What’s the hottest buzz downtown? You may be surprised that everyone is tweeting about WeChat, even famous local celebrities like Luis Manzano, Andi Manzano, Cristine Reyes, Elmo Magalona, Erwan Heussaff, Jasmin Curtis-Smith, and Sam Gogna! What is WeChat and why has it suddenly become quite popular among celebrities and mobile phone users in Philippines?
Introduced in January 21, 2011 by Tencent, one of the biggest providers of comprehensive internet services in the world, WeChat is a popular mobile social communication app that provides a whole new social experience that allows users to express their emotions in a fun and personal way and allows users to stay connected to loved ones in the most meaningful way possible. WeChat achieved more that 300 million registered user accounts two years after its launch. Its service is now available in over 200 countries and supports 18 different languages.
Staying connected is really twice the fun
Enhanced Messaging. With “Hold-to-talk,” users can send recorded messages and make personalized video messages with loved ones with no time at all. Just press down on the hold botton and pre-record the message before sending.
Free Animated Emoticons. WeChat doesn’t limit emoticons to a few shapes and happy faces but has over hundreds of animated emoticons to choose from for a fun exchange of messages.
Social Sharing. WeChat allows users to share photos from their mobile and favorite social sites like Facebook and Twitter with its feature called ‘Moments’. This allows users to post photos and updates to a wall, which gives Wechat a private social networking site aspect on top of its messaging system. Users can sync WeChat ‘Moments’ directly to their Twitter, and download photos from their Facebook albums and share them on WeChat. Privacy concerns are easily taken care of by its different visibility options.
Meet New Friends. WeChat does not restrict users to just their network of friends; it also helps them make new friends and connect with other people. Its unique “Look Around” and “Shake” feature allows users to connect with people who are in the same area.
WeChat is a free messaging system and available for download for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian and Blackberry devices. Recently, WeChat announced its new location-based features “Look Around” for BlackBerry users, which allows users to enjoy the same innovated function as other smartphone users. With its cool features and fashionable style, no wonder it attracts celebrities and other smartphone users, and has suddenly become the most popular new mobile social app here.
