{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T21:04:49Z","timestamp":1785445489427,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":96,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,27]],"date-time":"2025-12-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766793600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,20]],"date-time":"2026-01-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768867200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":24,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"ODISSEI"},{"name":"Platform Digital Infrastructure for Social Sciences and Humanities"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003246","name":"Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["VI.Vidi.195.152"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["VI.Vidi.195.152"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003246","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Soc. Netw. Anal. Min."],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Despite the increasing popularity and societal relevance of mobile instant messenger services (MIMSs) such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal, the vast majority of the research on social media is focused on the \u201ctraditional\u201d social media platforms such as Twitter (X) and Facebook, mostly due to the difficulty of accessing MIMSs data. Consequently, little is known about even the most basic topological features of societal-scale instant messenger networks. To overcome this knowledge gap, we employ the innovative approach of data donation by respondents of a high-quality probability-based panel in the Netherlands (the LISS panel) to collect user data while preserving their privacy. Focusing on WhatsApp as the most popular MIMS, this study collects the first measurement of MIMS usage on a national probability sample, focusing on degree distributions as a key feature of network topology. We find that the degree distribution of contacts is best approximated by a log-normal distribution, while the distribution of group membership is best approximated by the exponential distribution. At the individual level, we find that predictors of degree derived from the literature on extended networks mostly replicate.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s13278-025-01550-8","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,27]],"date-time":"2025-12-27T14:02:14Z","timestamp":1766844134000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Assessing mobile instant messenger networks with donated data"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8154-9393","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rense","family":"Corten","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3536-0474","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laura","family":"Boeschoten","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-0651-7516","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thijs","family":"Carri\u00e8re","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-8019-9571","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stein","family":"Jongerius","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5944-8163","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bella","family":"Struminskaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4863-0936","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joris","family":"Mulder","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1610-3149","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Parisa","family":"Zahedi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-7308-1952","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shiva","family":"Nadi Najafabadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6631-7068","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adri\u00ebnne","family":"Mendrik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"1550_CR1","unstructured":"AAPOR (2023) Standard definitions: final dispositions of case codes and outcome rates for surveys. 10th Edition. American Association for Public Opinion Research. https:\/\/aapor.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Standards-Definitions-10th-edition.pdf"},{"key":"1550_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Abdul Reda A, Sinanoglu S, Abdalla M (2021) Mobilizing the masses: measuring resource mobilization on Twitter. Sociol Methods Res 0049124120986197. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0049124120986197","DOI":"10.1177\/0049124120986197"},{"key":"1550_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Agrawal SR (202 1) Adoption of WhatsApp for strengthening internal CRM through social network analysis. J Relat Mark 20(4), 1\u201321","DOI":"10.1080\/15332667.2020.1802643"},{"key":"1550_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Ahn Y-Y, Han S, Kwak H, Moon S, Jeong H (2007) Analysis of topological characteristics of huge online social networking services. Proc 16th Int Conf World Wide Web 835\u2013844. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/1242572.1242685","DOI":"10.1145\/1242572.1242685"},{"issue":"5439","key":"1550_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"509","DOI":"10.1126\/science.286.5439.509","volume":"286","author":"R Albert","year":"1999","unstructured":"Albert R, Barab\u00e1si A-L (1999) Emergence of scaling in random networks. Science 286(5439):509\u2013512","journal-title":"Science"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1103\/RevModPhys.74.47","volume":"74","author":"R Albert","year":"2002","unstructured":"Albert R, Barab\u00e1si A-L (2002) Statistical mechanics of complex networks. Rev Mod Phys 74(1):47\u201397. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/RevModPhys.74.47","journal-title":"Rev Mod Phys"},{"issue":"6794","key":"1550_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"378","DOI":"10.1038\/35019019","volume":"406","author":"R Albert","year":"2000","unstructured":"Albert R, Jeong H, Barab\u00e1si A-L (2000) Error and attack tolerance of complex networks. Nature 406(6794):378\u2013382. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/35019019","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"2","key":"1550_CR94","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1257\/jep.31.2.211","volume":"31","author":"H. Allcot","year":"2017","unstructured":"Allcot, H., & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), 211\u2013236.","journal-title":"Journal of Economic Perspectives"},{"issue":"2","key":"1550_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"372","DOI":"10.5117\/ccr2022.2.001.arau","volume":"4","author":"T Araujo","year":"2022","unstructured":"Araujo T, Ausloos J, Atteveldt W, Loecherbach F, Moeller J, Ohme J, Trilling D, Velde B, Vreese C, Welbers K (2022) OSD2F: an Open-Source data donation framework. Comput Communication Res 4(2):372\u2013387. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5117\/ccr2022.2.001.arau","journal-title":"Comput Communication Res"},{"key":"1550_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Ausloos J, Veale M (2020) Researching with data rights. Technol Regul 136\u2013157. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.26116\/techreg.2020.010","DOI":"10.26116\/techreg.2020.010"},{"issue":"37","key":"1550_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9216","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1804840115","volume":"115","author":"CA Bail","year":"2018","unstructured":"Bail CA, Argyle LP, Brown TW, Bumpus JP, Chen H, Hunzaker MBF, Lee J, Mann M, Merhout F, Volfovsky A (2018) Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase political polarization. Proc Natl Acad Sci 115(37):9216\u20139221","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci"},{"key":"1550_CR11","unstructured":"Barab\u00e1si A-L (2016) Network science. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge"},{"key":"1550_CR12","unstructured":"Blau PM (1977) Inequality and heterogeneity: a primitive theory of social structure, vol 7. Free Press, New York"},{"issue":"2","key":"1550_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"388","DOI":"10.5117\/ccr2022.2.002.boes","volume":"4","author":"L Boeschoten","year":"2022","unstructured":"Boeschoten L, Ausloos J, M\u00f6ller JE, Araujo T, Oberski DL (2022) A framework for privacy preserving digital trace data collection through data donation. Comput Communication Res 4(2):388\u2013423. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5117\/ccr2022.2.002.boes","journal-title":"Comput Communication Res"},{"issue":"90","key":"1550_CR14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5596","DOI":"10.21105\/joss.05596","volume":"8","author":"L Boeschoten","year":"2023","unstructured":"Boeschoten L, Schipper NC, Mendrik AM, Veen E, Struminskaya B, Janssen H, Araujo T (2023) Port: A software tool for digital data donation. J Open Source Softw 8(90):5596. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.21105\/joss.05596","journal-title":"J Open Source Softw"},{"issue":"7415","key":"1550_CR15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1038\/nature11421","volume":"489","author":"RM Bond","year":"2012","unstructured":"Bond RM, Fariss CJ, Jones JJ, Kramer ADI, Marlow C, Settle JE, Fowler JH (2012) A 61-million-person experiment in social influence and political mobilization. Nature 489(7415):295\u2013298","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"7","key":"1550_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"947","DOI":"10.1177\/0093650218808186","volume":"47","author":"S Boulianne","year":"2018","unstructured":"Boulianne S (2018) Twenty years of digital media effects on civic and political participation. Communication Res 47(7):947\u2013966. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0093650218808186","journal-title":"Communication Res"},{"key":"1550_CR17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Boyd D, Ellison NB (2007) Social network sites: Definition, History, and scholarship. J Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1):210-230","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x"},{"key":"1550_CR18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socnet.2015.06.002","volume":"44","author":"ME Brashears","year":"2016","unstructured":"Brashears ME, Hoagland E, Quintane E (2016) Sex and network recall accuracy. Social Networks 44:74\u201384","journal-title":"Social Networks"},{"key":"1550_CR19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2022.2097015","author":"J Breuer","year":"2022","unstructured":"Breuer J, Kmetty Z, Haim M, Stier S (2022) User-centric approaches for collecting Facebook data in the \u2018post-API age\u2019: experiences from two studies and recommendations for future research. Inform Communication Soc. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/1369118X.2022.2097015","journal-title":"Inform Communication Soc"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1017","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-019-08746-5","volume":"10","author":"AD Broido","year":"2019","unstructured":"Broido AD, Clauset A (2019) Scale-free networks are rare. Nat Commun 10(1):1017","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"key":"1550_CR21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bursztyn VS, Birnbaum L (2019) Thousands of small, constant rallies: a large-scale analysis of partisan WhatsApp groups. 2019 IEEE\/ACM international conference on advances in social networks analysis and mining, Istanbul","DOI":"10.1145\/3341161.3342905"},{"issue":"4","key":"1550_CR22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"430","DOI":"10.1080\/15205436.2016.1161803","volume":"19","author":"M Chan","year":"2016","unstructured":"Chan M (2016) Social network sites and political engagement: exploring the impact of Facebook connections and uses on political protest and participation. Mass Communication Soc 19(4):430\u2013451","journal-title":"Mass Communication Soc"},{"issue":"4","key":"1550_CR23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1137\/070710111","volume":"51","author":"A Clauset","year":"2009","unstructured":"Clauset A, Shalizi CR, Newman MEJ (2009) Power-Law distributions in empirical data. SIAM Rev 51(4):661\u2013703. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1137\/070710111","journal-title":"SIAM Rev"},{"key":"1550_CR24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Corten R (2012) Composition and structure of a large online social network in the Netherlands. PLoS ONE 7(4). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0034760","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0034760"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.5117\/SOC2019.1.003.CORT","volume":"15","author":"R Corten","year":"2019","unstructured":"Corten R (2019) Big data in Sociologisch Onderzoek. Sociologie 15(1):45\u201368","journal-title":"Sociologie"},{"key":"1550_CR26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Dargahi Nobari A, Reshadatmand N, Neshati M (2017) Analysis of Telegram, an instant messaging service. Proc 2017 ACM Conf Inform Knowl Manage 2035\u20132038. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3132847.3133132","DOI":"10.1145\/3132847.3133132"},{"key":"1550_CR87","unstructured":"de Vries DA, Piotrowski J, de Vreese C, van Oosten A, Korderijnk R (2022) DigIQ. https:\/\/osf.io\/dfvqb\/"},{"issue":"4","key":"1550_CR27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1234","DOI":"10.1086\/659100","volume":"116","author":"TA DiPrete","year":"2011","unstructured":"DiPrete TA, Gelman A, McCormick T, Teitler J, Zheng T (2011) Segregation in social networks based on acquaintanceship and trust. Am J Sociol 116(4):1234\u20131283. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1086\/659100","journal-title":"Am J Sociol"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"150292","DOI":"10.1098\/rsos.150292","volume":"3","author":"RIM Dunbar","year":"2016","unstructured":"Dunbar RIM (2016) Do online social media cut through the constraints that limit the size of offline social networks? Royal Soc Open Sci 3(1):150292. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rsos.150292","journal-title":"Royal Soc Open Sci"},{"key":"1550_CR30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socnet.2015.04.005","volume":"43","author":"RIM Dunbar","year":"2015","unstructured":"Dunbar RIM, Arnaboldi V, Conti M, Passarella A (2015) The structure of online social networks mirrors those in the offline world. Social Networks 43:39\u201347","journal-title":"Social Networks"},{"issue":"5","key":"1550_CR31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1015","DOI":"10.1086\/227352","volume":"86","author":"SL Feld","year":"1981","unstructured":"Feld SL (1981) The focused organization of social ties. Am J Sociol 86(5):1015\u20131035","journal-title":"Am J Sociol"},{"key":"1550_CR32","unstructured":"Fischer CS, Jackson R, Stueve CA, Gerson K, Jones LM (1977) Networks and places. Free"},{"issue":"4","key":"1550_CR33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"665","DOI":"10.1080\/10584609.2018.1477506","volume":"35","author":"D Freelon","year":"2018","unstructured":"Freelon D (2018) Computational research in the Post-API age. Political Communication 35(4):665\u2013668. