WhatsApp will pay for users to investigate the impact of the application

These are the conditions that must meet. You could receive up to USD $ 50,000.

The problem of fake news and the impact of messaging applications is something that keeps Facebook and WhatsApp alert. And not for nothing, considering the scandals that have involved the company. Now they have launched a call for users to investigate the experiences on the platform.

The first thing you should consider is that the company is calling on researchers who want to analyze the application. Fortunately, this is not limited only to the computer world, as is often done to discover security problems. It also includes the social sciences, so if you are linked to that world, you add points in the same way.

It is estimated that more than 1,500 million people in more than 180 countries use WhatsApp to stay in touch. The figure is truly great, for this reason, the firm has launched a program to enhance its internal, external security and better understand the relationship with users. They mentioned it in a statement:

We welcome the proposals of any social science or related discipline that promote the understanding of the impact of technology in contemporary society.

We will seriously consider the proposals, from any perspective of the social sciences or related to the technology that propose projects that enrich our understanding of the problem of the erroneous information (fake news) in WhatsApp.

The program will award prizes of up to USD $ 50,000 per research proposal, and selected five relevant items:

1.- The processing of problematic content information, involving social variables. Involves "the credibility of the content and the decision to promote that content".

2.- Information related to elections: Understand how political actors are taking advantage of WhatsApp to organize and potentially influence political choices. They want to know the place of WhatsApp in the ecosystem of social networks, messaging platforms, distribution channels of political content, targeting strategies, etc.

3.- The viralización of information: According to they say, the application is not designed to facilitate "the viralidad through algorithms or commentaries". However, these behaviors occur organically, and they want to understand them better.

4.- Digital literacy and disinformation: They want to know how it impacts on unattended geographical regions. This includes studies of individuals, families and communities, but also broader questions about contextual factors in the user experience.

5.- Detection of problematic behavior within encrypted systems: The end-to-end encryption of WhatsApp facilitates security, although they want to review proposals that examine technical solutions to detect "problematic behaviors".

You have until August 12, 2018. You can apply here: https://www.whatsapp.com/research/awards/