By Jiemian News
On May 12, following the heated debate over WeChat’s visitor tracking feature, WeChat employee “Kecun Xiaojiang” and Tencent’s PR director, Zhang Jun, publicly responded to the controversy.
“Kecun Xiaojiang” clarified that the trending topic “#WeChat Status Visitor Records#” was misleading, as WeChat does not provide a feature to view visitor records.
“The trending topic is due to WeChat recently testing two features in a small scope: one is the status browsing number display feature, which allows users to see the number of people who have viewed their status during its effective period. It only displays the number, not specific individuals.”
According to “Kecun Xiaojiang”, WeChat has stopped testing the status browsing number display feature. “Many features are tested in a small scope and iterated based on user feedback.”
He also mentioned that another feature being tested in a small scope is the status page, which randomly displays a few friends’ headshots who have posted status updates. Clicking on these headshots allows users to view their friends’ status updates, making it easier for friends who like to post status updates to interact with each other. This feature has also been stopped.
Zhang Jun shared “Kecun Xiaojiang’s” Weibo post, emphasizing that the small-scale testing of the browsing number feature (not specific to individuals) was misunderstood. “But this is our responsibility. The ‘read’ and ‘visitor’ features, if I’m not mistaken, have been repeatedly rejected by users. Here, I’d like to reiterate: these two features will not be developed or provided.”
Recently, some netizens reported that WeChat’s iOS version is testing a feature that allows users to view who has visited their status updates. After posting a personal status, a pair of eyes and a browsing statistic appear at the bottom of the page. Clicking on the statistic randomly pops up the headshots of friends who have also posted status updates, allowing users to directly view their friends’ status updates.
The news quickly spread on social media platforms like Weibo and Xiaohongshu, topping the trending charts. Many users expressed concerns that their habit of browsing without leaving a trace would be disrupted, and that familiar social interactions would be burdened with unnecessary psychological pressure and social anxiety.
In response, Tencent’s customer service replied, “During the effective period of your WeChat status, you can view the number of people who have browsed your status in the bottom right corner. If the current browser has also set a status, you can view their current status by tapping on their headshot. However, this feature is currently only supported in the iOS client and is being tested in a small scope. If you haven’t seen the feature, please wait for the next version update.” The testing has now been stopped.
In fact, every time there’s news about WeChat launching a “read” or “visitor” feature, it sparks massive attention and debate. This is a classic topic in the social media sphere.
As a national-level social tool, WeChat carries the weight of people’s work, life, and social relationships. Users have grown accustomed to the relaxed social mode without “read” or “visitor” features, where they don’t feel guilty about not responding to messages or browsing friends’ updates. If WeChat were to introduce these features, it would fundamentally change the existing social ecosystem, giving rise to comparison, suspicion, and deliberate avoidance, leading to multiple social anxieties.
Against this backdrop, Tencent’s PR director Zhang Jun has repeatedly debunked rumors about the “read” feature. Zhang Jun stated that in 2018, WeChat’s public class discussed the same issue, and in July 2023, there was another trending topic about it. At the time, he responded, “The ‘read’ feature would increase the psychological burden and social pressure on information recipients, so from the beginning, WeChat has been firm in not providing this feature, and it won’t be developed in the future.”
Regarding the frequent trending topics about the “visitor” feature, Zhang Jun expressed puzzlement, wondering why some people keep creating “what-ifs” about the feature. “I even suspect that some people are intentionally stirring up traffic.”
With its massive user base, WeChat remains the core pillar of Tencent’s ecosystem. According to Tencent’s latest financial report, as of the fourth quarter of 2025, the combined monthly active users of WeChat and Weixin reached 1.418 billion. This means that every time WeChat updates its features, it must balance universality, privacy, and user experience, without easily changing the underlying social rules.
