Super-sticky WeChat and Chinese Society

Yujie (“Julie”) Chen, Lecturer, Department of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester Zhifei Mao, Lecturer, School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Jack Linchuan Qiu, Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

• 1. A Silver-Spoon App: WeChat, Tencent, and the Mobile Revolution 2. Super-Sticky Design and Everyday Cultures 3. The Eventful WeChat

The authors examine the stickiness of WeChat, addressing how the platform makes users never want to leave. They discuss how the app works; how it has evolved as a communication tool and socio-technical artifact; why it is super-sticky and integrates itself in China’s daily social fabric; how to understand this platform in the context of Chinese society with its media practices, cultural traditions, and political climate; the dangers of the app for social interaction and commerce, as well as surveillance and censorship; and the consequences of globalization of the app’s model. They describe the chronological development of WeChat; its benchmark functions and how its super-sticky design builds on, mediates, and expands popular communication and cultural practices in China; and media activism and critical events on it, through three case studies.