experiences of the specific nature of the
utility of WhatsApp: exclusively as a useful informational exchange medium. While previous
research has indicated information sharing as one of the various benefits of social media
(Raja-Yusof, 2016) and online social messaging specifically (Ardèvol-Abreu et al, 2022), our
participants saw this as the only benefit of this specific app.
It is additionally useful to highlight here a further aspect of this element of perceptions of
WhatsApp: as illustrated in the quotes from both Annie and Clem, there were often
indications of reticence in indicating these boundaries around the utility of WhatsApp.
Annie’s ‘to be fairly honest’ and Clem’s ‘that sounds bad, does it’ indicates an attention to
the potentially problematic nature of what they are talking about and the potentially negative
implications for their potential audiences (which includes The Charity), which we will return
to in our general discussion.
Timely support
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 18
A key particular dimension of the informational benefit of WhatsApp experienced by
participants was the timeliness of the information that could be shared on the app. This was
both in terms of site manager and trustees of The Charity being able to share current and
updated organisational information with all volunteers (as illustrated by Bachatero above),
but also through volunteers being able to actively elicit timely information, help, and support
through use of the app. Unlike other sources of potential information, the WhatsApp group
constituted an ongoing, current point of contact and articulation between The Charity and its
volunteers. For example, following the extract presented above, Emmanuel elaborated on his
response by adding ‘it’s always up to date’. Similarly, Annie continued her response about
the WhatsApp group being ‘brilliant’ with ‘if you have a question within five minutes the
question is answered’.
Volunteers’ ability to elicit help and support from The Charity speedily and with ease was
thus a key common feature in participants’ responses to the question of how helpful they
found the WhatsApp group, as illustrated in the two extracts below.
Tubbs: if erm, you forget what a code is or something that you can just put it out there and you
they answer pretty much straight away or if there is just advice there’s always someone who’ll
answer it.
Emmanuel: where a few times I’ve needed some information and I’ve put a message on the
WhatsApp channel and within 20 minutes people are coming back to me and even if it’s not a
erm trustee, there’s a few volunteers, yeah well quite a lot, one of them works in the council
and they, and some people live nearby so they’re always quick to help … so yeah that side of
it is really good
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 19
The quote from Tubbs highlights how the WhatsApp group was seen as a means of sharing
security information such as codes, which could be received almost immediately, thereby
facilitating key elements of volunteer activity. The sharing of sensitive information (such as
access codes), indicated knowledge of its end-to-end encryption (or at least the implications
of it), and a shared trust in the security of the app. The security dimension of WhatsApp was
therefore considered to be particularly supportive of the important function of information
exchange, thereby echoing previous research that has indicated perceived security as
impacting on continued use of a particular messaging app (e.g. Raja-Yusof et al, 2016).
Furthermore, Emmanuel elaborates on the utility of speedy response by indicating how the
application enabled fellow volunteers to respond – even if they are ‘not a erm trustee’ (who
are presumably the preferred, more authoritative source of information), the WhatsApp group
could additionally enable timely peer support (via the provision of information). WhatsApp
was thereby a medium that facilitated a sense of support from the organisation and enabled
participants to proactively solicit information in a place of ‘always on’ advice, and for the site
manager and trustees of The Charity to answer questions from volunteers.
This medium was also seen as useful for informational purposes from the perspective of the
organisation itself, as the extract from Bachatero (who had been both a shift volunteer and
Trustee) illustrates below,
Bachatero: I think generally as a tool its helpful erm and it gets information to people quickly
Thus from an organisational perspective the application was seen as useful in broadcasting
information from the organisation to its members – getting ‘information to people quickly’.
The utility of WhatsApp is emphasised by Bachatero’s reference to it as a ‘tool’, indicating a
more utilitarian appreciation of the application that underpinned the general appreciation of
WhatsApp by our participants in sharing information in a speedy manner.
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 20
As volunteers for The Charity were sometimes working on their own with guests at The
Charity, WhatsApp gave them a connection to the site manager and trustees of The Charity
more generally in a way that did not occur in person. This virtual interaction bridged physical
distances between fellow volunteer members as well as between volunteer members and the
organisation. This resonates with work that has illustrated the practical utility of WhatsApp
for volunteers and volunteer organisations (e.g. Calvo & Cabonell, 2017), particularly in
facilitating contact and coordination between those involved in achieving organisational
aims, which builds on the perceived immediacy afforded by the medium. Moreover, in this
way, WhatsApp can be seen as a key element of what we might consider the ‘digital
volunteerplace’ – part of the chosen architecture of the place in which volunteers come
together, and analogous to the digital workplace (e.g. Ferreira et al, 2021).
