Wazzzaaaaaaaaappp???

Whassup? Whaddup? Wazzup?

It started as a catchy little phrase we say to greet each other when we happen to meet.

Then there was a series of ads from Budweiser running from 1999 - 2002 that shot this phrase back to stardom and reaching cult status, significantly marked by the dragging of its pronunciation as long as possible.

In 2005, Agnes used it to name her album.

The phrase and ads have also received homage in the sitcom "How I Met Your Mother".

Now, there's even a cross-platforms application for cellphones named after a form of the phrase, called WhatsApp. Many would say it's just an imitation of BlackBerry's BBM, and in some ways it is, but to be fair, the app is not without its own merits.

The similarities start from their instant message delivery, of course. After all, both are instant messaging applications to begin with. Then there's the file sharing feature. And also the use of emoticons. And the group system. Then you have the message notifications system, or the stalker mode as I would call it. Both provide icons that let their users know whether or not a message has been delivered and read. So let's say you are reminding someone to meet you somewhere at some time, then you see the read notification is activated. Later on, that someone wouldn't be able to say that he/she didn't get the message without being implicated as lying.

And WhatsApp even takes it one step further by adding the "last seen" and "online" notifications, enabling its user to check when was the last time another user has used WhatsApp, or is in fact currently using it as per the checking time.

Or maybe a few steps further. And backward at that, perhaps. Because in BlackBerry, you have to at least exchange pin approvals before you can start messaging others, whereas in WhatsApp, all you need is the phone number of a user, no exchange of approvals needed.

Kinda perfect set up for stalking and spamming.