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Tencent beefs up range of content on super app WeChat by adding breaking news alerts
According to screenshots cited in the reports, some WeChat users received breaking news alerts on weather, finance, politics and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Before the latest feature, WeChat users need to follow an organisation’s subscription account, a blog-like tool within the app, to receive posts that include news from media outlets. WeChat’s breaking news alerts will also show content from publishers that users do not follow.
WeChat’s latest initiative shows Tencent’s efforts to buttress the platform’s position in China’s competitive social media landscape, where internet users also get essential day-to-day information from platforms such as Weibo, Kuaishou Technology, and ByteDance-owned Jinri Toutiao and Douyin, the Chinese sibling of TikTok.
While news outlets have some of the biggest number of followers on WeChat’s subscription accounts, the breaking news alerts feature would further expand the range of content on the platform and boost users.
WeChat has been building up content within its ecosystem amid the rapid growth of video-sharing and live-streaming services like Douyin in recent years. Last year, WhatsApp introduced Channels that enables users to follow news organisations and get a feed of content they post.
Like all Chinese internet services platforms, WeChat must adhere to regulators’ strict scrutiny of online content.
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