Overall, this theme illustrates how participants felt the WhatsApp group provided useful
articulation between the organisation and individuals who volunteer. The importance of
effective communication in organisations was noted by a number of participants, and the
informational focus of their concerns is perhaps indicative of the uncertainty-reducing nature
of information provision (Kramer et al, 2013). Organisations like The Charity have a
fundamental need to broadcast information to their members for practical and operational
matters, providing updates and information. Likewise, participants highlighted their need to
‘pull in’ information on a variety of operational and practical matters. Therefore the
WhatsApp broadcast or ‘all to all’, ‘push out’ functionality was welcomed by participants for
how it enabled them to ensure that they got all the updates that the organisation sent out in an
organisation-to-volunteer direction. As such, this theme illustrates how organisational and
individual levels of volunteer experiences can be bridged or articulated via the digital.
Better the devil you know
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 21
The choice of WhatsApp as a communication system for The Charity and its volunteers was
primarily seen as due to convenience: not an active, positively valenced choice in terms of
particular benefits or features of the app, but rather a comparative, practical, obvious one. At
the heart of the perceived practical utility of WhatsApp was its widespread shared use.
Familiarity with the app, and the perceived dangers of using anything else, served as a key
justification for its use, making it something of a relatively positive choice.
The perceived ubiquity of WhatsApp beyond the volunteering context was thus inherent to its
utility. An example is given in the quote from Bachatero below.
Bachatero: obviously ‘cause everyone uses WhatsApp or a lot of people do erm it makes
sense to use it as a platform
Bachatero illustrates how the choice of WhatsApp was seen as a sensible, ‘obvious’ one due
to its general ubiquity. Participants thereby indicated a broader knowledge about the app and
its dominance as a messaging app (Montag et al, 2015; Statista, 2022). This meant that it was
seen as more useful than other forms of internet-based communication, which in turn
enhanced its use in information exchange highlighted in the previous theme. This perceived
ubiquity echoes findings elsewhere regarding the rapid acceptance of the use of WhatsApp
(Calvo & Carbonell, 2017) and the unique advantages of mobile messaging systems over
traditional messaging services (Sun et al, 2017). The choice of WhatsApp was therefore seen
not in terms of any specific functionality, but rather as being better than the alternatives.
Many participants saw WhatsApp is something of a compromise, pointing to its relative ease
of use, rather than an absolute quality of the app itself.
From an organisational perspective, using an app that was already in widespread use meant
that users would likely be familiar with it. On the one hand this meant that no additional
training or support would be needed, but on the other meant that unwelcome compromises
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 22
became more difficult to overcome. This is illustrated in Little Dog’s point below, where he
has been talking about the utility of WhatsApp as a communication system.
Little Dog: The other issue is around that, that if you were gonna change it [WhatsApp] to
something else then even again like this this idea of the cooks even when we change the URL
of the cooking rota, people were going absolutely bat
Little Dog indicates the technological inertia that can develop around the widespread and
embedded use of a particular application through his recollection of how previous attempts at
technological changes (in this case the change of the URL for a cooking rota) led to
displeasure amongst volunteers (‘people were going absolutely bat’). Such inertia and
associated perceptions of switching costs is of course not specific to this particular context
(e.g. Li et al, 2016; Sun et al, 2017; Tseng et al, 2018). As such, the continued use of a widely
shared and used medium is further justified by participants albeit, again, as something of a
default choice rather than an active preference.
This theme highlights how, while WhatsApp was seen as crucial in supporting the
functioning of The Charity, it was nonetheless seen as a compromise. This need to
compromise indicates the centrality of digital systems for volunteer supporting organisations
as a key part of the articulation between organisational and individual level processes. As
such, the need for technologies such as WhatsApp indicate the utility of considering issues
related to the ‘digital volunteerplace’: an element of the design of the technical architecture in
which volunteers operate together, as chosen and deployed by the volunteer organisation. As
WhatsApp maintains its wide user status (Statista, 2022), such observations are thus
potentially useful for volunteer supporting organisations in considering and deciding on their
support systems. In turn, Little Dog’s contrast between using a familiar app versus the
challenges of change highlight the utility of understanding aspects of the digital
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 23
volunteerspace, which involves the perspective of the individual volunteer and the (digital)
spaces in which they conduct volunteer-related activity. In this way, we can begin to see how
digital level processes – such as the deployment and ubiquity of specific applications –
interact with both individual (e.g. differences in user familiarity and experience) and
organisational ones (e.g. the need for the most effective communication systems for all) to
produce particular decisions, outcomes, and experiences. Moreover, organisations may
consider how to leverage such a sense of app-related ubiquity in relation to its potential
transfer to perceptions of organisational support, as in this study the sense of ubiquity could
be seen by participants as relating to the perceived possibility of effective support by others
(both directly from the organisation, but also from fellow volunteers).
