London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 05, 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

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
×