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/10584609.2018.1477506","journal-title":"Political Communication"},{"issue":"3","key":"1550_CR34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socnet.2005.01.008","volume":"27","author":"Y Fu","year":"2005","unstructured":"Fu Y (2005) Measuring personal networks with daily contacts: A single-item survey question and the contact diary. Social Networks 27(3):169\u2013186. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.socnet.2005.01.008","journal-title":"Social Networks"},{"key":"1550_CR36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Garimella K, Tyson G (2018) WhatsApp, Doc? A first look at WhatsApp public group data. In: Proceedings of the ICWSM. ICWSM 2018","DOI":"10.1609\/icwsm.v12i1.14989"},{"key":"1550_CR35","unstructured":"Garimella K, Nayak B, Chauchard S, Vashistha A (2024) Deciphering viral trends in WhatsApp: a case study from a village in rural India (No. arXiv:2407.08172). arXiv. http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2407.08172"},{"key":"1550_CR37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v064.i02","volume":"64","author":"CS Gillespie","year":"2015","unstructured":"Gillespie CS (2015) Fitting heavy tailed distributions: the powerlaw package. J Stat Softw 64:1\u201316. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.18637\/jss.v064.i02","journal-title":"J Stat Softw"},{"key":"1550_CR38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gjoka M, Kurant M, Butts Carter T, Markopoulou A (2010) Walking in Facebook: a case study of unbiased sampling of OSNs. INFOCOM, 2010 Proceedings IEEE, 1\u20139","DOI":"10.1109\/INFCOM.2010.5462078"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.1111\/sipr.12091","volume":"17","author":"S Gonz\u00e1lez-Bail\u00f3n","year":"2023","unstructured":"Gonz\u00e1lez-Bail\u00f3n S, Lelkes Y (2023) Do social media undermine social cohesion? A critical review. Social Issues Policy Rev 17(1):155\u2013180. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/sipr.12091","journal-title":"Social Issues Policy Rev"},{"key":"1550_CR40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socnet.2015.07.003","volume":"44","author":"S Gonz\u00e1lez-Bail\u00f3n","year":"2016","unstructured":"Gonz\u00e1lez-Bail\u00f3n S, Wang N (2016) Networked discontent: the anatomy of protest campaigns in social media. Social Netw 44:95\u2013104. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.socnet.2015.07.003","journal-title":"Social Networks"},{"issue":"2","key":"1550_CR41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"795","DOI":"10.1016\/j.physa.2006.04.047","volume":"371","author":"J-L Guillaume","year":"2006","unstructured":"Guillaume J-L, Latapy M (2006) Bipartite graphs as models of complex networks. Physica A 371(2):795\u2013813. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.physa.2006.04.047","journal-title":"Physica A"},{"issue":"ues 1\u20132","key":"1550_CR42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"130","DOI":"10.5771\/1615-634X-2023-1-2-130","volume":"71","author":"M Haim","year":"2023","unstructured":"Haim M, Leiner D, Hase V (2023) Integrating data donations into online surveys. Medien Und Kommunikationswissenschaft 71(ues 1\u20132):130\u2013137. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5771\/1615-634X-2023-1-2-130","journal-title":"Medien Und Kommunikationswissenschaft"},{"issue":"2","key":"1550_CR43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"225","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444811410408","volume":"14","author":"S Harlow","year":"2012","unstructured":"Harlow S (2012) Social media and social movements: Facebook and an online Guatemalan justice movement that moved offline. New Media Soc 14(2):225\u2013243","journal-title":"New Media Soc"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1007\/s12110-003-1016-y","volume":"14","author":"RA Hill","year":"2003","unstructured":"Hill RA, Dunbar RIM (2003) Social network size in humans. Hum Nat 14(1):53\u201372","journal-title":"Hum Nat"},{"key":"1550_CR46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Hofstra B, Corten R, van Tubergen F, Ellison NB (2017) Sources of segregation in social networks: a novel approach using Facebook. Am Sociol Rev 82(3). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0003122417705656","DOI":"10.1177\/0003122417705656"},{"issue":"3","key":"1550_CR45","first-page":"1274","volume":"99","author":"B Hofstra","year":"2021","unstructured":"Hofstra B, Corten R, van Tubergen F (2021) Beyond the core: who has larger social networks? Soc Forces 99(3):1274\u20131305","journal-title":"Soc Forces"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1016","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-019-09038-8","volume":"10","author":"P Holme","year":"2019","unstructured":"Holme P (2019) Rare and everywhere: perspectives on scale-free networks. Nat Commun 10(1):1016. