We are still learning WeChat.
In this lesson, we will explore the functionality of the Chats tab.
If you are as old as I am, you might remember the ICQ (I Seek You) chatting platform – It was one of the earliest popular in the 1990s, and you could find and chat with people worldwide. WeChat, unlike the ICQ, is primarily focused on chatting with your WeChat friends. Those WeChat friends are friends you have added through your mobile contacts or new friends you shared with them your WeChat ID. Although you can only open a chat conversation with your WeChat friends, your friends can add you to a WeChat group where you can meet with new WeChat users.
Now, we will go over the chat option, but first, let’s add friends to WeChat.
Chats – Adding friends
Here are a few options to find and add friends to your WeChat circle friends.
Open WeChat, press on the Discover, Contacts, or Chats tabs, and press on the plus sign on the right side of the screen. Then choose to add contacts, and you will get the options:
Invite your friends to WeChat
You can import friends by sending them an invitation to their email, WhatsApp, Facebook, and even Twitter!
Friends radar
This option will let you know if your mobile contacts with WeChat are around you.
You can join a private group chat with a friend nearby by entering the four digits you decide.
Then, they must write the group code and join your private group. But we have yet to get friends, so this option is irrelevant.
Add a friend by Scanning
The next option to add a friend is to scan their QR code. This is
the best way to meet with new wechat users in official or unofficial meetings. If they are not physically next to you, you can ask them to email you their QR code or what’s up. Or send them your QR code just below the search bar on this page.
Adding mobile contacts
Adding mobile contacts makes it easy to see which of your friends has WeChat and ask them to add you by pressing the “add” button.
Official account
Pressing on Official accounts will lead you to official accounts belonging to individuals or brands. It is equivalent to a Facebook business account. Official accounts are outstanding for following your favorite company or brand-new updates, discounts, and services. It’s not a direct way to meet new WeChat friends.
Nevertheless, official accounts occasionally host live streams or sessions to discuss their latest products, allowing you to interact with other WeChat users. During these events, you can either view their discussions or request to be added by sharing your WeChat ID
Wecome
Wecome is a collaborative office tool seamlessly integrated with WeChat, specifically designed for corporate use, encompassing various office automation and communication tools. It facilitates efficient teamwork and enhances collaboration. Notably, while a standard WeChat group chat accommodates up to 500 users, utilizing Wecome’s group chat feature extends this capacity to an impressive 2,000 users.
To leverage its functionalities, downloading Wecome is essential. It’s gaining popularity primarily within China, making it a noteworthy solution for businesses seeking enhanced collaborative tools within the WeChat ecosystem.
Have you got a WeChat friend? Awesome! Let’s open a new chat conversation and check out the fantastic options inside.
Chats – Open a new Chat conversation
Now that you have a WeChat friend let’s start a new chat conversation.
Go to the Chats tab, press the plus sign on the top right side of your screen, and then click on New Chat.
Choose a WeChat friend or a few friends by searching their WeChat names or IDs.
When you finished searching for friends, press on done.
You can now start chatting with this friend!
Let’s go over all the options within the chat
Text bar options
There are many options available when chatting with your friends.
Go to the text bar. On your left, you can see a voice icon. You can record a voice message instead of writing.
Go to the plus sign.
You can upload a photo from your mobile, take a video or a picture right now, make a phone call or a voice call, add a location so your friend can locate you, send money as a red packet gift, or transfer money directly to another WeChat user. Payment options are only available if you have a WeChat wallet.
The voice input
You can record your voice and receive it as a text message. This is available only in Chinese, Mandarin, and English. This option is handy.
Within the chat conversations
After you write or receive a message, you can see many excellent options when pressing on this message:
You can copy the full text from this message and paste it to other places.
Forward within WeChat send this message to a WeChat friend or a WeChat group.
Add to favorite- pressing on it, you will save the sentence or file from the chats in the favorite files. This is a great way to keep important notes and files.
Recall (deleting) –You can delete a message you have sent. This option has a time limit, so hurry to delete a message sent by mistake.
Select – This is a handy option where you can choose multiple messages or images and delete them or send them simultaneously. I recommend using it to send important files to your emails.
Quote– quote a person in a chat and respond to it.
Reminder -This is so cool!
Set a reminder clock. You can set it to a year by now and get a reminder about this
message!
Translate – translate a sentence by pressing on it.
Search– this will show you search results regarding your chosen message. If you press on an emoji or a photo and then search, you will get similar images or articles about it! Searching in chats is a perfect way to get information about the product, hotel, and flight. Try it
Full screen for writing- when you long press on the text bar, you will get an option “full-screen input.” If you select it all, your screen will be like a plain text page; that way, it will be easy to write long messages.
We’ve covered the essentials of opening chat conversations and navigating through basic options. In the upcoming lesson, we’ll wrap up the social aspect course. I’ll share special tricks for effectively following up on chat conversations and user messages. Additionally, I’ll introduce unique strategies to make your chat interactions more engaging, including a special guide I’ve prepared for you. Looking forward to our next session. See you soon!
