Recently, many bloggers posted that QuestMobile's 2025 data shows that the average daily content published in WeChat Moments has dropped by 37% compared with the peak in 2021, the proportion of active likes and comments interaction has dropped by 27% year-on-year, the like rate has fallen below 10%, and the average daily usage time of WeChat (85 minutes) has been surpassed by the short video platform (93 minutes).
On February 15, the topic "The open rate of WeChat Moments has dropped" was also on the hot search, sparking heated discussion. The above-mentioned "QuestMobile 2025 data" shows that the average daily content publishing volume of Moments has dropped by 37% compared with the peak in 2021. The annual posting volume of nearly half of the users is less than 15% of that in 2023. Some users have dropped from "daily updates" to "monthly updates" or even stopped updating.
In addition, some media analysis said that at the interactive level of Moments, the proportion of active likes and comments dropped by 27% year-on-year, the like rate fell below 10%, and there was even a "zero like" phenomenon in major life events (such as weddings and college entrance examinations).
In terms of user behavior, more than 70% of users have enabled "three-day visibility", half of users have not opened the Moments entry within half a year, and the average daily browsing time is only 1/3 of 2018. Among young people aged 18-35, 68% actively reduce the frequency of use, and more than 40% stop updating updates for more than 3 months.
Social relationships become more complex and content changes
and increased psychological costs
Complicated social relationships were cited as the primary cause. A 2024 survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences shows that users have an average of 356 WeChat friends, an increase of 87% from three years ago, but only 12.3 of their frequently contacted friends (accounting for 3.5%), and 57% of users said that "moments are no longer a space for friends." The friend list is full of colleagues and clients, the boundaries between work and life are blurred, and "there are less than 20 real friends." Users’ posts need to be blocked in groups repeatedly (for example, when they complain about work for fear of worrying their parents, or when they post about travel and are questioned as “showing off”), they consume emotional energy.
The changes in content ecology are also significant. According to relevant analysis, advertising, micro-business, and work promotion accounted for more than 80%. Users complained that "eight out of ten posts were promotions" and the life updates of acquaintances were submerged. A 2024 workplace survey shows that work group messages account for 68%, and advertising content accounts for 32% of the traffic in Moments. In terms of platform mechanism, Moments has long adhered to time ordering and lacked algorithm optimization, resulting in the proliferation of low-quality content.
The psychological costs and changes in behavioral logic cannot be ignored. It takes an average of 15 minutes to edit a circle of friends, but the pleasure of likes only lasts for 2 minutes, and the emotional return rate is seriously imbalanced. As age increases, "maturity baggage" appears. After students enter the workplace, their desire to share is squeezed by the pressure of survival. Marriage and childbearing groups turn to showing off their children privately, and their expressions shift from "seeking approval" to "self-preservation."
Share user emotional value across multiple platforms
At present, users’ emotional value expression is no longer limited to a single platform. For example, Weibo posts emotional essays, Xiaohongshu posts exquisite life, Bilibili, Douyin, and Kuaishou records daily life.
According to QuestMobile data, the number of posts on Xiaohongshu has surged by 300% in two years, Station B has become a new diary, and the number of users of encrypted photo album applications has increased by 37% year-on-year. WeChat's "24-hour status" has become a supplementary scene in the circle of friends due to its short-term effect and low-pressure characteristics. At the same time, users actively clean up their friend lists (such as deleting from 500+ to 470 people), pursuing "deep resonance with three or five people is better than a hundred likes".
Netizen: Tired of watching "Hardcover Life"
Many netizens also said that they really don’t like to read and post on Moments anymore.
Some netizens said frankly, "It's true: I don't realize it, but I really feel like this. The number of times I open WeChat Moments is getting less and less. I feel like I don't open it more than 5 times a day."
Analyzing the reason, this netizen said, “The working nature of the WeChat group is too strong. It was originally a place to share life, but it has gradually turned into an information square. Posting an update must be visible in groups. Over time, I don’t want to post it.
Life is too full, and the days go by in a hurry. Occasionally, if I have some free time, I would rather sit back and watch short videos. That kind of state of mind where I can stop and watch my updates seems to be rare.
The desire to express is really diminishing. I don’t want to show off when I’m happy, and I don’t want to be pretentious when I’m sad, so I just digest it myself, and I don’t care much about other people’s news. As a result, the circle of friends became a quiet forest. "
Some netizens said, “One of the reasons why I don’t like to browse Moments is that there are really more and more advertisements, and they are pervasive.”