A noisy intruder
Many participants were concerned about the level of noisy intrusion that WhatsApp
generated: a particular feature of WhatsApp that was not welcomed by some participants was
the audible alerts of new messages. Moreover, this experienced noisiness was something that
many participants felt they had little or no control over. Our participants most commonly
experienced this (uncontrollable) noisiness as irritating and frustrating. This was particularly
the case where several messages arrived in quick succession, thereby creating associated
successive audible alerts as illustrated by Clem below:
Clem: Sometimes it drives me spare cause all my phone does is go ping ping ping, and it drives
me spare, so I just put the phone on silent, let em build up and then I just read through them,
to make sure there’s nothing I need to know
Clem’s concerns thus illustrate those of many of our participants – the repetitive noisiness
(or, as Annie described it, the ‘beeping beeping beeping beeping beeping beeping a hundred
messages’) from their phone caused by the perceived high numbers of messages on the
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 24
WhatsApp group was unwelcome and frustrating. At the same time here, as Clem illustrates,
there is a concern that, given the informational utility of the app (as set out in our first theme),
they might nonetheless contain something important.
Thus, rather than finding the audible alerts useful, they were instead often experienced as
excessive, with little indication of their controllability. While it is possible to set up custom
notifications (and some participants talked about how they had used such functionality as a
strategy for managing the potential irritation due to seemingly excessive messaging), this was
not the case for all participants, and the noisy intrusion was often seen as something they
were unable to do anything about. Some participants, like Clem, used more general strategies
such as putting their phone on silent, but this is clearly a suboptimal course of action given
the impact on other phone functionality. These strategies are more broadly indicative of a
core mechanism used to establish control over the compelling, overwhelming and ‘always
on’ nature of online communication systems (Marsh et al, 2022; Matthes et al, 2020).
Unwelcome out of context
The irritation caused by the perceived excessive noisiness of WhatsApp was particularly felt
in relation to the unwelcomeness of receiving notifications from the group when participants
were engaged in other activities unrelated to their volunteering with The Charity. When
volunteers were not engaged in volunteer activity, some participants experienced the alerts as
intrusive.
AUTHOR: when you get a notification on your phone and you see it’s from the that
WhatsApp group, err, how do you feel?
Emmanuel: I’ve actually got them both muted
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 25
AUTHOR: (laughs)
Emmanuel: (laughs) I do check them quite frequently but just so it’s not buzzing away at
work while it’s just stuff that’s not relevant to me.
Here Emmanuel’s response firstly illustrates that, like Clem above, some participants took
action to manage the potential interruption of the audio alerts from the WhatsApp group – by
muting (in Emmanuel’s case, by muting the specific groups). In addition, he explains how he
has done this not simply due to the repeated noise intrusion (‘buzzing away’) but particularly
because this happens while he is at work. Such noisy interruptions out of context were
therefore particularly unwelcome and prompting preventative action. Likewise Annie
illustrates the experience of unwelcome notifications in the wrong context.
AUTHOR: and erm when you get a notification and you see it’s from The Charity on your
phone, how do you feel?
Annie: erm, it depends on the text and if, depends if I am in work to be very honest, usually
I’m like ok, let’s see what’s happening, something good is happening, something exciting, but
obviously it depends on the day and depends on the day in work, if you’re having a bad in
work and you’re like oh I can’t be bothered with this
The extracts from Emmanuel and Annie both indicate how WhatsApp notifications received
while at work in particular, but other spaces more generally, were experienced as unwelcome.
The extract from Annie illustrates how the irritation of these notifications out of context
could compound already negative or stressful situations. Thus, when one is otherwise
occupied in a demanding task, or having a ‘bad day’, receiving notifications can make the
situation worse. The negative experience of receiving unwanted alerts was perceived as
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 26
adding to other negative aspects of the lives of our participants. As such, this echoes the
feelings of invasion highlighted in research on online social messaging (Ardèvol-Abreu et al,
2022). These insights also present an intriguing contrast with findings that indicate the stress
generated by separation from mobile phones (e.g. Konok et al, 2017). Our findings
underscore the need for further detailed understanding of the diversity of experiences with
(particularly mobile-based) communication.
Overall this theme indicates how the ‘digital’ level of communication afforded by WhatsApp
overlays and intersects with other aspects of volunteer experience. When physically separated
from their volunteer context, virtual tools enable different forms of contact between
individuals and volunteer organisations, and thereby augment volunteerspaces and places.
However, at the same time they can be felt to intrude into perceived separate realms of
experience, and affiliations to other (non-volunteer) organisations such as work and home
spaces. In these other spaces, where people may be engaged with other roles and identities
that are separated from their volunteering, seemingly uncontrollable elements of
volunteerspaces and places may be seen as an unwelcome encroachment. Such issues thereby
resonate with some of the longstanding concerns over work/home separation, which has
become increasingly blurred due to the increase in working from home, and the sense of
invasion highlighted in relation to online messaging-related technostress (Ardèvol-Abreu et
al, 2022). More generally, these negative reactions indicate further parallels with concerns
regarding the ‘dark side’ of digital workplaces (Marsh et al, 2022).
