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`Guide to Chat Apps - Columbia Journalism Review
`
`Guide to Chat Apps
`
`Image: Getty
`
`Executive Summary I Introduction:The Dawn of the Social Messaging Era I Key Players and Case
`Studies I Conclusion I Further Reading I Glossary I Interviewees I Citations
`
`ExecutiveSwnmary
`
`Messaging apps now have more global users than traditional social networks-which means they will
`play an increasingly important role in the distribution of digital journalism in the future. While chat
`platforms initially rose to prominence by offering a low-cost, web-based alternative to SMS, over
`time they evolved into multimedia hubs that support photos, videos, games, payments, and more.
`
`While many news organizations don't yet use messaging apps, digitally savvy outlets like BuzzFeed,
`Mashable, The Huffington Post, and VICE have accompanied a more traditional player in BBC News
`by establishing a presence on a number of these platforms.
`
`To complement our research, we interviewed leadership at multiple news outlets and chat platforms,
`thereby synthesizing key lessons and presenting notable case studies reflecting the variety of
`creative and strategic work taking place within the messaging space. Most publisher efforts around
`messaging apps are still in a formative, experimental stage, but even those have often proven
`effective in diversifying traffic sources for digital content.
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`Drawing upon our interviews and case studies, we identify a number of opportunities and challenges
`for organizations using-or hoping to use-messaging apps for news. We argue that to devise a
`successful messaging app strategy, publishers must understand regional strongholds, user
`demographics, and popular features of each app. Advantages to the chat ecosystem include huge,
`untapped audiences; high engagement through push notifications; unique products like stickers and
`"chatbots" (see glossary for definitions); and the opportunity to build community through chat
`rooms and crowdsourced storytelling. Meanwhile, challenges include limited analytics tools and a
`fragmented social landscape boasting roughly a dozen messaging apps, each with over 50 million
`registered users.
`
`Our case studies illustrate a number of ways in which major news outlets have utilized various
`messaging apps, each with its own niche characteristics. In the past two years, many platforms(cid:173)
`including Snapchat, Viber, Kik, LINE, WeChat, and Telegram-introduced official channels that
`publishers like CNN, The New York Times, The Buffington Post, and Cliff Central now leverage for
`content distribution and user engagement. Other players, like WhatsApp, have no official offering for
`media owners, but this has not deterred organizations-most notably the BBC-from launching
`experimental campaigns.
`
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`
`Our research indicates that one of the greatest benefits of chat apps is the opportunity to use these
`platforms as live, sandbox environments. The chance to play and iterate has helped several news
`organizations develop mobile-first content and experiential offerings that would have proved
`difficult in other digital environments. As these services primarily-and in some cases exclusively(cid:173)
`exist on mobile phones, editorial teams have learned to focus purely on the mobile experience,
`freeing themselves from considerations about how content will appear on desktop websites or other
`broadcast mediums.
`
`As happened after the early days of social media, before which a proliferation of services (some with
`regional strengths) led to intense competition for user attention, we expect to see some eventual
`consolidation among chat apps. While Facebook Messenger and Skype do not garner much focus in
`this report, we believe they could become significant players in this space over the coming year as
`they figure out the right proposition for their platforms to partner with media organizations.
`
`Elsewhere, we conclude that issues around information, privacy, personal security, and mobile data
`penetration will unfold in different ways around the world; apps like Telegram and FireChat are
`among those at the forefront of addressing and solving these problems. They, in conjunction with
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`similar applications, are likely to see an increase in user uptake as they meet needs that other major
`chat apps are unable to serve.
`
`In developing editorial strategies for some of these wide-ranging messaging platforms, news
`organizations are not just helping to future-proof themselves, they are also venturing into online
`spaces that could enable them to reach hundreds of millions of (often young) people with whom they
`have never engaged before.
`
`Key Observations
`
`The key findings of this report can be summarized as follows: Messaging apps offer strong
`opportunities to engage new or difficult-to-reach demographics. For example, Snapchat, a very
`popular app among millennials, has been credited with engaging and informing young audiences on
`complex issues like the Iran nuclear deal.
`
`Innovations such as bespoke (or customized) stickers and emojis can help news outlets quickly build
`significant audiences via messaging apps.
`
`Messaging apps enable news outlets to gather (potentially exclusive) user-generated content and can
`become a major source during breaking news situations (e.g., as in the BBC's coverage of the second
`Nepal earthquake in 2015).
