WeChat launches new feature "Friends Message", but 60% of users say they don't like it

Recently, some netizens revealed that WeChat is testing the "Friends Message" feature. In addition to "Selected Messages", users can also see friends' messages, even if they are not selected. After a short grayscale test, this feature was withdrawn.

On April 9, the "Friends Message" function was officially launched. WeChat officials said that this update is intended to further enhance the social attributes of public account messages and increase the enthusiasm and interactivity of users' messages.

What more netizens care about is that uncensored comments will also be released, and their every move will be seen by all their friends. This means that "the comment area will become a micro-business world" and "I will never dare to leave comments casually again."

"Friends' Message" was quietly launched, and questions were raised. Is it a panacea or a poison for WeChat?

Are you surprised that the message area has become a small stage? Are you surprised?

At present, the order of message display is friend messages, selected messages. When some selected messages are pinned to the top by the backend, the display order is friend messages, pinned selected messages, and other selected messages. Once "friend messages" are online, their status is higher than selected and pinned, which shows WeChat's determination to enhance its social attributes.

There are a few things to note about new features:

1. Regardless of whether the message is selected or not, it will be displayed to all friends.
2. “Friends’ messages” can only be seen by yourself and your friends, and are not displayed to all users.
3. Friends can still see the replies received from the public account in the “Friends’ Message” section.
4. Historical articles before the launch of the "Friends' Messages" feature will not display friends' messages.

In addition, although this is a major update to the WeChat article format, it came relatively stealthily. You don’t need to update WeChat to the latest version to experience this feature. Official accounts such as “WeChat Party” did not tweet, but only answered questions through the media. The only sign is that the WeChat public platform has repeatedly had bugs some time ago.

WeChat explained this new feature in some product details. On the user message interface, WeChat will prompt "Messages are visible to friends, and after being filtered by the official account, they will be visible to everyone." And on the WeChat official account background, it will also show "Messages are visible to the user's friends, as are replies."

On the surface, this is just a change in the message display format, but behind it is a reflection of WeChat social relationships. Just like the "Everyone is watching" in WeChat's "Look" and the "Everyone is listening" in the WeChat mini-program "Music Station", the distance between users has been shortened. If this is the case, why do some people strongly resist it?

"Friends' comments" may not be common, but 60% of people still diss the new feature

How big is the impact of the "Friends Message" function? Probably not. Because the condition for it to appear is: you and your friends follow a public account together, see an article, and the other party leaves a message. Multiple probabilities are superimposed, and users are lost at every step.

If you want to see messages from your friends, it depends on fate.

Another issue is the base number. Although WeChat already has 1 billion daily active users, the 2017 WeChat user data report shows that more than half of WeChat users have less than 200 friends. The fewer friends you have, the less likely you are to be affected by new features.

Although "Friends' Message" may not be common, its implantation in the giant WeChat should not be underestimated. What do you think of this feature?

We collected data from 139 users through the Jindata form in the Xinbang community and the friend circles of Bangge and Bangmei. The form has 6 different options. Let's take a look at the feedback results first.

I don’t like it. I don’t dare to curse casually because I’m afraid that my friends will see it (43.3%)

Don’t like it. Force everyone to leave a message, otherwise the boss will be unhappy if he sees that no one has left a message (15.7%)

Don’t want to say anything (11.8%)

I like it. I can show my presence in the comment section. (11.0%)

Like it. It’s fun to discuss issues with familiar friends (9.4%)

It doesn’t matter , I don’t leave any comments or read the comments section (8.7%)

From the intuitive statistical data, the proportion of those who voted "dislike" reached 59%, accounting for the vast majority. The proportion of users who clearly expressed "like" was 20.4%, which was much smaller than the former.

We have selected some representative feedback comments on how to view this feature:

Express your like

Agree. If a friend leaves a message, it means that the article is readable and effectively helps me select articles. In addition, if you disagree with a friend's message, you can further refute it in a private message, which strengthens the friendship between friends. (PS, because your objection is invalid, WeChat's new function must support it)

Refer to the WeChat Moments ads, which are also comments visible to acquaintances. Just be fun.