In this way our work here further highlights the utility of the notion of digital volunteerspaces
and places, as virtual technologies bring volunteering practices into (potential conflict with)
work and home spaces, just as digital workplaces have brought work practices into home
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 27
spaces (Marsh et al, 2022) – and that this can be unwelcome. This is clearly an area of work
that deserves further exploration, as there are potentially additional lessons to be learned here
from this parallel literature, including how to enable the separation between home, work, and
volunteering, and the extent to which individuals want such a separation. In addition, on a
basic practical level, it also indicates how, even though an app may be considered ubiquitous
and familiar to all, there may well be details of an app’s functionality and settings that could
be worth highlighting to (volunteer) users: organisations should not assume app users have
detailed knowledge of the app itself.
The problem of signal to noise
One of the most widely shared negative aspects of participants’ experiences of WhatsApp
indicated in our analysis was the perceived unfocused nature of the WhatsApp group and an
inability of users to select the kinds of messages one received. The perceived indiscriminate
nature of messages on the WhatsApp group was commonly talked about in relation to the
broadcast nature of group messages, i.e. one to all. This pervasive concern was captured
succinctly by one participant, Little Dog:
Little Dog: there’s way way too much noise for the signal
This perception of there being more irrelevant messages in the WhatsApp group than relevant
ones was often experienced as irritating. Many volunteers felt frustrated not just by the sheer
number of messages on the app as highlighted in the previous theme, but in particular where
their content was seen as irrelevant to them personally, but also to the group as a whole. This
theme therefore constitutes something of the converse of the first theme regarding the
informational utility of the WhatsApp group: while WhatsApp is seen as particularly useful
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 28
for (solely) informational exchange, when people used the app for purposes other than this,
this was experienced by participants as irritating and inappropriate.
Thus, in addition to a sense of fatigue as a result of the unrestricted nature of this particular
messaging system (cf Sun et al, 2017), our participants particularly noted irritation due to the
broadcast nature of this communication medium, echoing research that has highlighted the
sense of overload from online social messaging (Ardèvol-Abreu et al, 2022). As such,
conflicting interests within the group were emphasised: while our participants had a keen
sense of what they felt was the primary purpose of the WhatsApp group (as illustrated in the
first theme in our analysis: information exchange), they saw this purpose as not clearly shared
by all. As a result, the ‘signal’ was not clear, as there was not a distinct, shared purpose of the
group; not everyone adhered to the (implicit, assumed) rule that the group was for
information exchange. This concern was particularly exacerbated by participants’ concerns
regarding the amount of unnecessary chatter in the group, and as a result several participants
expressed a need for some form of filtering of group messages.
Unnecessary, irrelevant chatter
The specific nature of the ‘noise’ perceived within the WhatsApp group that inhibited
informational exchange and detection of the ‘signal’ was primarily seen to be ‘chat’. While
WhatsApp is often seen as a medium through which chat can take place (and, indeed, is a
form of online ‘chat system’, Kaye & Quinn, 2020), in the specific context of volunteering
for The Charity, participants did not consider this to be the case for their WhatsApp group.
Instead, chat was seen to be irrelevant, contradicting the perceived intended purposes of the
group, as illustrated in the two extracts below.
AUTHOR: How helpful do you find the WhatsApp group?
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 29
Curly: Sometimes helpful - however sometimes there is so much unnecessary chit chat, that it’s
a chore to scroll through to find the useful content
AUTHOR: so when you get a notification and see it’s from the group, how do you feel?
Celebrations: Erm, well it’s depending what it says, you know, I mean it’s, most of it isn’t
relevant to most of us, you know, if it was something relevant, about a meeting or doing or
something, yes that’s fine but erm a lot of you know it is irrelevant chatter.
Here both Curly and Celebrations illustrate the common irritation with ‘unnecessary’ or
‘irrelevant chatter’. Curly indicates the problematic amount (‘so much’) of this ‘chit chat’,
resulting in use of the app becoming a ‘chore’ rather than something useful, as the reader has
to work through all the unnecessary, irrelevant messages (the noise) to find the potential
useful ones (the signal). Celebrations indicates that much of the content in the WhatsApp
group ‘isn’t relevant to most of us’ – both highlighting the problematic nature of much of the
content, and also pointing to the group of volunteers that Celebrations feels part of and who
share this sense of the messages’ irrelevance. In this way, irrelevant chatter isn’t seen as
simply irritating to specific individuals. Rather, it is seen as irrelevant to ‘most of us’. Thus
both Curly and Celebrations’ concerns illustrate how ‘chat’ is perceived as contrary to the
normative expectations of the (their) WhatsApp group: chatter and chit chat are seen as both
unnecessary and irrelevant. As discussed in our first theme above, the WhatsApp group is
seen as usefully serving the purpose of informational exchange (which Celebrations
additionally indicates here), and therefore this alternative use of the WhatsApp group is
perceived as anti-normative.
