Everyday WhatsApp realities in Tanzania: How communication practices shape interpersonal relationships

WhatsApp has gained great attention among the public in both developed and developing countries; the study aimed to assess how communication practices shape interpersonal relationships. The study employed the family communication patterns theory. This study employed a cross-sectional design, combining statistical and descriptive methods to achieve comprehensive and consistent results. Specifically examining the practice of family communication through WhatsApp and the effects of WhatsApp on enhancing interpersonal relationships. The study included all household heads aged 18 and above, including those who do not live with all their family members, such as children, parents, spouses, or siblings, but who use WhatsApp regularly to communicate with them, whereby 153 respondents were sampled using a formula for an unknown population. Data were collected using a designed questionnaire administered to heads of households and checklists for key informants. Data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods to examine WhatsApp use in household communication practices comprehensively. The study indicates that the majority of the respondents had been using WhatsApp for four to ten years. Furthermore, daily engagement with family on WhatsApp was high, whereby the majority of the respondents reported communicating with relatives daily. Regarding daily WhatsApp time with family, most spent between 10 and 30 minutes per day. In addition, the average responses of the respondents ranged from 3.02 to 3.42, indicating a medium to high level of agreement regarding the contribution of WhatsApp to family relationships. Thus, the study concludes that WhatsApp has become an important tool for family communication among many Tanzanian households, especially among young and middle-aged people who are accustomed to technology. The platform has successfully reduced travel expenses, bridged geographical gaps, and facilitated frequent communication with emotional support. The study recommends that families should continue using WhatsApp to strengthen and maintain emotional connections and bonds, facilitate coordination of family activities, and use video, voice, and photo features to make their communication more authentic.