Over the holidays, Berry & I discovered WeChat, the world’s 5th most-used smart phone app, and #1 in messaging apps.
It has grown so fast that it only took WeChat 433 days to reach the 100mn user milestone. Consider this, Twitter and Facebook required 1,400 and 1,600 days get to the 100mn mark.
As of November 2013, there were 300 million users on WeChat.
It's so huge, even brands are part of it, and you can subscribe directly to their WeChat accounts to be first to hear about updates, exciting news, and get product info.
Just like Viber & WhatsApp, it's a fun way to banter online with friends, make chismis in real time, and send silly stickers. But it provides a new way to connect online, in more ways than one.
What makes WeChat different is it's location-based feature which allows you to find fellow WeChat users in an event, at work, or in school via scanning a QR code, shaking your phone or just searching for "people nearby".
It's a great way to connect especially this holiday season, making it easy to gather family & friends together, for better or worse, haha.
Apart from just cute Christmas stickers, that other messaging apps are also into, WeChat makes connecting over the holidays a lot more fun.
Here are 5 reasons why:
1. WeChat allows users to send digital Christmas & New Year cards! Even a version with your voice recording on it!
These fun cards can be sent out to family and friends via WeChat Moments or via the ‘Share to
Facebook’ button.
2. Organize reunions easily with WeChat's Group Messaging that allows you to gather a group of up to 40
friends via text, voice, or video. WeChat's
location-based feature allows you to send maps of the party venue to friends in seconds. No more excuses of getting late to the party because they got lost on the way!
3. Complete shopping lists and send out your own wish lists by inviting family and friends to post their Christmas wishlists via WeChat's Moments feature, while you also give them the down low on what you want. That's hitting two birds in one.
4.
Call relatives abroad
via the
WeChat Video Call integrated
in the application.
5. Tell your holiday story via StoryCam for WeChat. So you never have to miss out on the details, WeChat pins down your stories for you with Storycam, which is developed by Tencent solely for WeChat.
StoryCam allows everyone to share their stories through themed photos including Featured, Place, Weather, Food, and Lifestyle.
With StoryCam, users can start by capturing a photo, enhancing it using up to 15 free filters, applying real-time location, weather, and date updates, and even placing watermarks wherever you want on the photo.
WeChat not only brings friends and families closer together, it allows us to do it in real time, and better than ever!
About WeChat
WeChat is an innovative mobile social communications application designed for smartphone users. WeChat is free for download from app stores running on Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Symbian and Windows Phone operating systems*.
It is the most downloaded mobile social app in many markets with more than 300 million registered accounts in international markets.
WeChat users can add friends via a wide range of innovative actions and methods, including scanning QR codes, connecting users’ phone books and activating location-based functions such as “People Nearby” and “Shake”.
The platform enhances social interaction by supporting exchanging of text, voice and video, stickers, and photos with their friends over data networks or under Wi-Fi environments. Users can choose to communicate one-on-one, or within their closed social network through “Moments”.
WeChat also comes with comprehensive privacy setting functions, which enables user to tailor their security level as needed.
For more details and application download, please visit
www.wechat.com
*Some features are limited to certain operating systems due to the product development cycle.
Twitter: @WeChatPH