`
`News outlets may need to experiment with a variety of chat apps to decipher which content type best
`suits the audiences of each app. BuzzFeed, for example, had considerably more success using LINE
`for soft news than for hard news.
`
`Messaging apps can provide unique opportunities for giving audiences direct access to content and
`publishers, be it through tailormade WeChat platforms (Cliff Central) or Public Chats on Viber (The
`Huffington Post).
`
`Messaging apps provide a space for news outlets to engage their audiences with different-possibly
`lighter-types of content (e.g., The Washington Post has used Kik to distribute games, quizzes, and
`chat adventures).
`
`Even apps that are not as geared toward publishing as some of their competitors, such as WhatsApp,
`hold great potential for news outlets if used strategically.
`
`Messaging apps not only facilitate communication with eyewitnesses in areas where other forms of
`communication aren't functioning (e.g., during extreme weather conditions), they can also provide a
`platform for people who don't feel safe speaking on the telephone. Additionally, apps such as
`Telegram focus strongly on encryption and security.
`
`Messaging apps are not used solely to drive traffic to websites (e.g., BuzzFeed is using LINE as part of
`a more distributed strategy and aims to provide as much information as possible inside the app,
`rather than direct users to its website).
`
`When sourcing user-generated content, apps like WhatsApp, which are tied to a user's phone
`number, can significantly speed up the verification process as they provide a direct line to the content
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`creator/eyewitness.
`
`Messaging apps are relatively new and evolving at a rapid pace. Consequently, many news outlets are
`still in the process of establishing strategies to best utilize these platforms.
`
`There is emerging evidence that messaging apps may drive traffic back to outlets' other, more
`traditional platforms (e.g., CNN's Snapchat Discover drove people to seek out longer-form content
`on CNN's TV news channel).
`
`PDFs and printed copies of this report are available on the Tow Center's Gitbook page
`(https://www.gitbook.com/book/towcenter/guide-to-chat-apps/details).
`
`httroduction: The Dawn of the Social Messaging Era
`
`"The social media phase of the Internet ended," declared Fred Wilson-a leading venture capitalist
`and early investor in Twitter, Foursquare, and Tumblr-in his 2014 "What Just Happened?" year-in(cid:173)
`review. He continued:
`
`Entrepreneurs and developers still build social applications. We still use them. But there isn't much
`innovation here anymore ... messaging is the new social media .. .families use WhatsApp groups instead
`of Facebook. Kids use Snapchat instead of Instagram. Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp in
`February of this year was the transaction that defined this trend. 1
`
`Messaging Apps Have Caught Up To Social Networks
`
`Monthly Active Users For Selected Top 4 Socio/ Networks• And Me.sagging Apps ..
`
`Big 4 Social Networks
`- Big 4 Messaging Apps
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`2,500
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`(http://cjrarchive.org/img/posts/tow-content/uploads/20l5/11/CHATAPPS_Page6_Chart.png)
`While Wilson's views may be surprising to some, statistics support them. Business Insider
`Intelligence released an infographic in April titled "Messaging Apps Have Caught Up to Social
`Networks," indicating that major chat apps (WeChat, Viber, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger)
`now have more combined users than the top social networks (Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, and
`Instagram). 2 And according to Mary Meeker' s "Internet Trends 2015" report, messaging apps make
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`up 60 percent of the top 10 global apps by both usage and number of sessions. 3 Like any presumed
`overnight success, WhatsApp's rise was actually part of a broader movement that took years to
`coalesce within a zeitgeist moment. Face book's $22-billion purchase of the app merely marked the
`day that everyone, even those with limited interest in technology, learned that the era of social
`messaging had arrived.
`
`Any user now downloading the world's 10 biggest chat apps for the first time may be struck by their
`similarities. Dig deeper into their histories, though, and you'll see that each company conquered the
`globe with one unique, core innovation before incorporating some of its competitors' strongest ideas:
`LINE popularized stickers, Viber perfected free mobile calling, Snapchat invented ephemeral
`messaging, Kik pioneered mobile chat anonymity, Telegram supplied chat encryption, Tango
`delivered mobile video chat, WhatsApp introduced the simplicity of free texting, and We Chat
`created the messaging app as mobile web portal. Facebook Messenger, for its part, forged an
`amalgam of all those apps, and now looks to differentiate itself with the introduction of M, an
`artificial intelligence chat assistant.