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41467-019-09038-8","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"issue":"3","key":"1550_CR48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"890","DOI":"10.1257\/aer.97.3.890","volume":"97","author":"MO Jackson","year":"2007","unstructured":"Jackson MO, Rogers BW (2007) Meeting strangers and friends of friends: how random are social networks? Am Econ Rev 97(3):890\u2013915","journal-title":"Am Econ Rev"},{"issue":"2","key":"1550_CR49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e13252","DOI":"10.1111\/imig.13252","volume":"63","author":"T Jeroense","year":"2025","unstructured":"Jeroense T, Hofstra B, Spierings N, Tolsma J (2025) Size and ethnic homogeneity of extended social networks in the netherlands: differences between migrant groups and migrant generations. Int Migration 63(2):e13252. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/imig.13252","journal-title":"Int Migration"},{"key":"1550_CR50","unstructured":"Johns, A., Matamoros-Fern\u00e1ndez, A., & Baulch, E. (2023). WhatsApp: from a one-to-one messaging app to a global communication platform. John Wiley & Sons."},{"issue":"1\u20132","key":"1550_CR51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"88","DOI":"10.1163\/22142312-12340119","volume":"7","author":"H Kermani","year":"2020","unstructured":"Kermani H (2020) Decoding telegram: Iranian users and \u2018Produsaging\u2019Discourses in iran\u2019s 2017 presidential election. Asiascape: Digit Asia 7(1\u20132):88\u2013121","journal-title":"Asiascape: Digit Asia"},{"key":"1550_CR96","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Keusch, F., Struminskaya, B., Antoun, C., Couper, M. P., & Kreuter, F. (2019). Willingness to participate in passive mobile data collection. Public Opinion Quarterly, 83(S1), 210\u2013235.","DOI":"10.1093\/poq\/nfz007"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.1177\/07591063211061754","volume":"154","author":"Z Kmetty","year":"2022","unstructured":"Kmetty Z, N\u00e9meth R (2022) Which is your favorite music genre? A validity comparison of Facebook data and survey data. Bull Soc Methodol\/Bull De M\u00e9thodol Soc 154(1):82\u2013104. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/07591063211061754","journal-title":"Bull Sociol Methodology\/Bulletin De M\u00e9thodologie Sociologique"},{"issue":"6507","key":"1550_CR53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1060","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaz8170","volume":"369","author":"DMJ Lazer","year":"2020","unstructured":"Lazer DMJ, Pentland A, Watts DJ, Aral S, Athey S, Contractor N, Freelon D, Gonzalez-Bailon S, King G, Margetts H, Nelson A, Salganik MJ, Strohmaier M, Vespignani A, Wagner C (2020) Computational social science: Obstacles and opportunities. Science 369(6507):1060\u20131062. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/science.aaz8170","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"1550_CR54","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Leskovec J, Horvitz E (2008) Planetary-scale views on a large instant-messaging network. Proceeding 17th Int Conf World Wide Web 915\u2013924. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/1367497.1367620","DOI":"10.1145\/1367497.1367620"},{"key":"1550_CR55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socnet.2018.08.004","volume":"56","author":"MJ Lubbers","year":"2019","unstructured":"Lubbers MJ, Molina JL, Valenzuela-Garc\u00eda H (2019) When networks speak volumes: variation in the size of broader acquaintanceship networks. Social Networks 56:55\u201369. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.socnet.2018.08.004","journal-title":"Social Networks"},{"issue":"489","key":"1550_CR56","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"59","DOI":"10.1198\/jasa.2009.ap08518","volume":"105","author":"TH McCormick","year":"2010","unstructured":"McCormick TH, Salganik MJ, Zheng T (2010) How many people do you know? Efficiently estimating personal network size. J Am Stat Assoc 105(489):59\u201370. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1198\/jasa.2009.ap08518","journal-title":"J Am Stat Assoc"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"415","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.soc.27.1.415","volume":"27","author":"M McPherson","year":"2001","unstructured":"McPherson M, Smith-Lovin L, Cook JM (2001) Birds of a feather: homophily in social networks. Ann Rev Sociol 27(1):415\u2013444","journal-title":"Ann Rev Sociol"},{"issue":"21","key":"1550_CR58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5264","DOI":"10.1016\/j.physa.2012.06.004","volume":"391","author":"M Mitrovi\u0107","year":"2012","unstructured":"Mitrovi\u0107 M, Tadi\u0107 B (2012) Dynamics of bloggers\u2019 communities: bipartite networks from empirical data and agent-based modeling. Physica A 391(21):5264\u20135278. