A Day in the Life of a WeChat User
“There are 2 types of people in the world: people who use WeChat, and people who don’t use WeChat.”
This popular saying in China shows how important WeChat is to us. WeChat has truly become a phenomenon that pretty much no one can live without. It is every vital app you have in your mobile phone blended into one mega-app. Follow along as I narrate a typical day in the life of a WeChat user (such as myself) and find out why WeChat’s features make life so much easier.
12AM: Posting Products in WeChat Group
When it’s 12AM in Ireland, it’s already 8AM in China. Right now I’m posting Christmas items to my WeChat group. Many people in China check WeChat as soon as they wake up. Thanks to me, they’ll have something to look forward to in the morning! My loyal customers send me private messages to secure their orders while others compare prices on Taobao.
2AM: Web WeChat
At 2AM, I hop on my laptop and log onto Web WeChat because it is easier to type on and use than on mobile. I place the orders customers requested from the products I posted earlier on mobile WeChat. Just as I get ready for bed, I receive private messages from more customers asking for the same product. Luckily, I planned ahead and ordered extras. I receive WeChat payment transferred by customers, and happily lay down to sleep.
4am: Sending WeChat Lucky Money
As a WeChat addict, I find myself waking up and I can’t help but grab my phone and check to see if any friends or customers left me messages. Awesome!–one of my customers just invited her friend to join the group. As a rule to encourage sharing, I send lucky money to the group whenever someone brings in a new member. Not sure what lucky money is? See #8 on my list of 8 secret WeChat features.
I send out 20 red envelopes (lucky money) welcoming the new members before going back to sleep.
8am: Reading and Posting Articles on WeChat Official Accounts
On WeChat, you can follow official accounts and receive their updates in your feed. After waking up from my beauty sleep, I start scrolling through my WeChat feed. While browsing, I stumble upon some must-reads…but no time to read, I have to get ready for work! Luckily I can save them for later by tapping the favorite icon. Crisis averted.
I quickly update my own official account and send a few posts to my subscribers. After posting, I can view how many people read and like what I shared.
10am: Video Chat with My Mum
Ever since my mum learned how to use WeChat, our weekly video calls have moved over from Skype to WeChat. The nice thing about WeChat video call is that my mum has to hold the phone straight the whole time to make sure I see her pretty face…and she tends to get tired of it after 30 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I do love my mum, but 30 minutes weekly is enough. Just kidding! 🙂
11am: Packing and Shipping
Around this time, a logistics agent comes to collect my shipments after everyone’s orders are carefully packed and sealed. I use local Chinese logistics agents because they offer a less expensive alternative to the post office. The best part is they accept WeChat payment so I don’t have to hassle with getting cash or writing checks. After sending the WeChat payments I forward the tracking numbers to customers and then get ready for more shopping!
1pm: S-H-O-P with WeChat
Believe it or not, Christmas is huge in China! Christmas is right around the corner and I’ve received several requests for Christmas sweaters, gift boxes etc. I head over to the store to find some, take photos of the ones I think my customers would like, and try them on to make sure they fit right. They are so cute that I decide to buy some for my customers AND myself!
As I’m shopping, I come across a very unique body wash that smells and looks like jelly! I bet some people in my group would love this! I use WeChat’s Sight feature to take a quick video to send to the group because photos just don’t do the jiggling shower jelly justice. Since I’m out shopping, I have no time to type messages so I voice message them with the price and details. They reply back with voice messages, but it’s so loud on the street that I can’t hear them! Thank goodness WeChat is able to convert voice messages to text! 🙂
6pm: Dinner Time Addiction
Finally, a well-deserved weekend dinner with friends! China is 8 hours ahead, so 5pm – 12am is my peace & quiet time.
You might think I would be able to give WeChat a break and enjoy dinner now, right? Wrong! One of my friends that I’m meeting can’t find the restaurant, so I share our real time location with her so she can find us.
Right as I think I can put my phone away, I see the restaurant has a special offer: scan the restaurant’s QR code and share it on WeChat moments to get 20% off. Well I can’t say no to that!
I see the waiter bringing our food to our table and we already have our phones ready for our exciting pre-dinner obsession: taking pictures of our food – editing – and posting on WeChat moments – wait for comments and likes – then EAT! My non-Chinese-speaking friends can read the WeChat Moments I post in Chinese because they can select the text and tap translate.
9pm: Searching for People Nearby
The girls and I were chatting away and one of them suggests searching for people nearby for a good laugh. I opt out since I am married and don’t want strange people finding me. It’s a great feature if you’re single though!
If you tap people nearby and your location is on, get ready! Tons of strangers will send you messages.
All of a sudden, one girl grabs my phone and taps the people nearby feature…I grab my phone back after a few seconds and exit it, but greetings start to come in…I change my profile photo and also my WeChat signature to: “I am not looking!!!”
On the way back home, I play WeChat games for a little while until I call it a day. When I look back, I just can’t imagine a day without WeChat! What about you?