175: Section 175

“I found my partner on WeChat!”

Clicking on the trending topic, one could see it was a video posted by a popular Weibo blogger.

And the content of the video...

was the story of how this popular blogger and his girlfriend met.

This Weibo blogger already had millions of followers but had always been single. Because his elders at home used WeChat, he also downloaded it.

When the Nearby feature was launched this time, he immediately tried it out.

That same day, he started chatting with a girl Nearby, and they hit it off extremely well.

Their first meeting the next day, in the blogger’s own words, was even love at first sight.

In the following days, the two directly confirmed their relationship.

They were even each other's first loves.

Although they had known each other for less than a month, they had already confirmed their feelings for each other.

Their story, in the blogger's video, appeared exceptionally beautiful.

Because this blogger was already very popular, with many active fans across various platforms, this video, once released, directly ignited the entire internet.

Although WeChat's Nearby feature was very popular before, besides WeChat users, there were still many young people who didn't know WeChat had this feature.

And when this trending topic appeared...

it instantly brought WeChat's popularity to an unprecedented level.

The comments under this trending topic quickly exceeded a million.

“Oh my god, is this real or fake? How come I only know about such a good feature now?”

“This feature of WeChat is really good. My girlfriend and I also met through Nearby.”

“Enough talk, I’m going to download WeChat right now! Girls Nearby, wait for me!”

“Is this the difference between people? Some people found their other half through Nearby, while others found their aunt’s alt account, and after chatting for several days, when they called, they realized, 'Why does this voice sound so familiar?'”

“Brother upstairs, that’s a story! The wine and peanuts are ready for you, hurry, hurry, hurry.”

“Originally, as a homebody, I didn’t know how to meet new friends. With this feature, I’ve already found several like-minded people.”

If one were to say...

that the launch of the previous social features only moved WeChat from the slow lane to the highway.

Then the appearance of this trending topic...

directly put WeChat’s user growth on a rocket.

This video not only went viral on Weibo but also gained immense popularity on major social platforms.

Douyin was also frantically increasing traffic and promotion for this video.

On the very day this trending video appeared...

WeChat’s downloads exceeded ten million.

The appeal of being able to fall in love is quite exaggerated for many young users. Many young people who longed to escape singlehood didn't know how to expand their social circle, and this feature directly gave them an excellent option.

At the same time...

after this trending topic appeared...

internally, Penguin Group naturally also became aware of the potential of this feature.

In fact...

shortly after Nearby was first launched, Penguin Group already had a department copying this feature.

At this time...

inside Penguin Group...

Pony and some executives were conducting their daily employee rounds.

“Interesting.”

“I didn’t expect the potential of this feature to be so astonishing.”

“If we had known, we should have added this feature to QQ when we added it to Dota Mobile.”

Pony’s voice rang out.

And Li Wenqiu, who was behind him, also nodded.

“However, at that time, when we added this feature to Dota Mobile, the number of users for Dota Mobile was only 20 million, which was too few. Moreover, for mobile games, social interaction is only an auxiliary attribute, and the effect is not as good as in chat software.”

“But…”

“it’s not too late for us to know now.”

“WeChat merely helped us discover the potential of these features.”

Listening to these words...

Pony also nodded.

“How much longer will it take to add all three of these social features to QQ?”

“At the current pace, it should take about twenty more days.”

“If we rush it, it should be done in ten days.”

Because this time it was a one-time copy of three features, even though Penguin’s technical department had been developing for more than twenty days, there was still a lot of time left.

After Li Wenqiu finished speaking, Pony waved his hand.

“No need to rush; let the technical department take their time.”

“I actually hope that WeChat can attract more of QQ’s young user base right now.”

“That way…”

“when QQ launches the same features, we can attract all these users back to QQ at once.”

“The more young users WeChat has now, the more desperate they will be then.”

Listening to Pony’s words, Li Wenqiu also nodded.

When they discovered that Junzi Group’s new software was a chat application, the entire Penguin Group was quite relaxed. The time when the entire team worked overtime day and night to copy King had already passed.

At this time...

not only Penguin Group, but even other internet companies outside felt that no matter how popular WeChat was now, or how many users it had, as long as QQ launched the same features, WeChat would not be able to retain its users.

It's just that everyone doesn't know yet that...

most WeChat users have never even used QQ.

(PS: League of Legends and the esports industry will be written about later.)

Chapter 115: WeChat Daily Active Users Exceed 100 Million! QQ Announces Upcoming Update!

“Oh, right.”

“I just thought of something, almost forgot.”

In the Penguin Group Building...

Li Wenqiu, who was following behind Pony, suddenly spoke.

Seeing this...

Pony slowly said,

“What is it?”

“More than twenty days have passed since WeChat launched its social features.”

“And during these twenty-plus days, WeChat has been continuously conducting large-scale promotions in the middle-aged and elderly market.”

“It still hasn’t stopped.”

“This is a bit strange.”

Li Wenqiu’s voice rang out.

And listening to his words, Pony smiled.

“No need to worry, Wang Mo is doing all of this for us to see.”

“Because now, he is in a difficult position.”

“When Wang Mo discovered that we did not directly interfere with their promotion, he should have realized that our Penguin Group’s main focus right now is on copying WeChat’s social features.”

“He is still continuously promoting in another market, just clinging to a sliver of hope, hoping that we might change our focus at this time.”

“As soon as we launch the same social features as WeChat, all his actions will only be a waste of time.”