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On September 20th, WeChat began to test a major new feature: the launch of the “Discovering the Public Number” feature in the public message list, also known as the “Information Stream.”

According to the screenshot of the user being tested, the “Discovery Public Number” appears in the middle of the information flow. In the upper left corner, there is a function prompt for “Discovering the public number”; the middle main part displays the avatar, name, public number of the recommended public number, the number of original articles of the public number, and how many friends of the current user have paid attention to the public number; There will be a recent update prompt, click to view the most recently updated article for this public number.

Knowledge program also gets some more details from people close to WeChatInformation:

1. What is the recommendation mechanism based on “Discovering the public number”?

The new function is based on a comprehensive algorithm for intelligent matching. According to the user’s reading habits and friends reading, different users will find different public numbers.

2, what kind of account will be recommended first?

The high degree of originality and good content quality, the public number that has a certain influence in the vertical field is more easily found by users. We hope that the new features will be the gospel of small and beautiful creators.

3. What is the frequency that users see?

During the beta period, users may see the opportunity to “discover the public number” several times a week. WeChat will continue to optimize based on user feedback on new features.

4. Can the public number owner get the recommended detailed data in the background?

During the internal test period, the operator of the public number cannot directly see the discovered situation in the background. Subsequent functions are continuously optimized based on internal testing.

5. Why does WeChat do such traffic distribution?

The smaller individuals also have their own brands, which has always been the original intention of the WeChat public platform. WeChat hopes to provide more help to small and beautiful creators. This is a new way for users and interested publics to “meet” faster. The new function is based on an integrated algorithm for intelligent matching. Different users will find different public numbers, and users can choose whether to pay attention or not. From all angles, it is not a traffic distribution.

In other words, “Discovering the public number” is a mechanism for personalized recommendation based on machine algorithms and user friends’ reading behavior. Different from the existing content recommendation algorithm, this mechanism is more focused on recommending vertical content with high originality and good content quality. Some “small and beautiful” public numbers may get more exposure opportunities.

The recommended subject is the “public number” rather than a single article. It also means that the recommendation mechanism for “discovering the public number” is a comprehensive consideration of the account number, not for a “explosive article”, which means To get a recommendation, you need to look at the overall quality of the public number.

In recent years, the overall opening rate and reading volume of the WeChat public account have shown a downward trend. Some of them have entered the market late, and they have not been able to enjoy the so-called early “bonus” quality accounts, and it is difficult to obtain exposure channels.

WeChat is trying to change the status quo, from changing the public number presentation to a list similar to “information flow”, to launching “look at it” and then to “discovering the public”The platform is increasingly involved in the distribution of information.

However, there are two consistent principles for the continuous updating of WeChat public account presentation and distribution: first, to improve reading efficiency rather than reading volume improvement; second, to highlight the power of “people” and “relationship chain” This distributes high quality, user-trusted content.

In the early days, the public content mainly obtained traffic through friends and conversations. This is in line with Zhang Xiaolong’s presupposition, “20% of people choose content for 80% of people”, but with the circle of friends becoming “work circle”, group chat Also occupied by various marketing information, this mechanism has largely failed. “Look at it” and “Discover the public number” are all optimizations for this “several people picking content for the majority.”

WeChat is defined as “a lifestyle,” and reading is just a small piece of the lifestyle. The overall reading volume of the public account is declining, but until today, the monthly active number of WeChat is still growing, that is, people may just read less, but spend more time chatting with friends, working, Buy goods, use small programs, play small games…

The decline in reading is not something that WeChat cares about at this stage, so that more WeChat users can read faster, and gain more is what it cares about.