Weixin has taken a constant place in its users’ lives by striving to offer everything they need in one place.
By James Green
Think of all the things you do online, and particularly with mobile apps, in any given day.
You probably check news sites for the latest headlines.
You probably text your friends, family, and/or work colleagues.
You might send those friends money or gifts.
You might purchase goods or services.
You might even sell goods or services.
What if you could do all those things and more in one site?
That is the type of all-in-one functionality that Chinese app Weixin, also known as WeChat in English, provides its more than 1.3 billion users. The app combines the primary functions of all of the powerful social media sites with the features of eBay, Uber, and text message services. As a result, Weixin serves as a type of one-stop mobile shop for its users, who rarely have to leave the app to perform and online function. The app targets, young, urban, on-the-go users who want to be able to perform each function as quickly and easily as possible. This is a generation of users who were conditioned by their phones and other apps to view texting as the primary mode of communication. Weixin has positioned itself as a constant partner in these users’ lives, which is naturally the ultimate goal of any social media site or social media marketing campaign. Weixin is there to help its users with any task they need to complete as they go about their day.
A Must-Have App in China
Weixin isn’t just an app for its 1.3 billion users, a number that accounts for nearly 80% of China’s total population. The app has become so commonplace in the country that people and businesses ask for others’ Weixen ID as their primary contact information, rather than email addresses or phone numbers. Weixin also offers indispensable services for anyone in China that needs to be constantly up to date on the latest breaking news in their industry. Professionals commonly conduct business on the app, negotiating, setting up meetings and even exchanging important documents. Email services and other texting apps have been virtually killed off in the country by the all-in one app. If you want to communicate with someone in China, you pretty much have to use Weixin.
Beyond communication, the app provides essential, one-stop-shopping tools for anyone who needs to stay informed and on the move. These include:
- Blogs where companies, government entities, and other officials post the latest news concerning their organizations.
- A video service where users and organizations can post shortform videos and livestream.
- Access to services that include (but are not limited to) banking, food ordering, securing taxi rides, and reserving tickets.
If you need to pay for something in China, chances are you can do it through a Weixin QR code. And if you want the latest news from government or corporate organizations, chances are you have to be on Weixin. These entities often post essential information only within the app. Much like other messaging services, traditional media outlets have been in many ways eclipsed by Weixin and forced to use the app to distribute their information. And in a country where information is often hard to come by due to government restrictions, users even serve as a type of media source for their contacts.
In a country where information is tightly controlled by the ruling party, a voracious demand for news catered to specific interests has given way to a boom in what directly translates as “self-media”—user-generated content created by one person and inspired by the slogan “be your own media outlet.”
Mia Shuang Li for Columbia Journalism Review
Additionally, Weixin’s all-in-one services and login function discourage users from ever leaving the app. Basically, once you’re in, you’re in, and Weixin has made it so there isn’t much reason to leave anyway.
There Are Downsides to Using the App
Naturally, with any app this powerful and all-encompassing, there will be some negative consequences. Misinformation spreads quickly and easily. Users acting in bad faith can circulate rumors that are even sometimes picked up and shared by official news organizations. Fact checking can be difficult, and on an app with such a vast user base, once misinformation spreads, it is difficult to undo the damage. Additionally, news outlets have found shortform video content is a profitable way of posting information on the app. These outlets will often eschew more important news in favor of sensational, highly edited videos in the hopes they will go viral and maximize profitability.
Additionally, the app has allegedly been used to meddle with foreign governments, particularly in Canada, which features sizable Chinese-speaking communities. Multiple Canadian officials have claimed that the app has been used to launch smear campaigns against them, which the Chinese government has denied. The United States government has been concerned by the potential threat, with the Trump and Biden administrations both taking steps to curb the influence of the app. As for China itself, with so many users so dependent on Weixin, the app has been accused of becoming a tool for its authoritarian government to tighten its grip on the population. There also are significant concerns about the safety of private data on the app.
The lesson, as always: It’s important to vary your sources of information so you can weed out the bad actors and develop a well-rounded perspective. It is the goal of any social media marketer to influence behavior change. But sometimes the motivation behind the behavior change is nefarious in nature, and sometimes a social media app can become arguably too influential. In such cases, users might be paying a steep price for the speed and convenience offered by Weixin.
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