Conversational apps. There’s literally the word ‘Chat’ or ‘Message’ on the name of the app. But yet, some—A lot of people nowadays use those apps for working. And when I mean working, I mean work messages and small videos, mostly related to work. And the app I’m talking about, is WeChat.

Last Monday, a certain person posted something online, more of a question rather than a statement, saying: “到底谁把微信变成工作软件的?! — Who on earth turned WeChat into a app for working?!”. And a manager from a company commented: “This is basically the worst invention in workplace history, alright." The comment got so many likes, replies, and shares, that others started to march in and make similar comments about agreeing with him and this issue.

But this comment is just basically so specific. He wasn’t spamming, neither scamming, but this was the big man speaking. "Back when there were no WeChat calls, when you got off work you were really off work," continued the comment. "Now you're on standby on WeChat after hours." And that was the end of the message. And the most shocking thing was that, this remark was liked more than 4,000 occasions within just a few days! In my view, that’s just really stunning.

The comment is very powerful, because it is about how WeChat should be used instead. In a number of places, people who are working use mainly one kind of software, either Outlook or maybe in some situations they’d use Slack, while a first-person’s life uses another, probably WhatsApp, Messenger, or FaceTime. In China, one app can copy and do all of this stuff: chatting, payments, taxis, school groups, hospital sign-ups, and even government services! Work doesn’t need to be crossed in because there is no barrier. Tencent has a work version called Enterprise WeChat, which shows when people are available and it connects them to many company accounts. Some people had bad things to say about it. Someone said, "The worst part is that Enterprise WeChat exists at all."