I don’t really care. This new feature makes it easier for me to know how many of my friends have read this article.

I like it. Since I've left a message, it's for everyone to see. There's nothing to worry about.

It is definitely beneficial for friends who like to comment, such as Zhou Hetai, who is strongly exposed. For those who don't like to leave comments, it is dispensable.

• I don't like it. It's disgusting. I blocked other people's Moments with great difficulty, but I still have to endure them being unruly in the comment section.
• I don't like it. I'm afraid of being heard if I want to say something in private.

I don’t think this function can achieve the purpose of social interaction. If you want to know what your friends think of the article, just look at their forwarding comments. The comment area is sorted by likes to make more interesting comments appear at the front, but friends’ comments are not necessarily the most interesting. If this is the case, some friends who like to post comments will often show their presence, which is not a good user experience... And it only changes the order, but you can’t reply or anything, so how can it be social?

It can be displayed without review, which is a new world for WeChat business advertising!

I hate this feature. In the past, if you didn't want to reply to some messages, you didn't have to reply anyway, no one would see it, but now it's definitely not possible... How do you know if a message is from a boss, relative or friend... [Complaint from an editor of a certain operator]

I feel it's very strange, and I can't interact with him/her, it feels like I'm exposing other people's privacy.

What is the next step for “friend message”? Weibo? Moments? Or BBS?

For public account operators, it is difficult to say whether a new function is good or bad.

New media researcher Huo Huo believes that influence can be divided into large and small:

• For big accounts, the impact is not that big, because everyone is a weak link. Mi Meng's article has thousands of comments, and it is impossible to select them all;
• For small and medium-sized accounts, especially personal accounts, which have only a few hundred fans, this is very good, because their fans are basically "acquaintances of acquaintances", which can further strengthen the interaction of public accounts.

Another impact of the new function is that it breaks the limit of only selecting 100 messages. This has both advantages and disadvantages for operators. Sometimes a lot of messages are needed, and sometimes too many messages are a burden.

As an original account with a high proportion of comments, the operator of "Uncle Gray Pigeon" joked: "For an account like mine with over 100 comments, even if all my friends' comments are not selected as featured, the scroll down will be very long, right..."

For some corporate accounts, the more important thing is that the right to review is taken away. "Friends' Selections" can be displayed without screening, which is an uncontrollable factor for operators. Once a KOL with many friends posts a negative comment, the operator can only choose to delete or block him. Referring to the previous Sina Weibo, this operation often makes things worse.

Some people also suggested: If the discordant messages of friends are directly displayed, and sensitive remarks are screenshot and spread, who should be blamed for the public account being blocked?

***, can this WeChat update achieve its purpose?

It is not surprising that WeChat has this update. The opening rate of WeChat public accounts is weak, and WeChat Moments only has circles, but no friends. Introducing social relationships into WeChat articles, the combination of the two can inspire users to leave messages and deepen the relationship between friends.

Huo Huo said that "Friends Selected" is also a kind of social defense in a sense. Under the impact of TikTok and other apps, the opening rate of Moments has been declining. This function is just a small step. I believe that WeChat will launch more "user recall" measures in the future.

The problem is that WeChat is no longer a social network for acquaintances. This is an established fact. Many people do not expect to communicate with strangers, let alone the WeChat merchants they have to add. "Friends' messages" are just a small stage. Once you speak, you are in the spotlight. Although you know that the probability of your friends seeing it is small, this uncertainty is still disgusting.

Therefore, many people have made suggestions to WeChat, hoping to make improvements based on the new features. For example:

1. Add the option of "Is it visible to friends after posting", and even choose to make it visible to groups, just like posting to Moments.
2. Only messages from carefully selected friends can be seen, which means that the logic of message presentation remains unchanged, only the messages from friends are moved forward.
3. You can reply to your friends' messages, directly turn it into a community and BBS, and create a circle of friends in the message area.

***There is also an easter egg, "Friends' messages" and "Selected messages" are not duplicated. If a friend's message is selected, you should see the friend's message twice. If not, it may mean... (The official test delete friend function is finally out)