Whereas the irritation of the audible noisiness of WhatsApp alerts highlighted in our previous
theme led to frustration at WhatsApp (i.e. the app) itself, unnecessary chatter was seen as the
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 30
fault of other members of and contributors to the WhatsApp group themselves. This was
summarised viscerally by Little Dog below:
Little Dog: I mean if there’s training that’s necessary it’s probably on the bloody WhatsApp
thing, it’s like people don’t know how to PM people, people don’t know how to keep the
chatter down so and it’s it’s just kind of like it’s a forgive my language here, it’s like vomiting
all over the world when you do it
The extract from Little Dog here underlines in somewhat graphic terms the frustration felt by
some of our participants with the perceived inability of some other members to use the
WhatsApp group in a way that was seen as appropriate – i.e., to ‘keep the chatter down’.
While Little Dog indicates the informational utility of the app from our first theme in terms of
necessary training being on ‘the bloody WhatsApp thing’, he contrasts this with an
illustration of how the group as a result was perceived as containing too much irrelevant
information. In particular, some people were perceived as unable to regulate their own use of
the WhatsApp group, and as using it unnecessarily and inappropriately, with their
contributions being broadcast widely and unwantedly (‘vomiting all over the world’). Little
Dog’s indication of an associated lack of technological knowledge of particular volunteers
(‘it’s like people don’t know how to PM people’) is reminiscent of the classic ‘reply all’
problem (e.g. Grandhi & Lanagan-Leitzel, 2016; McGee et al, 2019).
In this way, participants also experienced the perceived inappropriately private nature of
some of the ‘chatter’ as particularly out of place in the context of this specific WhatsApp
group, and is in turn indicative of a perceived ‘public’ nature of the group. The perception of
the nature of the group chat as ‘public’ additionally meant that particular (sometimes
specifically named) individuals’ use of the WhatsApp group was seen as problematic, which
indicated the conflicting uses of the group by different group members. The perception of
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 31
WhatsApp group comments as ‘public’ within the group chat additionally illustrates how, for
some participants, this WhatsApp group was not experienced as a shared space between
known others in which one could communicate in private. As such this constitutes an
intriguing aspect of the experience of WhatsApp in our particular context, where group chat
members may have never met in person. These concerns additionally highlight further
nuances of what we refer to as digital volunteerspace and places: the use of apps such as
WhatsApp in this context constitute normatively undetermined spaces, that may or may not
support the development of an inclusive sense of ‘us’ in a volunteering context. This issue is
indicative of further parallels with the workplace literature, in which it has been shown that
the same infrastructure can be experienced differentially by different people: e.g. where the
lack of physical barriers can enhance communication and relationships, but equally decrease
feelings of privacy and control (Bankins et al, 2020). Thus the development of shared norms
in specific (digital) contexts warrant further investigation in order to examine the
circumstances in which such spaces support the development of the shared volunteer
identities and sense of group membership that has been suggested as a key element of the
volunteer experience (Gray & Stevenson, 2020).
The need to exert control
Our analysis also indicated participants’ concerns regarding the need for solutions to the
problem of noise to signal, which included irritation from the level of irrelevant chatter and
the inability of some group members to control their contributions in line with perceived
group norms. Thus another facet of the perceived signal to noise problem of WhatsApp were
suggestions that such perceived irrelevant content needed a form of control.
In some cases, participants indicated that self-management enabled a form of control over
unwanted messaging. The anticipation of irritation evoked by irrelevant messages was used
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 32
as justification for participants limiting their messaging in the group. Thus the sense of
irritation elicited by unnecessary messaging was not simply felt by WhatsApp group
members, it was also anticipated by some to the extent that it informed a deliberate limitation
on volunteers’ own use of the WhatsApp group.
Sean: you know when Olivia is asking you know is there anybody available (AUTHOR:
umhm) you know you might get sort of eight, nine or ten people come back saying no they’re
not, well really all it needs is the people who are available to come forward, then if nobody
comes forward, then there’s nobody available , but I suppose that constant beeping and er
even though you can silence your phone er that constant messaging and answering when
really I only answer when [I] can assist (AUTHOR: yeah) cause I feel that I’m just adding to
somebody else that’s thinking ‘oh, not another text’
Sean’s response here illustrates a number of issues. Firstly, the perception of some people’s
use of the WhatsApp group as problematic in terms of adding unnecessary contributions.
