5 things to know about WeChat, the super app Musk wants X to emulate

Jul 27, 2023

Simone Del Rosario Business Correspondent

By Simone Del Rosario (Business Correspondent), Emma Stoltzfus (Editor), Brent Jabbour (Producer)

Twitter has ditched the bird logo and is now X. Elon Musk is hoping to turn the platform into a super app like WeChat, which is owned by one of China’s biggest companies, Tencent. But what exactly does that look like? Here are five things to know about the Chinese everything app Twitter is trying to emulate in this week’s Five For Friday.

5: Messaging and communication

Peer-to-peer messaging is a big part of WeChat. It makes sense, since chat is right there in the name. At its core, it’s similar to Meta-owned WhatsApp, but there’s so much more to it.

With Moments, users can post images, text and videos as well as share links. The experience is a lot like what a user would get from Facebook or Snapchat. And just like those sites, friends can interact with posts to give the user that endorphin rush they desire. One thing to keep in mind is that friends of friends cannot react to posts, so networks do have privacy limits within WeChat.

The Channels feature operates like Instagram with images and TikTok-style videos. For some reason, though, the videos can be an hour long.

4: Payments and e-commerce

WeChat is a huge player in payments and e-commerce. Initially, WeChat Pay was similar to Venmo, allowing peer-to-peer transactions. But it expanded as WeChat developed apps within the app (hence the super app). Now users can shop and buy all kinds of products through these mini programs.

WeChat Pay eventually moved out of the app and can be used nearly everywhere for point-of-sale transactions. It works a lot like Apple Pay in that way.

Users can also do their banking within WeChat, but that does seem like a lot of personal information within a single app. That’s just the price some are willing to pay for convenience.

3: Services

Public accounts are where the “everything” portion of WeChat really comes in. There are services on the app that allow the user to book a car, make dinner reservations and even find a job. It’s like Uber, Open Table and LinkedIn rolled into one.

Users can also apply for a travel visa or file for divorce with a click.

2: Limited competition

WeChat is just the fifth largest social media platform on the planet with 1.3 billion monthly active users. That’s less than half of what Facebook has, but Elon Musk would surely accept that number of users.

But it isn’t necessarily preference that made it so popular. Most popular Western apps are banned in China, giving the population far fewer options. Unlike WeChat, Musk and X have a free market to contend with in growing its user base.

1: Banned from everything

It seems extremely convenient to be able to do so much in a single-app ecosystem. But what if a user gets banned? It happens with WeChat, where users can be blocked for expressing displeasure with their government.

Doing so cuts them off from friends and family, ostracizes them from coworkers and even stops them from ordering from their favorite delivery spot. Getting bounced from WeChat seems much more detrimental than the likes of Tila Tequila getting banned from Twitter after appearing at a white nationalist convention.

Tags: Apps, China, E-commerce, Elon Musk, Social Media, Twitter, WeChat, WhatsApp, X

SIMONE DEL ROSARIO:

THE BIRD IS DEAD. TWITTER IS NOW “X” WITH ELON MUSK HOPING TO TURN HIS INVESTMENT INTO ONE BIG SUPER APP, LIKE WECHAT, A PLATFORM OWNED BY ONE OF CHINA’S BIGGEST COMPANIES, TENCENT. BUT WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? HERE ARE 5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE CHINESE EVERYTHING APP TWITTER IS (COUGH) TAKING INSPIRATION FROM IN THIS WEEK’S FIVE FOR FRIDAY.

PEER TO PEER MESSAGING IS A BIG PART OF WECHAT. AT ITS CORE IT’S SIMILAR TO META’S WHATSAPP. BUT IT’S SO MUCH MORE. WITH “MOMENTS” USERS CAN POST IMAGES, TEXT, AND VIDEOS AS WELL AS SHARE LINKS. KINDA LIKE FACEBOOK OR SNAPCHAT. JUST LIKE THOSE SITES, FRIENDS CAN INTERACT WITH YOUR POSTS TO GIVE YOU THAT ENDORPHIN RUSH YOU DESPERATELY DESIRE. THEN THERE’S WECHAT “CHANNELS” WHICH OPERATES A LOT LIKE INSTAGRAM WITH IMAGES AND TIKTOK STYLE VIDEOS. BUT THE VIDEOS CAN BE AN HOUR LONG. WHY?

WECHAT IS A HUGE PLAYER IN PAYMENTS AND ECOMMERCE. INITIALLY WECHAT PAY WAS SIMILAR TO VENMO WITH PEER TO PEER TRANSACTIONS. BUT IT GREW AS WECHAT DEVELOPED APPS WITHIN THE APP. NOW, USERS CAN BROWSE AND BUY THINGS THROUGH THESE MINIPROGRAMS. IT EVENTUALLY MOVED OUT OF THE APP AND CAN BE USED PRETTY MUCH ANYWHERE FOR POINT OF SALE, IT’S KIND OF LIKE APPLE PAY. OH, AND YOU CAN DO ALL OF YOUR BANKING NEEDS WITHIN WECHAT. THAT’S A LOT OF YOUR INFO IN ONE SINGLE APP. BUT YOU DO YOU.

OK. HERE’S WHERE THE EVERYTHING PORTION OF WECHAT COMES IN WITH PUBLIC ACCOUNTS. NEED TO BOOK A CAR? DINNER RESERVATIONS? FIND A JOB? IT’S GOT YA. IT’S LIKE UBER, OPEN TABLE AND LINKEDIN ROLLED INTO ONE. YOU CAN ALSO APPLY FOR A VISA OR APPLY FOR A DIVORCE WITH A SINGLE CLICK. I’M NOT SURE THERE IS ANY EQUIVALENT. BUT IT SOUNDS PRETTY CONVENIENT.

WECHAT IS JUST THE 5TH BIGGEST SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM GLOBALLY WITH 1.3 BILLION MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS. THAT’S LESS THAN HALF OF WHAT FACEBOOK BOASTS, BUT I’M SURE ELON MUSK WOULD LOVE THAT NUMBER. IT ISN’T NECESSARILY A PREFERENCE THING, THOUGH. MOST POPULAR WESTERN APPS ARE BANNED IN CHINA, GIVING EM FEW OPTIONS. SO UNLIKE WECHAT, MUSK’S X IS GONNA HAVE THE FREE MARKET TO CONTEND WITH.

SURE AN EVERYTHING APP IS CONVENIENT. BUT WHAT IF YOU GET BANNED. IT HAPPENS WITH WECHAT, WHERE YOU CAN GET BLOCKED FOR THE SIMPLE ACT OF EXPRESSING DISPLEASURE WITH YOUR GOVERNMENT. IT CAN CUT YOU OFF FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY. OSTRACIZE YOU FROM WORK. EVEN STOP YOU FROM ORDERING YOUR FAVORITE FOOD. IT SEEMS MUCH MORE DETRIMENTAL THAN WHEN TILA TEQUILA GOT THE AXE ON TWITTER.

FUN FACT. MUSK AXING TWITTER FOR X, WIPED SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 4 AND 20 BILLION DOLLARS IN ESTABLISHED BRAND VALUE, ACCORDING TO ANALYSTS. I’M WAITING FOR THE METHOD TO THE MADNESS, MAYBE THIS IS IT. THAT’S FIVE FOR FRIDAY. I’M SIMONE DEL ROSARIO. AND IT’S JUST BUSINESS.