Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

China’s TikTok, Douyin, tests social networking feature as it competes with Tencent’s WeChat

China’s TikTok, Douyin, tests social networking feature as it competes with Tencent’s WeChat

A function called ‘Connection’, which has been available to some Douyin users since late February, matches strangers and allows them to video call each other. Tencent-owned WeChat is still the most popular social networking app in China, but Douyin owner ByteDance has been trying to expand into the area

The mainland Chinese version of short video hit TikTok is testing a new beta feature which allows users to video call strangers and play interactive games with them, as its Beijing-based owner ByteDance intensifies its battle with Tencent Holdings – known for its do-everything app WeChat – for dominance in the social app space.

Douyin’s “Connection” function, currently available to a random group of users for a limited time each day, matches users and lets them video conference while playing casual games such as drawing and guessing. At the end of the session, users are also given the option to follow each others’ Douyin accounts if both agree.

Users first began talking about the feature on microblogging site Sina Weibo and Quora-like platform Zhihu around late February.

A ByteDance representative said the Connection function was only being tested in Douyin. “TikTok is not enabling a similar function,” the representative said.

ByteDance’s exploration of more social networking features comes as it squares off against Tencent in more areas including entertainment, telecommuting and gaming.

Tencent announced in January that WeChat was testing a short video feature, leveraging its 1.2 billion monthly active users to expand into ByteDance’s home turf.

WeChat also recently blocked links from ByteDance’s work-from-home app Feishu, as remote working tools worldwide experience a surge in popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic.

For its part, ByteDance has also been expanding into areas previously dominated by Tencent, such as online gaming. Its gaming division reportedly has more than 1,000 staff members, with division lead Yan Shou saying on Friday it would hire more than 1,000 this year, and analysts expect the company to follow Tencent’s path of using games to further monetise the millions of users on its social media apps.

There were 1.04 billion active social media users in China, or 27 per cent of the global total, as of January, according to a report by marketing agency We Are Social and social media management platform Hootsuite.

Since last year, ByteDance has made several attempts to leverage its large user base – Douyin said it had 400 million daily active users as of January – to expand further into social networking. These include Duoshan, a Snapchat clone, and Feiliao, or Flipchat in English, a hybrid between an instant messaging app and online forum featuring interest-based communities. Douyin also recently introduced a video call function for users who follow each other.

Feiliao has not made much of a splash, ranking 390th among social iOS apps in China as of Monday, according to analytics platform App Annie. Duoshan fared better at 7th place on the App Annie ranking, but WeChat, which offers messaging, user posts and other social networking features, continued to take the top spot which it has occupied in most years since 2014.

Independent internet analyst Ge Jia, who has been watching the industry for two decades, said there are several key differences between Douyin’s Connection feature and WeChat’s functions. "[WeChat] connects people who know each other via instant messaging, but Connection is for strangers based on interest,” he explained, adding that although WeChat also enables strangers to match and connect with each other based on location, it is not a core function.

Three people who tried Connection told the Post that they have been matched with strangers both in the same city and further away, as well as people of both genders. Reviews among users so far have been mixed.

Sunsee Wang, a college student from Hubei province, tried Connection in mid-March and while she hit it off with a male user she met through the feature, they agreed to continue chatting on WeChat even after adding each other on Douyin.

“I’m on WeChat all the time, and chatting is much more convenient,” she said, “I will be responsive on Douyin only when I turn on the app.”



Neo Lee, a 29-year-old living in Beijing, had four Connection sessions last week and was not impressed enough with any of the strangers he matched with to want to continue talking to them, even online. “The matching mechanism is just so-so, and the casual games we played were a bit dull,” he said.

A third user, Eva Niu, said she left a video call when she realised that the other party had covered their camera, feeling uncomfortable that her face was clearly shown on the screen. “The feature is actually a bit terrifying, because it could expose my privacy,” she said.

According to privacy rules seen by the Post, only Douyin users whose identification information have been authenticated can use the Connection feature, and their usernames are not shown to the people they match with.

But other personal details, such as the user’s profile picture, city, age and astrological sign are visible to matches if they have been provided and set to be publicly visible.

Douyin said in the privacy notice that it uses “publicly-visible profile information, log files on Douyin and the city [the user] is in” to match users to each other, and that only users above the age of 18 can access the feature.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×