Does WeChat use make people feel better?

Use of the instant messaging service WeChat, developed in China and used globally, may enhance peoples' feelings of overall satisfaction with life if they use it for fun and to pursue their interests. WeChat use will not necessarily bring happiness or unhappiness, though—that depends on how you use it, according to a study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

The study entitled "Does the Use of WeChat Lead to Subjective Well-Being?: The Effect of Use Intensity and Motivations" was conducted by Zhengbao Wen, Hangzhou Normal University, Yinghua Ye, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, and Xiaowei Geng, Ludong University, Yantai, China. The researchers examined the motivations for and intensity of WeChat use by university students as they related to the users' emotional experience and feelings of well-being.

"According to its parent company Tencent, as of the second quarter of 2016, WeChat reported over 806 million active monthly users, a 34% rise from the same period in 2015," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California and Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium. "With its multifaceted functionalities, research into the psychological impacts of this lifestyle app are only just beginning to be understood."