1.3 New Characteristics of WeChat

WeChat is more conducive to information diffusion than previous forms of social media because of its unique functions and information flow mechanism: it combines mobile phones, social media and the Internet in one platform （Wu, Jakubowicz, & Cao, 2013）.

Figure 3 WeChat Brings together Three Overlapping Communication Services in One Display （Wu, Jakubowicz,& Cao, 2013）

“The medium is the message”: McLuhan argued that what transforms us and our society is the media itself, rather than the content. Ubiquitous mobility, interaction and the new communication patterns offered by WeChat influence our behaviors dramatically. Moreover, according to social network theory, the individuals in a community are connected actors who serve as the nodes （Wasserman & Faust, 1994）. Ties, connections, links and edges are needed when actors communicate with each other （Pan & Crotts, 2012）. The social networks formed by WeChat have certain new characteristics.

WeChat creates a new social dissemination circle

Compared with existing social media such as Weibo and blogs, WeChat users are more equal, more interconnected and more able to establish relationships with those who are outside their original social networks; thus the social circle of WeChat has the attribute of “controlled boundlessness”.

According to a report from China Internet Network Information Center （CNNIC）, by June 2013, there were 401 million blog users and 331 million Weibo users. Apparently the margin between these two media is not big. However, this motivates us to think: why do people use Weibo, which allows a limit of only 140 characters, since users could perform all Weibo’s functions on a blog?

Actually the advantage of Weibo lies right here. Compared with the long blog, users can use their fragmented time to express their ideas quickly on Weibo （Dong & Zeng, 2011）. Moreover, Weibo means less time commitment, which means Weibo disseminates faster and more in “real time” than a blog.

In addition to less time commitment, the advantages of WeChat are that, on one hand, users can add anyone though certain functions of WeChat, such as “shake,” “drift bottle” and “people nearby”. On the other hand, the user must use initiative to manage his or her social circle and check the information going to or coming from selected individuals or small groups. Unsolicited information, advertising bombardment, unwanted attention from strangers and most important, privacy infringement can be largely eliminated.

WeChat poses a challenge to social network structure

In the context of WeChat, each user is relatively closer to all others in the network. In other words, the social relationship in WeChat is based on strong ties.

Social networks are considered to be the convergence of social actors （known as nodes） and the relationships among them （Granovetter, 1984）. In other words, individuals can be viewed as socially connected actors, and each actor serves as node in the network. In the context of blogs and Weibo, users’ relationships are weak and basically linked by content, issue or benefit （He & He, 2012）. In contrast owing to its intrinsic instant messaging nature, WeChat’s users keep relatively strong ties （Liu, 2015）. The friends in one’s WeChat are mostly family members, schoolmates and colleagues who are familiar with users in real life. This is also why people tend to believe the information that is shared on WeChat Moments （Peng You Quan[4]）rather than Weibo or blogs （Xi & Moon, 2015）. Companies and brands have found that it is increasingly important to promote their products on WeChat not only for its strong word-of-mouth effect but also for its various supported services. Weak relationships require more time and energy to keep since most of the information disseminated is unilateral. Once the user stops updating the content, such relationships can be broken very quickly （Li, 2011）. A strong relationship however, does not require too much investment, since a strong relationship means high homogeny within a social network, and it allows safety to be found in kinship or friendship （Easley & Kleinberg, 2010）.

Figure 4 Differences between Blog, Weibo and WeChat

Owing to these strong ties and trust in the information from Moments, the information is highly exposed among WeChat users （Xi & Moon, 2015）. WeChat, as a type of instant messaging mobile social media, is designed to discourage wide broadcasting of messages, and more opt for one-to-one communication.

WeChat retrieves one-to-one communication

WeChat is a convenient, one-to-one and flexible app-mediated media creating a sense of social connectedness.

In ancient times, accessible communication technologies were merely either basic oral or the written words. Traditional societies relied on private, atomized and one-to-one direct interpersonal communication （Matteson & Min, 2013）.

In the mass media era, systems for vast distribution and worldwide broadcast were developed. Mass media offered information that was critical to a functioning, contributing member in mass society. The attribute of mass communication is a hierarchal, one-to-many structure. The messages sent by mass media only allow the passive acceptance of information. Interactivity has been taken over by generic broadcasts （Matteson & Min, 2013）.

The advent of social media afforded a new principle of networks which was different from the mass communication pattern of linear hierarchy （O’Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008）. In such context, communication was inclusive, decentralized and participative; it offered a new communication that was reciprocal and two-way （O’Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008）.

Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter allow everyone to send messages to global audiences. But it is hard to say that every message will be read by every audience （Adi, Erickson, & Lilleker, 2014）. Moreover, studies also show that such media are less used to keep social relations or connect with friends; they are mostly exploited as a personal broadcasting tool （Verweij, 2012）.

However, as mentioned above, owing to the high level of closeness and exposure, and the controlled social circle, the distinct difference between existing mobile social media and WeChat lies in the content distribution settings of each channel. One of the reasons that explains the popularity of WeChat is it retrieved the one-to-one communication mode which was lost in mass communication. But apparently the app-meditated one-to-one communication of WeChat is different from traditional one-to-one communication.

First, from the perspective of spatiality and timeliness, WeChat provides a context in which users can communicate with the others even they are physically absent. The message sent by WeChat is synchronous, and the user can retrieve or review the message at any time they want （Wang, 2014）.

Second, WeChat enables a multi-tasking communication. Previous studies have already explored the multi-tasking attribute of instant messaging social media （Wellman, Haase, Witte, & Hampton 2002; Marquez, 2003）. Since WeChat is based on remote communication, it does not require claiming the majority of the users’ attention. It allows users to multi-task something else simultaneously, such as study, work or even talking to others in real time.

Third, WeChat has integrated other multimedia functions such as file transfers, video, audio, online games, etc., which enhance entertainments and online social communications.

WeChat is less censored by the government

China’s news media are put under a tight control of government authorities and private news media outlets are not permitted. Meanwhile various legal and regulative measures limited mainstream media from presenting content not approved by government authorities. Although new media such as portal websites and Weibo （China’s version of Twitter） enjoy more discursive freedom, as public media, they are also under close scrutiny by the government. However as a small-circle media, WeChat provides more privacy and offers a channel to share sensitive information and to a certain degree circumvent the strict censorship, because it is operated on user requirement-based chatting groups （Hassid & Repnikova, 2015）.