I didn’t know what living was until I texted my professor on the same app that I paid for my gin and tonic on. Downloading WeChat in China is less an option and more a matter of survival. Not just a social media/chatting app; once you link it to a bank card, WeChat can be used to scan QR (quick response) codes at restaurants, convenience stores and bars. Today I used my WeChat account to buy a yogurt for breakfast, a sweet potato in the canteen, nail polish remover at the corner store, and finally a Korean dish for dinner at a restaurant.
Other features:
Fetches cabs
Use it to pay for household utilities such as water and electricity
Tops up your mobile phone data + minutes plan
Make a private group with everyone in the vicinity. Helpful for when you want to create a group chat with your classmates (and professor!)
Has a “Go Dutch” option that charges numerous people through their WeChat when you want to split the bill
A Facebook-style news feed where you can upload pictures, write statuses and scroll through your friends’ feed
If someone texts you in a different language, WeChat will translate the message for you
The list is seemingly endless. One of these days I’m going to click on the app and find a feature that will allow me to speak to the dead. I assure you, WeChat is not sponsoring this post. I’ve just been blown away by how China has adopted this wireless, cashless, digital economy. I spend days without pulling out my wallet. And the prevalence of WeChat extends far beyond campus; it’s not a mere student fad. Professionals are more likely to exchange QR codes than business cards. Convenience stores will decline to take your credit card in lieu of smartphone payment options. Instead of rejecting the unfamiliar, people embrace the cutting edge.
Text messaging here is expensive and email never reached widespread use the way it has in the West. The rise in popularity of a free messaging platform was inevitable, but what sets WeChat apart is its ability to manipulate their interface in a way that caters to the changing needs of its consumers. During Chinese New Year, 2014, WeChat debuted a feature that allows people to send virtual 红包, red packets with money, to their friends and family during the holidays. It’s been an unparalleled success. There are no extraneous features or ads that clog up the interface. As a result, WeChat is a trusted brand that stays in tune with what people want out of their smartphones. It has become indispensable.
When I head back to New York in June, I won’t just be going back in time across time-zones, I’ll be flying back to 2012. It’s back to teaching my parents how to rotate a PDF and watching professor’s type www.google.com into the Google search bar. Are people in the West more resistant to change than the Chinese? I don’t know. While Venmo (Paypal’s baby: an app that lets you transfer money through your smartphone) is a frequent flier on university campuses, I don’t see it replacing debit cards for another decade. And I can only imagine the headlines when smartphone apps begin to take up more space in our lives:
“We’ve lost the millennials to the small screen: An incisive look at how technology has consumed this generation.
“How you are slowly becoming enslaved to the three biggest companies in the world…and you don’t even know it”.
“WeChat is just a front for the NSA to spy on us. Boycott Apple!!”
Whatever the outcome, I can’t say whether the transition in the United States will be as elegant as it has been in China. But for now I’m happy to assimilate and behave as the locals do. How could I not? It’s the whole world within an app.