By Andile Ndlovu and Carvin Goldstone
It has torn families apart, broken marriages, made hundreds of thousands of teenagers vulnerable to sexual predators - yet it remains the most popular communication device among young South Africans - and its number of international users is growing by the thousands daily.
For many parents, MXit is a scourge that steals family time and puts their children at risk - but for its 5,7-million users, mainly teenagers, it is a way of life.
While some South African parents have taken the time to learn about MXit and become hooked in the process themselves, many have no idea what their children are up to on their cellphones.
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'I've made really good friends through it' MXit is part of the (IM) Instant Messages revolution, which allows people to communicate cheaply in real time using instant messaging technology.
It was founded by a Cape Town businessman Herman Heunis in 2005. To make use of MXit one has to log onto the Mixit website and download the software to the cellphone opening up a gateway to subscribe, send and receive messages at a cost of 2c a message.
To access MXit, the cellphone has to have Internet access, be a GPRS (general radio service) and 3G-enabled cellphone with java viewing software support.
The user then downloads the IM client such as MXit on to the cellphone for free. The user then chooses a user name which will be linked to his or her cellphone number, similarly to the way contacts in a cellphone are identified.
Each user will also have to have a unique name and password.
Signing up for an account has proven to be problematic for more technically challenged users, but is improving.
Once signed on, one can invite friends using their cellphone numbers to join "chatrooms" for just 2c a message.
Like other IM services, MXit has a friends list that has a highlighted icon next to their name which indicates if they are on or off-line.
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