Wechat Updates Tipping Function to Allow for Tipping via Republished Articles

This week, WeChat has announced two new updates regarding its public subscriptions’ tipping function (赞赏功能 zànshǎng gōngnéng).

The platform now allows tipping the original author in reproduced copies of an original article in other subscription accounts.

According to WeChat, subscription accounts reproducing any original articles cannot modify either the content or the author, but comments on the original content are allowed. After the update, the reproduction process no longer needs human confirmation and an article’s reproduction and related tipping procedures can be monitored and confirmed by machine alone.

This updated function is also available to a subscription accounts’ White List (白名单 bái míngdān) reproducers – subscription accounts trusted by the original article’s author and account owner. A White List reproducer can modify the format and some of the content from an original article.

Open Reproduction is now available.

Any original article eligible for tipping can now use the Open Reproduction (开放赞赏 kāifàng zànshǎng) function. By enabling Open Reproduction, all public subscription accounts are able to reproduce the original article. At the back-end of a subscription account, a reproduction search function now also allows the user to check articles that have been Open Reprinted.

An author or subscription owner can also check the total tipping rewards and reproduction times from a tipping account’s mini-program, which monitors operation details.

The WeChat article system now allows three tipping methods: tipping in the original article, tipping in a shared article, and tipping in a republished article. By updating the tipping functions, WeChat hopes to optimize reward channels to encourage authentic content production and improve communication efficiency between content owners and content platforms.

The function's update also aims to support WeChat's content ecosystem and its commercial potential. On Nov 9, 2017, WeChat released 2017 data that showed that there an average of 3.5 million monthly active public subscription accounts (in Chinese). That number is big but also disappointing given that the total number of subscription accounts amounts to more than 25 million with an average of 800-plus million active users every month.

Image courtesy of WeChat