Abstract

The rapid penetration of mobile internet in rural India has transformed traditional patterns of communication governance and collective decision-making. Among various digital platforms WhatsApp has emerged as a dominant tool not only for social interaction but also for community coordination mobilization and rural development discourse. This paper presents an ethnographic study of WhatsApp communities in rural India focusing on how this ubiquitous messaging application influences decision-making processes in village panchayats farmer groups women’s self-help collectives and local governance institutions. Through fieldwork conducted in rural districts of Uttar Pradesh Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu the study analyzes the evolving relationship between digital technologies and rural agency. It explores how WhatsApp alters hierarchies of participation speeds up deliberation and creates new forms of both empowerment and exclusion. The findings reveal that WhatsApp groups function as informal go