`
`Objectives and Methods
`
`In this guide, we explore the critical role chat apps can play in the distribution of digital journalism
`today and in the years ahead. As mobile traffic and referrals from social platforms continue to grow
`for the majority of news organizations, chat apps present a profound opportunity for audience
`development and engagement.
`
`According to Pew Research Center's "State of the News Media 2015" report, 78 percent of the top
`50 digital news websites receive more visits from mobile devices than desktop computers. And
`analytics firm Parse.ly, which delivers audience insights to over 400 news organizations including
`Wired, The Atlantic, and Reuters, claims 43 percent of referrals to its publisher network now come
`from social media (outpacing search at 38 percent).
`
`Messaging has emerged as the new frontier of social on mobile, and the sheer size of audiences on
`the top global chat apps is too big to ignore. These apps also present an opportunity to diversify
`mobile traffic sources and to minimize vulnerability should Facebook or other platforms decrease
`traffic for publishers.
`
`For our research, we conducted interviews with leadership at numerous major messaging app
`companies, as well as early-adopter news organizations. We selected companies and case studies
`that demonstrate the diversity of opportunities within the ecosystem, while also highlighting the
`uniqueness of each chat app platform.
`
`While publishers generally indicated optimism and excitement for their work on chat apps, nearly all
`pointed out that as an industry we are still in an early, exploratory phase. Most major chat apps spent
`the last few years perfecting their user experience, only recently turning their attention to media(cid:173)
`owner partnerships. With that in mind, we urge readers to not only learn from the case studies
`presented, but also to initiate experiments of their own to find the right strategy for any editorial
`team.
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`A Brief History of Chat Apps
`
`Guide to Chat Apps - Columbia Journalism Review
`
`Modern instant messaging and SMS both began their march to prominence in the early and mid-
`1990s. The difference between the two is subtle: SMS (the acronym for "short service message")
`allows mobile phone users to send each other text messages without an Internet connection,
`whereas instant messaging enables similar functionality via the web. The first SMS message was sent
`over the Vodafone GSM network in the United Kingdom on December 3, 1992, with the words
`"Merry Christmas." Israeli firm Mirabilis released the first widely used online messenger, ICQ (short
`for "I Seek You"), in 1996.
`
`Precursors to ICQ date as far back as 1961 when MIT's Computation Center built the Compatible
`Time Sharing System (CTSS), allowing up to 30 users to log-in concurrently and share text messages.
`CompuServe's CB Simulator, released in 1980, is generally recognized as the first dedicated online
`chat service; it required users to pay monthly fees for membership.
`
`In 1985, Commodore launched Quantum Link (or "Q-Link"), an online service for Commodore 64
`and 128 that enabled multi-person chat, file sharing, electronic email, games, and news via modem
`connection. Quantum Link changed its name to America Online (AOL) in 1991, and by the mid-90s
`was the leading U.S. Internet service provider and portal to the web.
`
`The company launched AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) in 1997 and purchased competitor ICQ in
`1998 to consolidate its primacy over instant messaging. Along with a few competitors, it also
`pioneered chat robots like StudyBuddy and SmarterChild that provided information and played
`games with users.
`
`In 2 006, AIM controlled 5 2 percent of the instant messaging market, but it struggled to monetize
`and went into rapid decline in the face of competition from services like Google Talk, Yahoo! Chat,
`MSN Messenger, and Skype. The growing popularity of BlackBerry Messenger in the late 2000s also
`pointed to a bright future for mobile messaging.
`
`By the time mobile chat apps like WhatsApp and Kik arrived in 2009, SMS was king. Mobile texting
`became a key mode of global, personal communication, earning billions of dollars for
`telecommunications companies.
`
`But time and technology did not prove kind to telephone-service companies. As smartphones began
`to proliferate, messaging apps were an increasingly accessible solution to a simple problem: SMS is
`expensive in most countries, so why not text or call much more cheaply, or for free, via the mobile
`web?