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.physa.2012.06.004","journal-title":"Physica A"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR59","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"331","DOI":"10.1186\/s13104-015-1280-z","volume":"8","author":"C Montag","year":"2015","unstructured":"Montag C, B\u0142aszkiewicz K, Sariyska R, Lachmann B, Andone I, Trendafilov B, Eibes M, Markowetz A (2015) Smartphone usage in the 21st century: who is active on whatsapp? BMC Res Notes 8(1):331. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s13104-015-1280-z","journal-title":"BMC Res Notes"},{"key":"1550_CR60","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Myers SA, Sharma A, Gupta P, Lin J (2014) Information network or social network? The structure of the Twitter follow graph. Proc 23rd Int Conf World Wide Web 493\u2013498. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/2567948.2576939","DOI":"10.1145\/2567948.2576939"},{"key":"1550_CR61","unstructured":"Newman MEJ (2010) Networks: an introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford"},{"key":"1550_CR62","unstructured":"Oberlo (2020), December 2 Top 10 WhatsApp statistics you should know in 2021. https:\/\/www.oberlo.com\/blog\/whatsapp-statistics"},{"key":"1550_CR63","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"501","DOI":"10.1145\/3460418.3479362","volume":"496","author":"AG Ortega","year":"2021","unstructured":"Ortega AG, Bourgeois J, Kortuem G (2021) Towards designerly data donation. UbiComp\/ISWC 2021 - Adjun Proc 2021 ACM Int Joint Conf Pervasive Ubiquitous Comput Proc 2021 ACM Int Symp Wearable Computers 496:501. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3460418.3479362","journal-title":"UbiComp\/ISWC 2021 - Adjun Proc 2021 ACM Int Joint Conf Pervasive Ubiquitous Comput Proc 2021 ACM Int Symp Wearable Computers"},{"key":"1550_CR64","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Ortega AG, Bourgeois J, Kortuem G (2022), October Reconstructing Intimate Contexts through Data Donation: A Case Study in Menstrual Tracking Technologies. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3546155.3546646","DOI":"10.1145\/3546155.3546646"},{"key":"1550_CR65","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Ortega AG, Bourgeois J, Kortuem G (2023), April What is Sensitive About (Sensitive) Data? Characterizing Sensitivity and Intimacy with Google Assistant Users. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3544548.3581164","DOI":"10.1145\/3544548.3581164"},{"issue":"14","key":"1550_CR66","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3200","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.86.3200","volume":"86","author":"R Pastor-Satorras","year":"2001","unstructured":"Pastor-Satorras R, Vespignani A (2001) Epidemic spreading in scale-free networks. Phys Rev Lett 86(14):3200\u20133203. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.86.3200","journal-title":"Phys Rev Lett"},{"key":"1550_CR67","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/19312458.2023.2176474","author":"N Pfiffner","year":"2023","unstructured":"Pfiffner N, Friemel TN (2023) Leveraging data donations for communication research: exploring drivers behind the willingness to donate. Commun Methods Meas https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/19312458.2023.2176474","journal-title":"Communication Methods Measures"},{"key":"1550_CR68","unstructured":"Pfiffner N, Witlox P, Friemel TN (2022) Data donation module [Software] Github. https:\/\/github.com\/uzh\/ddm"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR69","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"114","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444814546481","volume":"17","author":"SA Rains","year":"2015","unstructured":"Rains SA, Brunner SR (2015) What can we learn about social network sites by studying facebook? A call and recommendations for research on social network sites. New Media Soc 17(1):114\u2013131. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1461444814546481","journal-title":"New Media Soc"},{"key":"1550_CR70","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Resende G, Melo P, Sousa H, Messias J, Vasconcelos M, Almeida J, Benevenuto F (2019) (Mis)Information dissemination in whatsapp: Gathering, analyzing and countermeasures. World Wide Web Conf - WWW \u201919 818\u2013828. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3308558.3313688","DOI":"10.1145\/3308558.3313688"},{"key":"1550_CR71","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Rosenfeld A, Sina S, Sarne D, Avidov O, Kraus S (2018) A study of Whats App usage patterns and prediction models without message content. ArXiv Preprint. arXiv:1802.03393. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.1802.03393","DOI":"10.48550\/arXiv.1802.03393"},{"issue":"9","key":"1550_CR72","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"098104","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevLett.95.098104","volume":"95","author":"FC Santos","year":"2005","unstructured":"Santos FC, Pacheco JM (2005) Scale-Free networks provide a unifying framework for the emergence of Cooperation. Phys Rev Lett 95(9):098104. