For an app with over a billion users, WeChat doesn\u2019t make a very strong first impression. <\/p>\n

When I opened up WeChat for the first time during freshman orientation at Indiana University (IU), I was amazed at how haphazard it was. The design looked outdated, drenched in a hideous shade of green. The media feed was limited to low-quality photos for reasons I didn\u2019t understand. Even basic navigation was illogical and confusing. I already knew WeChat was a cornerstone of Chinese online life \u2014 arguably the most powerful app in the world. Was this it?<\/p>\n

For most non-Chinese college students, WeChat is relatively unknown. The only non-Chinese people who use it are usually those who have a specific connection to China. As I learned more of the language and became more entrenched in local Chinese student life, WeChat became a portal into an alternate Bloomington, where thousands of Chinese in southern Indiana come together to create their own social communities and economies entirely via WeChat channels.<\/p>\n