`
`SMS volume peaked in 2012, and chat apps surpassed SMS in global message volume for the first
`time in 2013.4 By January 2015, WhatsApp alone hosted 30 billion messages per day compared to
`about 20 billion for SMS. 5
`
`As Wi-Fi and high-speed mobile networks hit critical mass in many markets, chat apps quickly
`became multimedia hubs where users could easily share videos, photos, stickers, games, articles, live
`streams, and more. Between 2013 and 2014, many messengers turned their attention to monetizing
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`their massive audiences, and in doing so introduced tools for publishers and brands.
`
`Facebook: A Company Reinvented for the Messaging Era
`
`Charting Facebook's. IRapid
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`Facebook Now Has More Accounts On
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`
`With a mix of foresight and irony, Face book founder Mark Zuckerberg has done more than most to
`close the era of social networking and usher in one of social messaging. In 2014, he placed two
`massive bets on messaging: a $22-billion purchase of the world's leading chat app, WhatsApp, and a
`new requirement that Facebook users download a standalone Messenger app to converse with
`friends.
`
`By September 2015, WhatsApp and Messenger had 1.6 billion active, monthly accounts combined(cid:173)
`outpacing Facebook's 1.49 billion active, monthly accounts. The company also launched an open
`API for Messenger, encouraging developers and publishers to build custom apps for the ecosystem. It
`simultaneously began beta testing Businesses on Messenger, a tool facilitating e-commerce and
`customer support. In August 2015, Instagram, another of Facebook's acquisitions, launched
`enhanced one-to-one messaging-encouraging users to share photos and videos from the news feed
`within private chats.
`
`A Flow from East to West
`
`Despite the boldness of Zuckerberg's repositioning, Face book was responding to trends more than
`shaping them. A large swath of chat app innovation continues to originate in Asia on platforms like
`WeChat and LINE, and Western apps often appropriate those platforms' best products.
`
`WeChat, in particular, has a monolithic presence in China reminiscent of late 1990s Internet portals
`like AOL and Yahoo (with a modem mobile twist). Users not only talk to friends and consume news
`on the app, but also make purchases, pay utility bills, book taxis and doctors appointments, enroll in
`brand loyalty programs, monitor traffic and air pollution, and report incidents to the police.
`
`That dominance of the mobile web in countries like China might not be as likely in other markets,
`but it has served as inspiration for ambitious Western chat apps plotting roadmaps for growth and
`monetization. Like WeChat, Japan's LINE is also incredibly advanced in its product offerings,
`grossing $656 million in revenue in 2014. By contrast, while leading Western messenger apps may
`boast multibillion-dollar valuations, they often have profit and loss sheets in the red.
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`Time will tell if the same winning strategies will work halfway around the world. But for news
`organizations in North America and Europe looking for a glimpse of how the market may look in one
`to two years, downloading WeChat and LINE is the best place to start.
`
`Regional and Demographic Strongholds
`
`When devising your own strategy for messaging apps, it's vital to select the right platform mix for
`your organization, based on three core criteria:
`
`Regional Strongholds: Only a small group of apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Viber
`can be said to be truly global-and even those platforms struggle in certain countries. Meanwhile,
`messengers like WeChat, LINE, and KakaoTalk completely dominate specific markets but have
`negligible traction in others.
`
`Demographics: It's a common misconception that messaging apps are a uniformly millennial
`phenomenon. Some apps like Snapchat and LINE skew both young and female, but others like Tango
`(which boasts 100 million monthly, active users, by our estimate) predominantly appeal to those
`aged 2 5-54 and strongly over-index with Hispanic and African-American users.
`
`Product Features: If your primary goal is to drive traffic directly back to your website, that won't be
`possible with apps like Snapchat that don't support clickable URL links. And if you want to launch a
`sticker/emoji-pack campaign, LINE and Viber are great options, but you can rule out both WhatsApp
`and Snapchat. Each app has a particular set of features, so make sure to choose one that supports the
`activation you have in mind.
`
`Industry Challenges
`
`Fragmentation: The social media landscape is entering a period of hyper-fragmentation that may
`be a challenge to publishers: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram continue to loom large, but social
`media managers can now launch official channels on roughly 10 chat apps with over 50 million
`monthly, active users each.BuzzFeed, a perennial innovator in digital audience development,
`provides a great example of what it looks like to be on nearly all of these platforms. Starting with the
`launch of a share-to-WhatsApp button on mobile in February 2014, BuzzFeed has also built an
`official presence on seven additional major messengers, as seen in the timeline below.
