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.

Yujie (“Julie”) Chen, Lecturer, Department of Media, Communication and Sociology, University of Leicester