Sean here uses the example of when one of the volunteer coordinators (Olivia) asks for
people to help at The Charity, and several people respond to say they can’t help. Sean
illustrates a presumed shared perception of the WhatsApp group as somewhere where
contributions should be kept strictly to helpful ones, and this in turn informs his own
contributions to the WhatsApp group (‘I only answer when can assist’). This limitation on his
own use additionally means that others do not experience the negative response to ‘not
another text’. This was another common feature of WhatsApp use in our participants, as they
adjusted their own group use in line with the perceived normative expectations of the group,
and only contributed when they felt they had something ‘useful’ or ‘helpful’ to say, or where
they could provide answers to questions. Such concerns implicitly indicated that replying
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 33
only when one can help is the more generally accepted way of engaging in the group, and
could be used to control the level of unnecessary chatter. However, such concerns also
indicated that other volunteers were not able to do so, and were not aware of the impact of
their own (unnecessary) group use on others.
Therefore, participants were keen for some form of moderation of the content of the
messages themselves. As Bachatero put it
Bachatero: although I guess it would be nice if it was more filtered I guess to an extent, I mean
I know we have the chat and then the rota chat and and I’m pretty sure there is a cooking one
although I’m not in that one, but I guess more moderation of the messages as it were, might be
useful
Bachatero thus illustrates how participants suggested the need for some sort of control or
‘filter’ to be imposed on the group messages – the desire for moderation indicating that the
control might come from someone in a position of authority. Participants often indicated their
awareness and appreciation of different WhatsApp groups for different functions of
volunteering at The Charity, while at the same time indicating that they wanted this control to
be exerted from an organisational level.
This need for control and shared understanding of the purpose of the WhatsApp group and its
contents is also illustrated by the possible solution of creating groups for more clearly
specified purposes, and this is one that some volunteers took into their own hands. Thus,
some participants suggested that additional ‘sub-groups’ were required in order to more
effectively get particular tasks done. An example is given here by Tubbs.
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 34
Tubbs: The guys on the Monday there’s me Liam and we’ve now got Ben, with us we’ve
actually set up our own little Monday group as well, erm so if there is anything then the three
of us will obviously liaise together instead of like, you know could ‘oh I’m just running a bit
late, but I will be there’ not everybody needs to know that so we’ve put it just to ourselves and
kind of keep each other informed of anything that way
This final quote from Tubbs brings us full circle, as it indicates the utility of WhatsApp
groups for a specific need, which was seen in our first theme focusing on the appreciation of
WhatsApp as a medium for informational exchange. Here, as illustrated by Tubbs, where the
broader group is not seen as appropriate for the specific needs of volunteer activity,
subgroups may form to support that specific need and to effectively control the content of
messaging, ensuring that the WhatsApp group works effectively (or is perceived as effective).
Moreover, the extract from Tubbs also shows how an appreciation of what others in the
(larger) WhatsApp group need to know, which in turn informs the requirement to set up a
specific subgroup focussed on a particular task. As such, this aspect of our analysis is perhaps
closer to the findings of researchers such as Karapanos et al (2016) who have illustrated
WhatsApp’s potential for creating ‘microcommunities’ that enable intimate communication.
Thus our findings build on such work in suggesting that, in some contexts at least, the
specific nature of the use of WhatsApp and its perceived purpose can push users towards the
creation of such microcommunities. This theme thereby highlights the interaction between
the digital, individual and organisational dynamics of the volunteers’ experiences.
General Discussion
Our analysis has set out how volunteers at a charity perceived benefits of the uses of
WhatsApp in terms of its facilitation of informational exchange. In contrast to research that
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 35
has highlighted the utility of WhatsApp in enabling social interaction, facilitating friendships,
and enhancing a sense of identity (Kaye & Quinn, 2020), use of WhatsApp was seen as
something of a compromise, with many volunteers reporting frustration with noisy audible
interruptions to their lives outside of their volunteer work and irritation with perceived
unnecessary and inappropriate use of the app by others in the group.
From an empirical perspective, our findings thus highlight both the informational utility of
digital technologies such as WhatsApp, but also their potential negative impact on the
experiences of volunteers. Moreover, and importantly, due to the nature of this digital
medium, this impact could be felt by volunteers beyond their volunteering activity. It was
experienced as an unwelcome intrusion on other, separate domains. Such technologies
therefore enable volunteer activity to ‘spill over’ into other aspects of volunteers’ lives, which
for some was unwelcome and was felt to impact on them detrimentally. Coupled with
previous research with volunteers that has found that an enabling factor of their commitment
was keeping their volunteer role separate to their daily life (Romaioli, Nencini & Meneghini,
2016), our findings therefore indicate the potential negative impact that WhatsApp group
alerts could have on volunteer experiences. This finding also has obvious parallels with
concerns regarding work-life balance that have been exacerbated in the aftermath of COVID,
where people are increasingly working within the physical space of the home and through
which the home is itself increasingly becoming a hybrid (work/home) space for more people
(Marsh et al, 2022). Our findings echo previous research that has highlighted issues of
overload and invasion, as forms of technostress brought about by the use of online social
messaging (Ardèvol-Abreu et al, 2022). To this, our research has begun to develop our
understanding of some of the nuance of these experiences in a volunteer context specifically,
which has important differences to the world of work. For example, concerns over misuse of
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 36
specific WhatsApp groups and perceived conflicts in perceptions of their purpose point to the
importance of attending to the group-based dynamics of digital volunteerspaces and places.
