WeChat dual-group (mis-)use: a qualitative exploration of Chinese undergraduate students’ use of mobile social media applications and its pedagogical implications

The dual-group arrangement constitutes a layered communication ecology that simultaneously enhances and undermines collaborative learning. While it balances authority with autonomy, its unregulated nature risks cognitive overload, inequity and integrity breaches. Examples of pedagogical recommendations include: (a) explicit norms for each group, (b) weekly pinned summaries to reduce noise, (c) peer moderators to ensure equitable voice, (d) assessment designs that deter cheating, and (e) co-created digital-communication codes to clarify collaboration-plagiarism boundaries. Institutionally, embedding digital professionalism into curriculum standards and establishing discipline-level hubs for digital-translation pedagogy can better achieve university learning goals.