WeChat has a major revision! The "momo army" has landed in the public account comment area, and the video account link rules have been tightened

This article first introduces the new actions of WeChat. First, the comment area of ​​the public account can jump to the video account, and anonymous comments are allowed. Then, the video account tightens the link rules and cannot jump to articles with less than 10,000 views. Then there are the seconds for voice messages to be displayed, and the new search item WeChat for "Take a look" is added, etc. This article is suitable for everyone, especially those who run public accounts or video accounts.

WeChat has made new moves. More than two months ago, Xinbang published an article titled "100,000+ from the sky? Can "Take a look" revitalize the traffic of public accounts?" to discuss the changes in WeChat's traffic algorithm. Now there is a follow-up to this matter. Recently, WeChat supports setting whether to allow articles to be recommended, returning the initiative of entering the public domain traffic pool to the creators.

At that time, a netizen named "Seven Gentlemen" in the comment section used nearly 400 words to analyze the selection logic of "Take a Look". Someone replied: "I think your comments are very good. When can you open the comment section to click on the personal homepage or video account?"

As the prophecy came true, WeChat has made arrangements. Last week, the public account comment area function was updated to support switching between video accounts, public account identities or anonymous identities to comment, and can jump to the account homepage, further opening up the WeChat ecosystem.

It is not difficult to find that WeChat has been frequently revised and running fast in recent times. In addition to the above changes, the official account has also added a new picture modification function, opened up picture messages to bring goods, and the video account has also made changes to the hanging chain rules. In the newly released iOS 8.0.41 version, the details of App usage have been optimized, such as the new lock screen widget. What other new changes are there in WeChat? The editorial department of Xinbang reviewed a series of recent WeChat updates to see if the features that everyone is looking forward to have been launched. ‍‍‍

1. The comment area of ​​the official account can jump to the video account, and you can also speak anonymously

Let’s start with the latest revision of the public account comment area. After testing, the editorial department of Xinbang found that users can choose 4 different identities when leaving a message in the comment area:

The first is the WeChat account identity, that is, your personal WeChat account; the second is the public account identity bound as a public account administrator; the third is the video account identity bound to the WeChat account; and the fourth is a random virtual identity.

The maximum number of random virtual identities that can be set is 3. You can choose your own avatar from the album and name it yourself, or you can use the WeChat system to generate default names and avatars such as Momo and Abai.

If you choose to leave a message using your personal WeChat account, your personal signature, gender, region and other information will appear after clicking on the avatar; if you use a virtual identity, only the avatar and region will appear, and there will not even be gender information.

This is basically equivalent to the anonymous speaking function in the comment section. Users can use their secondary accounts to participate in discussions, avoid the embarrassment of meeting acquaintances in the comment section, reduce social pressure, and protect personal information to a certain extent.

Of course, the WeChat tweet comment area may also be occupied by the momo army like the Xiaohongshu comment area. If you choose to leave a message with a public account or video account, other users can directly jump to the corresponding public account or video account homepage by clicking on the avatar, which can also bring a certain drainage effect.

Some people believe that if you can occupy the front row of the hot article comment area, the traffic-generating effect may be comparable to the increase in followers through live streaming, but to achieve such an effect, the threshold is not low. "At present, it seems that traffic-generating is not very meaningful," commented a new media practitioner.

Since the beginning of this year, WeChat has continued to explore the functions of the comment area of ​​official accounts and video accounts to improve the ecological connection. In April, the video account creation profit sharing plan was launched. Qualified video account creators can display advertising content in the comment area and obtain corresponding advertising income.

Not long ago, the video account began internal testing of the function of following video content in the comment area. Users can directly share their own video works in the comment area of ​​the video account, and have the opportunity to let more people see the content of their personal account.

Although an insider familiar with the WeChat ecosystem told the Xinbang editorial department that this function has nothing to do with traffic generation but is intended to encourage the emergence of more high-quality content, some practitioners said that the traffic generation effect is "still somewhat useful in the comment section of popular videos."

In addition to the comment area, the public account image-related functions are also the highlight of the recent revision, with two major changes: First, image messages can bring goods. Image messages were launched in March this year, parallel to the image and text message release entrance, and the large image mode was ridiculed by netizens as a "little green book" similar to Xiaohongshu.

According to WeChat official rules, as long as the number of followers of the public account is ≥100, you can enable picture sales, and each picture can add up to 3 products. Users can jump to the mini program to purchase through the product tag.

This will provide another path for public account creators to monetize, especially for some buyers and fashion public accounts. By intuitively presenting pictures and then clicking to jump, a closed loop from planting grass to pulling grass can be achieved, which can also improve monetization efficiency.

Second, the official account finally supports modifying tweet images, which is a long-awaited feature. After trying it, the editorial department of Xinbang found that modifying images is also done through the article modification portal. After selecting the image to be modified, the "Replace/Delete" option will appear. It supports modifying up to 3 images, and you cannot add new images. The modification opportunity is shared with the text modification.

However, the image modification function still has some limitations. For example, the first image of a picture message cannot be modified, and the images of articles published through mutual selection advertisements cannot be modified. But in general, the launch of the image modification function is good news for most public account creators.

After all, it was not uncommon for people to be forced to delete posts because pictures could not be modified. Supporting picture modification also provides creators with a certain margin of error. Some creators also said that compared with modifying pictures, what is more needed is support for modifying titles. I wonder when WeChat will be able to arrange this for everyone?

2. Video accounts have tightened the link rules, and articles with less than 10,000 views cannot be jumped

In addition to the official account, the video account has also seen many new changes recently. Previously, when users posted content on the video account, they could add links to historical articles that were bound to the official account, and the official had no special restrictions on whether the article contained embedded mini-programs for jumps.

