Book Review: Yujie Chen, Zhifei Mao, & Jack Linchuan Qiu, Super-Sticky WeChat and Chinese Society

Lits, Brieuc;Chen, Shuhan
(2020) Global Media and China — n° 2, p. 205943642096526 (2020)

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Authors
  • Lits, BrieucUSL-B
    Author
  • Chen, Shuhanorcid-logo
    Author
Abstract
At the centre of this concise book lies an exploration of Tencent WeChat evolution in the Chinese society. The authors bring forward the main argument that WeChat is unique in the social media landscape due to its stickiness. They mean by that the app offers a wide range of functions and services to users that in turn become glued to the meta-platform (pp. 5–6). This stickiness is also embodied by a series of culturalised designs that are developed to attract users permanently and keep them from leaving it. By looking at historical data, technical evolutions, official statistics and case studies, the authors retrace the specific steps that led WeChat to become China’s most popular mobile app and look at the ways it impacted the social practices of its users.
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Citations

Lits, B., & Chen, S. (2020). Book Review: Yujie Chen, Zhifei Mao, & Jack Linchuan Qiu, Super-Sticky WeChat and Chinese Society. Global Media and China, 2, 205943642096526. https://doi.org/10.1177/2059436420965265 (Original work published 2020)