`
`Analytics: For organizations accustomed to robust, real-time data, the lack of good analytics tools
`for messaging apps remains a major deterrent to adoption. The challenge is twofold: Strong analytics
`dashboards take time to build, and many messengers are privacy-centric by nature.The latter issue
`has led to an existential crisis for apps keen to remain true to their roots while also attracting brands
`and appeasing investors. To the far left, companies like WhatsApp and Telegram have made public
`promises to shun personal data collection and advertising. Closer to center, Snapchat and Kik collect
`basic information like age and location for ad targeting, but denounce "creepy," hyper-targeted ads.
`Other platforms like Pinger seem more inclined to offer rich data collection and hyper-targeting of
`anonymized users. Specifically, Pinger leverages keyword data to let advertisers reach users based
`on their interests.Still, in a landscape increasingly driven by programmatic ambitions and data(cid:173)
`centric decision making, chat apps currently deliver comparatively limited information in basic
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`dashboards, or in some cases via analog reporting. Most are mobilizing to remedy the situation
`quickly, and a host of third party services are also beginning to create dashboard solutions based on
`the major apps' willingness to grant API access.
`
`Growing Pains: As messaging apps respond to the demands of spectacular growth, publisher
`partners we've spoken to have at times found it difficult to get consistent support or answers to
`questions about platform capabilities.Apps like Tango have also made large changes to their channel
`format for publishers- starting with a news feed that helped drive traffic to content, but
`transitioning to chat rooms geared toward discussion. While changes like this are understandable as
`part of a process for looking to find experiences that resonate with users, the volatility can be
`unsettling.Other platforms like WhatsApp currently have little interest altogether in providing tools
`for publishers. Their emphasis, for the time being, is purely on connecting users to friends and
`family. And while this may not technically qualify as a growing pain, it certainly poses logistical
`challenges for companies attempting to adapt the app to their needs.
`
`Industry Opportunities
`
`Higher Engagement: Since many chat apps provide publishers with push notifications or chatbot
`experiences (programmable robots that converse with users-see glossary), they can deliver
`significantly higher engagement rates than Facebook and Twitter. For example, LINE's Euro(cid:173)
`Americas CEO Jeanie Han claims that 5 5.8 percent of push notifications sent to followers of official
`accounts are read. 6 This advantage may erode from its current levels as new publishers compete for
`attention on each platform, but message open rates are still likely to supersede social network news
`feeds.
`
`Audience Development: With billions of active users across multiple major chat apps, publishers
`have been successful in building large audiences fairly quickly on several platforms.
`
`A Chance to Connect With Users in a New Way: Messaging apps offer a host of features not
`unavailable on social networks or other platforms. Publishers can creatively leverage these tools to
`tell stories in new ways. For example, Snapchat lets users write and draw on top of content from
`publishers before sharing with friends. Companies like BuzzFeed are also experimenting with
`publisher-branded emojis that followers use to enhance personal conversations on apps like LINE.
`
`Building Community: Chat apps offer an opportunity for readers and viewers to easily connect,
`share, collaborate, and discuss a range of topics. Platforms like Kik and Tango, for example, let
`companies host their own chat rooms where readers and viewers can meet and discuss topics of
`interest. And Snapchat's Live Stories allows people in a specific geolocation to contribute eyewitness
`media to a crowdsourced video piece the entire Snapchat community can view.
`
`Key Players and Case Studies
`
`For publishers acting as early adopters, 2014 and 2015 has been a period of great experimentation.
`In addition to learning the strengths and weaknesses of various platforms, news organizations have
`also explored different strategies for adapting their professional voice to an ecosystem filled with
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`emojis, stickers, games, memes, and more.
`
`We've taken a look at some of the main messaging platforms and how news organizations use them.
`
`LINE: Japanese Chat App Spins Fun Visuals into Big Profits
`
`Audience: 211 million monthly, active users
`Top Markets: Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Spain
`Demographics: Majority aged 16-34 years
`Key Features: Free to use; multimedia file-sharing capability; works across all major mobile phone
`platforms and PCs; timeline news feed; official brand accounts with CMS and one daily push alert
`limit; stickers, coupons and games for free and paid.
`
`LINE (the official trademark is capitalized) is a Japanese messaging app initially created in response
`to the Tokyo earthquake in 2011 as a means for employees of parent company NHN Japan to stay in
`touch. It was released to the public later in the year and experienced significant growth across the
`country and in the region, particularly in Thailand, Taiwan, and Indonesia.
