WeChat, China’s major instant messaging app, came up with a new holiday tradition: sending and receiving red packets via social media.
On the eve of 2017 lunar new year alone, a record of 14.2 billion electronic red packets containing gift money were given and received, with people born in the 1980s being the most active group compared to those born in the 1990s and 1970s.
WeChat data also showed that men tend to give out more red packets than women. Geographically, people in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Hunan lead in giving and receiving red packets.
In addition to Spring Festival, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day and other local festivals are now also peak times for red packets.
This year, new forms of red packets such as “face-to-face and AR red packets” were adopted.
Analysts say the electronic red packets are used by internet giants to expand their share in the mobile payment market.