Some netizens believed, “As more people join, they really don’t dare to post random things in Moments, nor are they willing to share their personal lives in Moments. Shutting up in Moments is a compulsory course for adults.”
Some netizens said: "Posted more than 2 ads, only chatting. Show off your love, show off your excellence, it stimulates me, so just chat. Delete the ones that don't look pleasing to the eye, the ugly ones, those who talk a lot of nonsense, those who drink chicken soup, etc. The colleagues who are annoying, just chat. In the end, there are only 3 or 2 living creatures left in the circle of friends. It is clean and feels good."
Some netizens believed: “Because the display nature of Moments is different from when it first started. It used to be ‘Friends’, but now it’s ‘Friends’ + ‘Work’ + ‘Marketing’ + ‘Advertisement’. Now sometimes it takes an hour to take pictures, two hours to edit pictures and two hours to think about the copy, and after posting, you have to check who liked and commented on what, which is very internal.
Some micro-business people post N advertisements every day, and some workers are forced to take screenshots of the company's advertisements and post them in group chats. The original intention of sharing these things casually turned into a mission. From the grouping of Moments, visible for three days, visible for half a year, pinned, and folded, we can find that sharing in Moments has turned into an operation. This is especially true for some accounts with thousands of people added, including family, friends, colleagues, leaders, and clients. Each of your updates may be scrutinized by different people.
Many people choose other platforms to express themselves freely with just a nickname. The circle of friends is not cool, it has just changed from a ‘private backyard’ to a ‘welcoming front room’. In the past, you could hang out in pajamas, but now you have to dress up to welcome guests, and you have to be ready to deal with all kinds of scrutiny at any time. Over time, many people choose: Isn’t it okay if I don’t come out? "
Some netizens said, "The reason why I don't like to check Moments very much is simply because I don't want to see all kinds of show-offs posted by some disgusting people. It's not that I'm jealous, I just think such people are disgusting."
Some netizens observed, "I feel that people around me like to post on Moments during college and for the first one to two years when they first start working, but they no longer like to post on Moments after a few years of class. First, my own living habits have changed, and many friends have reduced their desire to share; second, Moments have long been reduced to advertising sites for companies. To put it bluntly, there are fewer Moments with content."
Some netizens joked, "I miss the WeChat Moments back then. Everyone was posting about private jets and yachts, and selling various private jets and helicopters. Although they were all bragging, at least they looked high-end."
Some netizens expressed the frustration of wanting to share but being restricted: "I just want to share my life, or my weird thoughts and random photos, but I can only send these photos to myself, not to acquaintances in Moments, because I have to be mature, I have to be steady..."
Some netizens complained about the intrusion of work content: "I really don't watch it very much. They are all reposts required by the unit, and the whole screen is reposted by colleagues."
Some netizens said bluntly: "I'm tired of watching the hardcover Moments."
Some netizens listed the reasons for not watching: "The first is that there are too many advertisements; the second is that there are too many celebrities in the circle of friends, which is not normal, and they also ask people to add likes; the third is that there is always a weird atmosphere in the circle of friends, who would feel comfortable watching it."
Some netizens pointed out: "Micro-business has already taken over the circle of friends. When you open it, it is full of advertisements. To be honest, even individuals don't want to see it. The feeling of being alive is very important. To feel alive is not to have a sense of presence every day, but to exist normally."
Official: Daily visits to Moments reach 780 million
Or the "information cocoon room" effect
Previously, WeChat officials responded in a podcast through the public account "WeChat Pai" and the public relations director "Auntie Porridge". The official said, "780 million users enter Moments every day, and 120 million users post to Moments. This data has been relatively stable in the past few years." The public relations director of WeChat pointed out that the so-called "decline of the circle of friends" is more about the perceived difference in personal social circles, "a bit like an information cocoon."
Regarding the product mechanism, WeChat clearly stated that the information flow in the circle of friends "has always been sorted by time" and there is no algorithm recommendation, "because normal social situations are not suitable for algorithm recommendations commonly used by the platform, and machines cannot understand your definition of a certain relationship."
At the same time, WeChat confirmed that there will be no guest function. "WeChat does not want to add greater social pressure to everyone when it comes to product logic" and is "unlikely to have a secondary editing function" because "moments record a person's history, and there is no way to go back and modify a person's life."
It is worth noting that Tencent’s third quarter financial report for 2025 showed that the combined number of monthly active accounts of WeChat and WeChat reached 1.414 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2%, setting another record high.
So, what do you think?