These empirical findings in turn inform the key theoretical contributions of this paper. Firstly,
in noting the parallels between our findings in a volunteer context with observations from the
workplace literature, we propose the utility of the notion of the (digital)
volunteerspace/volunteerplace. As an analogue of the (digital) workspace/workplace, the
(digital) volunteerspace/volunteerplace most immediately points to the utility of drawing on –
or at least interrogating the relevance of – existing research on the relationship between
digital technologies and the workspace/workplace (Dery et al, 2017; Marsh et al, 2022).
Importantly, the use of WhatsApp in our chosen volunteering context does not emulate the
‘digital workspace’. As we have noted, the very nature of volunteering is different from
work, and as such presents additional avenues of investigation. Nonetheless, there are some
similar concerns that are worth highlighting. For example, just as digital workplace initiatives
require guidance from and collaboration between relevant leaders and managers (Dery et al,
2017), even something as ostensibly straightforward as the use of a messaging app in a small
volunteer organisation can be seen to potentially benefit from more guidance regarding
expected use and personalisation of user experience. Thus the use of technology in our
context of interest highlights the same need for effective management, culture and user
experience noted in relation to the effective development of digital working (Marsh et al,
2022).
Secondly, and more generally, our findings highlight how digital level processes are
important to the study of volunteering, and in turn point to the potential utility of examining
additional levels in the Volunteer Process Model (VPM, Omoto & Snyder, 1995, 2002,
2010). The VPM serves as a useful organising framework within which to bring together
existing and future research on the use of internet-enabled technologies in volunteering, and
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 37
thereby examine digital level processes in conjunction with the extant individual,
interpersonal/social group, organisational, and societal/cultural levels of the model.
Moreover, as a result of both the notion of digital volunteerspaces/volunteerplaces as
analogous to digital workspaces/workplaces together with the idea of a digital level of
process within the VPM, our work points to the more general spatial dimension of volunteer
experience and process: a spatiality that mirrors the temporal dimension of the overall
volunteer process depicted in this model. Our work additionally contributes to the
development of work on the ‘spatial turn’ that continues to enrich our understanding of
psychological processes (Di Masso et al, 2017; Dixon & Durrheim, 2000), and points to the
potential utility of examining volunteerspaces and places more generally. Thus, in bringing a
digital imagination to the study of volunteering, we see this as part of a broader project to
bring a spatial imagination to work in this area.
These empirical and theoretical contributions have a variety of practical implications. For
example, our findings point to the need for careful deployment and management of
technologies such as WhatsApp that suit the particular (volunteer) context. In other words,
our work highlights the need to consider (digital) volunteerplaces and volunteerspaces.
Following concerns from participants about fellow volunteers’ use of WhatsApp, issues
around adequate training were highlighted, particularly in managing the less welcome aspects
of the technology. Thus consideration of how to maximise the perceived informational
advantage (e.g. moderation processes, use of different groups for different purposes –
including ‘chit chat’) is warranted. More generally, the importance of developing a shared
understanding of the nature and purpose of such apps in the specific context, in order to
harness its effectiveness, was illustrated via participants concerns with both other volunteers
‘misuse’ of the apps, and their irritation with its overuse. This indicates a need for members
of groups of this type to have a clearer, and shared, idea of the WhatsApp group itself, and
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 38
also for managers to consider how different groups (or additional technologies or resources)
might be better suited to different purposes, otherwise users may experience a perceived
conflict in its use and purpose. As such, these findings further indicate the importance of
attention to the place of such apps in the broader volunteerplace that organisations can
potentially create and manage. Moreover, our work indicates the importance of eliciting the
views of users in order to enhance and maximise the utility of such software in the volunteer
context. Just because an app is perceived as ubiquitous, this does not necessarily mean that it
is universally understood or used effectively.
Like many qualitative projects, our study is necessarily ‘small scale’ in terms of participant
numbers. This is, of course, a deliberate choice, driven by the nature of the specifically
selected research site (The Charity) and the depth-related aims of our qualitative approach
(which included an attempt to gather data from as many volunteers in The Charity as
possible). We would likewise argue that this scale and depth is a strength of our study. There
is of course considerable scope to further examine the role of both WhatsApp and additional
technologies within the same volunteering organisation. As we have highlighted, the specific
context of use is important: both in terms of particular places, but also particular times, and
for different purposes.
