Is WeChat a weapon of social control for China?

China's WeChat is a site for social interaction, a form of currency, a dating app, a tool for sporting teams and deliverer of news: Twitter, Facebook, Googlemaps, Tinder and Apple Pay all rolled into one. But it is also an ever more powerful weapon of social control for the Chinese government.

Why is WeChat so popular in China?

With more than a billion daily active users, WeChat dominates daily life in China. It isn’t just the default option for social networking and chat, it is also the leader in mobile payments; taxi, restaurant, movie-booking and retail apps. These all open inside WeChat, providing a seamless and integrated service for upwardly-mobile Chinese users.

Does WeChat make citizen journalism more risky?

The well-connected social networks on WeChat make peer monitoring possible, as well as facilitating reporting, which can make for a riskier environment within which to engage in citizen journalism. One focus group participant shared his practice of reporting certain users:

Why did WeChat start?

Perhaps because of Zhang’s previous experience with QQ Mail, he was able to streamline the development and build a prototype far more quickly than the competing unit. WeChat launched in January 2011, initially as a texting service.

Is WeChat a 'Swiss Army knife' app?

WeChat, released in mainland China in January 2011, markets itself as a “Swiss Army Knife app” ( Clover, 2016 ). It offers, inter alia, text, voice, and video communication among different types of social networks, games, QR code scanning, mobile commerce, and phone payment functionality.

How does WeChat work?

WeChat allows users to like and repost content across different communicative networks enabled by the app, as well as to comment on other users’ profiles or posts. It also allows users to respond to comments and vote either within the app or on the web extending beyond the app.