Book Review: The WhatsApp India Story: Inside the Digital Maya Sphere

Abstract

The WhatsApp India Story: Inside the Digital Maya Sphere

Publisher: Routledge, 2024
ISBN: 978-1-032-57417-2 (hbk); 978-1-032-69924-0 (pbk); 978-1-032-69479-5 (ebk)

Reviewer: Dr. Uma Shankar Pandey,
Associate Professor and Head, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication,
Surendranath College for Women, Kolkata, India.
(profusp.com)

Review: Sunetra Sen Narayan and Shalini Narayanan’s The WhatsApp India Story: Inside the Digital Maya Sphere probes a communication platform that now permeates every layer of Indian life. Rather than relying on predictable praise, the authors dissect the platform’s evolution, moving beyond surface-level descriptions of one of our most popular mass messaging applications.

They trace the subtle strands that bind WhatsApp to everyday behaviours, social arrangements, modes of governance and economic transactions, thereby illuminating the app’s quiet authority in India’s digital arena.