We argue that our study has importantly pointed to the considerable scope for further lines of
inquiry following on from our own. Firstly, as noted, there is a clear need for research in
different contexts in order to further develop the nuance of our understanding of the use of
messaging apps (Ardèvol-Abreu et al, 2022; Kaye & Quinn, 2020). Some of the more
obvious contextual questions leading from our own study is how the use of WhatsApp might
operate in other (e.g. non-volunteer) group settings involving members who do not have prior
direct interpersonal connections, and are not a friendship group, and/or have an expectation
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 39
that this may or will be the case in the future. Conversely, the use of WhatsApp in different
volunteer settings is a clear alternative line of inquiry.
Secondly, there is a clear opportunity to use the notion of digital and broader spatial levels of
volunteer processes, building on the framework provided by the VPM (Omoto & Snyder,
1995, 2002, 2010), to systematise research into the use of different digital technologies in the
volunteer sector. There is therefore scope in using this organising framework as a means
through which to inform a range of future research questions and examine the
interrelationships between processes at different levels of analysis. For example, our
participants pointed to perceived individual differences in relation to use and experience of
WhatsApp – which included indications that even the informational exchange features of
WhatsApp were not seen as universally beneficial. Thus there is considerable scope for the
interrogation of the interaction between the extant levels of the VPM and digital/spatial
levels. And of course, as digital technologies themselves develop (e.g. the possible
introduction of easily accessibly ‘mute’ button for WhatsApp, and WhatsApp communities)
they prompt further questions about volunteer experiences. Lastly, we suggest that there is a
wealth of opportunity to examine the variety of volunteerspaces and places more generally –
both digital and otherwise – in order to better understand the role of the places and spaces in
volunteer processes and experiences, and the extent to which the analogous literature of
(digital) workspaces and places is applicable to the volunteering context.
One final element of our study that is additionally indicative of empirical and methodological
attention is the reticence displayed by some participants in articulating any negative aspects
of their volunteering experiences. Clem’s ‘that sounds bad, does it’ in particular illustrates
this concern. We suggest that examples such as this indicate a potentially useful insight into
the challenges of obtaining feedback on the use of technology (or indeed other features of
organisational operation), which may additionally be particular to volunteer settings. While,
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 40
again, this feature of our data may be specific to our particular context (or perhaps to the
volunteer sector context more generally – and if it is, then it is important to attend to in
research in this content), it is nonetheless potentially worth further attention. In our study, for
example, the interviewer was a fellow volunteer which raises a range of additional questions
in relation to this issue.
Ultimately, then, we suggest that our qualitative analysis of volunteer experiences of
WhatsApp has illustrated the utility of detailed, qualitative investigations of internet-enabled
technologies that focus on a specific context. Our analysis has thus highlighted how
volunteers at a small charity perceived benefits of the uses of WhatsApp largely in terms of
its facilitation of informational exchange. Rather than see it as a means through which they
had or could enhance their sense of membership to their volunteer group, instead the use of
WhatsApp was seen as something of a compromise, with many volunteers reporting irritation
and frustration with perceived unnecessary use of the app, and associated noisy audible
interruptions to their lives outside of their volunteer work. While our work here is not
focused on digital forms of volunteering (e.g. Raja-Yusof et al, 2016) we are nonetheless
concerned with how digital levels of volunteering process impact on volunteer experiences.
Thus, in terms of the VPM, we have suggested that the digital (and broader spatial)
constitutes a potentially useful level of analysis with which to interrogate volunteer
experience, not least as it has the potential to both overlay and articulate other levels. As
such, our study serves as impetus for a wide range of future research.
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 41
CRediT author statement
Rachel Manning: Conceptualization; Formal analysis; Investigation; Methodology;
Resources; Supervision; Validation; Visualization; Writing - original draft; Writing – review
& editing. Phoebe Brook-Rowland: Conceptualization; Data curation; Formal analysis;
Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Resources; Validation; Visualization;
Writing - original draft; Writing – review & editing.
Disclosure statement
Phoebe Brook-Rowland was a volunteer at The Charity at the time of data collection. We
have no other known conflicts of interest to disclose. This research did not receive any
specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 42
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EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 50
Table 1
Participant characteristics
Pseudonym
Age
Gender
Tenure at The
Charity
Annie
31
Female
14 months
Bachatero
23
Male
18 months
Celebrations
70
Female
18 months
Clem
54
Female
2 months
Curly
45
Female
18 months
Emmanuel
24
Male
11 months
Little Dog
73
Male
18 months
Sean
65
Male
18 months
Tubbs
47
Male
12 months
EXPERIENCES OF WHATSAPP IN A VOLUNTEERING SETTING 51
Figure 1
Thematic map of perceptions of the use of WhatsApp in a volunteer setting
