KakaoTalk Profile Sympathy Stickers See Rapid User Growth One Month After Launch

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Choi] The ‘Gonggam Stickers’ added to KakaoTalk profiles have been analyzed to elicit positive responses from users.

‘Gonggam Stickers’ are stickers that allow users to interact by visiting the KakaoTalk profiles of friends or acquaintances to check their updates or express empathy. This feature, which can be used to decorate KakaoTalk profiles, was launched in early last month.

Kakao recently planned the ‘Gonggam Stickers’ as a light but sufficient means of mutual communication beyond chatting in chat rooms, in response to changes in users’ communication styles.

User reactions have been positive. From the 17th to the 26th of last month, the number of users applying Gonggam Stickers doubled compared to the period from the 7th to the 16th, right after the launch. It was found that users apply the stickers after confirming that the feature is optional and that long pressing allows cancellation.

Reviews of the KakaoTalk app include comments such as “I don’t contact my cousin, but with the new empathy feature on profiles, we exchange KakaoTalk messages with mutual empathy,” “It’s good to express how much someone empathizes with me, so profile empathy is nice,” and “Please increase the profile Gonggam Sticker count beyond 9999,” indicating that Gonggam Stickers are seen as a fun element that helps communication.

‘Gonggam Stickers’ consist of four types of stickers featuring characters that can express various emotions. They can be freely arranged within the KakaoTalk profile, and their size can be adjusted. The four types of stickers are divided into simple empathy types and slide empathy types, with the slide stickers allowing simple text input. Users can exchange empathy on everyday topics such as specific themes or their current mood, interacting with friends and acquaintances.

To express empathy, users can tap or slide the Gonggam Sticker within the profile. When empathy is received, the empathy count increases, and the information remains for seven days. A long press also supports canceling the empathy. While the profile owner can see who empathized with their Gonggam Stickers, friends visiting the profile cannot see who expressed empathy. For users with multi-profiles, the Gonggam Sticker display information varies depending on the multi-profile settings.

Kakao provides ‘Gonggam Stickers’ to be used in combination with various profile expression tools on profiles, which are the starting point of conversations and relationships. Starting with ‘Gonggam Stickers,’ Kakao plans to continuously evolve the feature through various updates.