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevLett.95.098104","journal-title":"Phys Rev Lett"},{"key":"1550_CR73","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Scherpenzeel AC, Das M (2010) True longitudinal and Probability-Based internet panels: evidence from the Netherlands. In: Das M, Ester P, Kaczmirek L (eds) Social and behavioral research and the internet: advances in applied methods and research strategies. Taylor & Francis, pp 77\u2013104","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203844922-4"},{"key":"1550_CR75","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Seufert M, Hosfeld T, Schwind A, Burger V, Tran-Gia P (2016) Group-based communication in WhatsApp. 2016 IFIP Networking Conference (IFIP Networking) and Workshops, 536\u2013541. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1109\/IFIPNetworking.2016.7497256","DOI":"10.1109\/IFIPNetworking.2016.7497256"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR74","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1057\/s41599-022-01161-0","volume":"9","author":"A Seufert","year":"2022","unstructured":"Seufert A, Poign\u00e9e F, Ho\u00dffeld T, Seufert M (2022) Pandemic in the digital age: analyzing Whatsapp communication behavior before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown. Humanit Social Sci Commun 9(1):1\u20139. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1057\/s41599-022-01161-0","journal-title":"Humanit Social Sci Commun"},{"issue":"4","key":"1550_CR76","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"48006","DOI":"10.1209\/0295-5075\/90\/48006","volume":"90","author":"M-S Shang","year":"2010","unstructured":"Shang M-S, L\u00fc L, Zhang Y-C, Zhou T (2010) Empirical analysis of web-based user-object bipartite networks. EPL (Europhys Lett) 90(4):48006. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1209\/0295-5075\/90\/48006","journal-title":"EPL (Europhysics Letters)"},{"key":"1550_CR77","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/rssa.12954","author":"H Silber","year":"2022","unstructured":"Silber H, Breuer J, Beuthner C, Gummer T, Keusch F, Siegers P, Stier S, Wei\u00df B (2022) Linking Surveys and Digital Trace Data: Insights from two studies on determinants of data sharing behaviour. J Royal Stat Soc Ser A: Stat Soc 185(Supplement2):S387\u2013S407. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/rssa.12954."},{"key":"1550_CR78","unstructured":"Statista (2023) Netherlands: WhatsApp users 2023. Statista. https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/880842\/number-of-whatsapp-users-in-the-netherlands\/"},{"issue":"S1","key":"1550_CR95","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"423","DOI":"10.1093\/poq\/nfab025","volume":"85","author":"Bella Struminskaya","year":"2021","unstructured":"Struminskaya, B., Lugtig, P., Toepoel, V., Schouten, B., Giesen, D., & Dolmans, R. (2021). Sharing data collected with smartphone sensors: Willingness, participation, and nonparticipation bias. Public Opinion Quarterly, 85(S1), 423\u2013462.","journal-title":"Public Opinion Quarterly"},{"key":"1550_CR79","unstructured":"Ugander J, Karrer B, Backstrom L, Marlow C (2011) The Anatomy of the Facebook Social Graph. arxiv Preprint arXiv:1111.4503. http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1111.4503"},{"key":"1550_CR80","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Urman A, Katz S (2020) What they do in the shadows: examining the far-right networks on telegram. Inform Commun Soc 25(7) , 1\u201320","DOI":"10.1080\/1369118X.2020.1803946"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR81","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1080\/10584609.2017.1334726","volume":"35","author":"S Valenzuela","year":"2018","unstructured":"Valenzuela S, Correa T, de Gil H (2018) Ties, likes, and tweets: using strong and weak ties to explain differences in protest participation across Facebook and Twitter use. Political Commun 35(1):117\u2013134","journal-title":"Political Communication"},{"issue":"4","key":"1550_CR28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"266","DOI":"10.1080\/19312458.2022.2109608","volume":"16","author":"II van Driel","year":"2022","unstructured":"van Driel II, Giachanou A, Pouwels JL, Boeschoten L, Beyens I, Valkenburg PM (2022) Promises and pitfalls of social media data donations. Commun Methods Meas 16(4):266\u2013282. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/19312458.2022.2109608","journal-title":"Communication Methods Measures"},{"issue":"3","key":"1550_CR82","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"521","DOI":"10.1177\/0038038514543294","volume":"49","author":"F van Tubergen","year":"2015","unstructured":"van Tubergen F, Volker B (2015) Inequality in access to social capital in the Netherlands. Sociology 49(3):521\u2013538. