Chinese social media: should you be making friends with Friend?

When we talk about social media in China we usually spend our time discussing the big platforms like Weibo and WeChat, but it’s worth looking at some of the smaller competitors. Recently we’ve been watching the progress of an app that might have great potential for businesses – “Friend”.

Friend is an emerging social media app in China. According to Kantar’s 2016 statistical report on Chinese social media market, 10% of Chinese internet users are also regular users of the Friend app. This figure might not be   as impressive as WeChat’s 76% or Weibo’s 35%, but given that the app has only been on the market since July 2015 it’s certainly one to keep an eye on.

Friend has an interface extremely similar to WeChat. In Western terms, it’s a little like a cross between WhatsApp and Instagram, allowing users to send instant messages and share photos.

Instant Messaging Image from: https://cshall.alipay.com/lab/help_detail.htm?help_id=10003062

Timeline Image from: http://business.sohu.com/20151018/n423536164.shtml

While the functions of the two apps overlap in many ways, Friend seems unlikely to challenge WeChat’s dominance – the latter has already established its leading position in the market. Users have already forged their digital friendships on WeChat, and the costs of replicating these friendships stop them from switching to a different app with similar functions.

However, Friend has one major aspect that differentiates it from WeChat: rather than an independent social media platform, it is integrated in Alipay – a third-party digital payment platform operated by Chinese internet giants Alibaba Group. This means the app has payment options built in, allowing access to online stores that use the Alipay system. Given that around 50% of all online purchases in China use the Alipay system, this is a potentially huge market.

It seems that those who use Friend regularly tend to be people who use Alipay to shop online, and their contacts on the app tend to be businesses rather than their actual friends. This characteristic of Friend provides businesses a great opportunity to directly engage with target customers in China. While many social networks grapple with the best way to monetise their user base, Friend seems to have that sorted from the start.

We’ll be watching Friend closely in the future. Let us know if there are any other social networks in China you want to hear more about.