In the latest version, the video account only supports adding links to articles that have been published in the past 7 days and have been read more than 10,000 times, and do not include mini-programs. This means that the range of links available for video account owners to choose from is greatly reduced, and they can only add recent popular articles that do not contain mini-programs, prompting account owners to simultaneously pay attention to the traffic of public account articles.

In recent years, the requirements for video accounts to have hanging chains have become increasingly strict. In February 2021, the editorial department of Xinbang mentioned in "Someone sold 20,000 orders with a hanging chain! Video accounts are becoming a new traffic gold mine for advertisers" that some video account owners embed mini-programs in hanging chains to guide users to jump to Guangdiantong ads after clicking, thereby earning revenue.

At that time, embedding mini-programs in links was a common way for video accounts to realize monetization. Now, video accounts have stated that they are not allowed to add links to articles containing mini-programs. On the one hand, this is to protect the user's browsing experience, but on the other hand, it also affects the monetization method of video accounts.

An insider familiar with the WeChat ecosystem told us that the tightening of the linking rules is mainly out of consideration for the healthy ecology of the video account. Since some black and gray content will be diverted through public account links, it may bring risks to ordinary users. "At present, the video account has strict management of linking. If the subsequent content ecology tends to be stable and healthy, the linking rules may be relaxed."

At the same time, the video account also carries the expectation of WeChat to develop audio. In WeChat version 8.0.41, a new entry for publishing video accounts is added to the top of the "My Audio" page in the "Music and Audio" function. Click it and jump to the video account page. On the video account page, there is also a separate audio category.

In the iOS 8.0.36 version updated in April this year, WeChat launched the "Music and Audio" function for the first time. The music channel will be linked with QQ Music, and the audio channel will bring together the original video accounts and public account audio content within the WeChat ecosystem.

Some peers believe that the audio channel is similar to the "WeChat version of podcasts" and that it is a project that WeChat attaches great importance to. Judging from this functional update, WeChat is already guiding users to publish audio on video accounts, allowing the two to establish a closer connection. Whether this can cultivate more audio consumers to develop content consumption habits on video accounts remains to be seen.

If the functional changes are mainly based on user experience and product development, then the new moves of Video Account on the e-commerce side are obviously based on commercial considerations.

In the article "Who is the catfish stirring up the market in the battle between 'Douyin, Kuaishou, and Hongshi' for local life?", Xinbang mentioned that Meituan has currently established five types of live broadcast rooms on the video account, including the Meituan Sharpshooter Takeaway Official Broadcast and the Meituan City Official Broadcast, and plans to achieve large-scale daily broadcasts in 100 cities by the end of this year, with a monthly sales target of over 100 million yuan.

In addition, Video Account has also opened local life-related content in the local channel and nearby entrance in the live square. A service provider told us that most users make dinner appointments in WeChat social scenarios, and the local life live broadcast room of Video Account can combine the advantages of private domain communication to convert this part of the demand into group purchase sales.

The commercialization process of video accounts has always been the focus of attention. Tencent's second quarter 2023 financial report shows that video account advertising revenue exceeds 3 billion yuan, and live e-commerce GMV increased by about 150% year-on-year. If video accounts successfully knock on the door of local life, it may bring new GMV growth.

3. What else has WeChat updated, including the number of seconds for voice messages to be displayed and the new search item “Take a look”?

In addition to the two main sections of Official Accounts and Video Accounts, WeChat version 8.0.41 also brings a lot of optimizations in functional details.

1. "Music and Audio" function can be turned off

Users can click on the page path of "Me" - "Settings" - "General" - "Music and Audio" to cancel the "Music and Audio" displayed at the top of the mini program. After turning off this function, the "Music and Audio" function bar will no longer be displayed when users pull down WeChat.

2. Optimize image editing function

When users use the "Mosaic" function in image editing, the buttons in the new version are larger and more centralized than in the old version.

3. Voice messages display seconds, and emoticons display source

Before the update, when a user received an unread voice message, the red "[Voice]" was displayed. In the new version, the corresponding number of seconds is added after "[Voice]". Similarly, in the new version, the emoji package received by the user is displayed as "[Animated emoji]" and the corresponding emoji package content.

4. Added a search function in the upper right corner of "Take a look"

Users can enter keywords to search and view related pictures and text content.

In addition, according to "Quanshi Keji", the "Pictures and Texts" entrance in the top bar of "Take a Look" has been tested recently. The display style is basically similar to the double-column picture and text information flow of Xiaohongshu. There is a green plus sign publish button at the bottom of the page. When the user clicks to publish the picture and text message, it will be displayed synchronously on the homepage of the video account.

5. Support iPhone lock screen widgets

Users can add four functional widgets to the lock screen: payment, my QR code, video call, and scan. When the lock screen is unlocked, users can click on one of the widgets to activate the corresponding WeChat function. It is worth mentioning that the video call widget requires the WeChat care mode to be enabled first, and the contacts who can make video calls with one click must be set.

6. WeChat status update

The "..." icon on the user status page has been changed to a circle.

A new "My Status" publishing option has been added to the top left of the friend status list, and a new "..." icon has been pinned to the top right. Click it to view "My Status" and "Message List".

7. Adjust the layout of the interface

In the "Settings" - "General" interface, the layout of each option has been adjusted and categorized more clearly.

As of June 30, the combined monthly active accounts of WeChat and WeChat reached 1.327 billion. As a national-level application, every small adjustment of WeChat is like a stone thrown into a lake, which may trigger a series of chain reactions. For WeChat at this stage, gaining incremental growth is no longer the first priority. Instead, the construction of the internal ecosystem is more worthy of the attention of practitioners.

Author: Truffle Xiaoba WeChat public account: New List