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0038038514543294","journal-title":"Sociology"},{"issue":"2","key":"1550_CR83","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"134","DOI":"10.1002\/per.1895","volume":"28","author":"MHW Van Zalk","year":"2014","unstructured":"Van Zalk MHW, Van Zalk N, Kerr M, Stattin H (2014) Influences between online\u2013exclusive, conjoint and offline\u2013exclusive friendship networks: the moderating role of shyness. Eur J Pers 28(2):134\u2013146. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/per.1895","journal-title":"Eur J Pers"},{"issue":"2","key":"1550_CR84","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"022307","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevE.98.022307","volume":"98","author":"D Vasques Filho","year":"2018","unstructured":"Vasques Filho D, O\u2019Neale DRJ (2018) Degree distributions of bipartite networks and their projections. Phys Rev E 98(2):022307. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.98.022307","journal-title":"Phys Rev E"},{"issue":"3","key":"1550_CR85","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"033034","DOI":"10.1103\/PhysRevResearch.1.033034","volume":"1","author":"I Voitalov","year":"2019","unstructured":"Voitalov I, Van Der Hoorn P, Van Der Hofstad R, Krioukov D (2019) Scale-free networks well done. Phys Rev Res 1(3):033034. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevResearch.1.033034","journal-title":"Phys Rev Res"},{"key":"1550_CR86","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socnet.2025.05.007","volume":"83","author":"B V\u00f6lker","year":"2025","unstructured":"V\u00f6lker B, Hofstra B, Corten R, van Tubergen F (2025) Who\u2019s in your extended network? Analysing the size and homogeneity of acquaintanceship networks in the Netherlands. Soc Netw 83:173\u2013185. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.socnet.2025.05.007","journal-title":"Social Networks"},{"key":"1550_CR88","unstructured":"WhatsApp (2024a) About registration | WhatsApp help center. https:\/\/faq.whatsapp.com\/441163784889902"},{"key":"1550_CR89","unstructured":"WhatsApp (2024b) How to add and remove group members | WhatsApp Help Center. https:\/\/faq.whatsapp.com\/841426356990637\/?helpref=hc_fnav&cms_platform=web"},{"key":"1550_CR90","unstructured":"WhatsApp (2025) How to export your chat history | WhatsApp Help Center. https:\/\/faq.whatsapp.com\/1180414079177245\/?cms_platform=android"},{"issue":"1","key":"1550_CR91","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1037\/a0028601","volume":"139","author":"C Wrzus","year":"2013","unstructured":"Wrzus C, H\u00e4nel M, Wagner J, Neyer FJ (2013) Social network changes and life events across the life span: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 139(1):53","journal-title":"Psychol Bull"},{"key":"1550_CR92","unstructured":"Zannettou S, Nemeth O-N, Ayalon O, Goetzen A, Gummadi KP, Redmiles EM, Roesner F (2023) Leveraging rights of data subjects for social media analysis: studying TikTok via data donations. http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/2301.04945"},{"key":"1550_CR93","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Zhang P, Li M, Mendes JFF, Di Z, Fan Y (2008) Empirical analysis and evolving model of bipartite networks (No. arXiv:0804.3854). arXiv. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.48550\/arXiv.0804.3854","DOI":"10.48550\/arXiv.0804.3854"}],"container-title":["Social Network Analysis and Mining"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s13278-025-01550-8","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s13278-025-01550-8.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1007\/s13278-025-01550-8.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,20]],"date-time":"2026-01-20T06:04:23Z","timestamp":1768889063000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1007\/s13278-025-01550-8"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,27]]},"references-count":96,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,12]]}},"alternative-id":["1550"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s13278-025-01550-8","relation":{"references":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1111\/rssa.12954","asserted-by":"subject"}]},"ISSN":["1869-5469"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1869-5469","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,27]]},"assertion":[{"value":"9 January 2025","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"20 October 2025","order":2,"name":"revised","label":"Revised","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"23 October 2025","order":3,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"27 December 2025","order":4,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Conflict of interest"}},{"value":"This study was approved by both Centerdata and the Utrecht University Ethics Review Board (protocol nr. 22-0286).","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethical approval"}}],"article-number":"23"}}