`
`It stands out as the most profitable messaging app on the market, with a recent App Annie report
`suggesting LINE as the most profitable of any app in June 2015. 7 This is in large part due to its hugely
`popular games and stickers market, which drive roughly 60 percent and 20 percent of revenue,
`respectively. The company reported $656 million QPY 86.3 billion) in gross revenue for 2014, far
`outpacing its competitors. 8
`
`LINE has official accounts for brands and publishers, offering them a dedicated CMS browser to
`create and manage daily push alerts and content on the account's home feed.
`
`BuzzFeed Builds LINE Audience with Push Notifications, Stickers, and Comics
`
`BBC News and the The Wall Street Journal are among the news organizations that have a million(cid:173)
`plus subscribers to their LINE accounts, experimenting on different content models around video
`(BBC) and daily alerts and breaking news (The Wall Street Journal). BuzzFeed, a more recent entrant
`to the platform, has taken a very different approach.
`
`Bryant Hua, associate social media editor at BuzzFeed, explained the company's thinking:
`
`LINE is probably one of the most exciting messaging apps, because you can send global push
`messages, but there's also a feed on the home channel that you can publish to. We were more able to
`curate the channel in a BuzzFeed way. Comics are one of the big areas that we're pushing into-we
`have comics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram-and this platform in particular seems to be a place
`where the audience is reacting well to them.
`
`LINE has its own web browser-based CMS and provides the ability to schedule posts, which makes
`managing the account much more efficient.
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`The BuzzFeed channel rarely links back to its main website, a similar strategy that it employs on
`social media platforms, too. Hua added: "We have a more distributed strategy in 2015 and we're not
`totally focused on driving traffic back to the site, so we provide as much information with the feed as
`possible."
`
`One of the most effective ways to attract new subscribers on the platform (as is the case with several
`other chat apps) is by using stickers. BuzzFeed debuted its own sticker set, enabling LINE users to
`download them for free as long as they subscribed to the BuzzFeed channel. This helped BuzzFeed to
`acquire a following of over 200,000 within a few months oflaunch.
`
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`Buzz eds Official Accoun to get t em! Availa I
`August 2 , 2015.
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`(http://cjrarchive.org/img/posts/tow-content/uploads/2015/11/CHATAPPS_Page15_BF2.png)
`
`LINE also allows users to interact with content using emojis. Instead of clicking a "like" button, users
`can choose from a selection of six different emojis to express how they feel about a story or piece of
`content (Facebook began testing a similar approach called Reactions in October).9 Interactive polls
`and a commenting system also let users respond in text and with stickers, which Hua said is a unique
`way that LINE engages with audiences. A recent feature asked users to select the house from Harry
`Potter's Hogwarts which they most fit into; it was one of BuzzFeed' s most engaged posts since the
`channel launched.
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`rts
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`https://www.cjr.org/tow _center _reports/guide_to_chat_apps.php
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`13/41
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`(http://cjrarchive.org/img/posts/tow-content/uploads/2015/11/CHATAPPS_Page15_BF3.png)
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`Hua openly admitted that hard news hasn't particularly worked on the LINE channel-headline
`bulletins from the news apps team haven't generated much engagement like they do on some other
`social media channels.
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`https://www.cjr.org/low_center_reports/guide_to_chaLapps.php
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`The experience is in direct contrast with the LINE channels of BBC News and The Wall Street
`Journal. Both of these accounts passed the one-million-subscriber mark earlier this year. The
`difference in how audiences engage with news on their channels, compared to that of Buzzfeed's, is
`potentially attributable to subscribers' different expectations from the brands, with Buzzfeed more
`typically offering large slices of humor and viral memes alongside some news content.
`
`WeChat: China's Tencent Reinvents the Web Portal for Mobile
`
`Audience: 600 million monthly, active users
`Top Markets: China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan
`Demographics: Majority of users aged 16-34 years
`Key Features: Connect to friends via nearby "radar"; "shake" phone (see glossary for definition)
`and connect with whomever else is shaking at that moment; enter walkie-talkie mode (see glossary
`for definition); official brand platform with CMS; free and paid stickers and coupons; share
`multimedia files; works on all major mobile platforms and PC/Macs.
`
`Launched in 2011 as Weixin insid