Complaints Surge Over Grid-Style Friends Tab Resembling Instagram Feed
42% of App Reviews Express Dissatisfaction; 15% Demand Return to Previous Version
Criticism Over Increased Ads and Exposure of Short-Form Content to Minors
Stock Price F
Kakao has decided to introduce improvements to some features after facing strong backlash from users over its large-scale overhaul of KakaoTalk, the first major update in 15 years.
According to Kakao on September 28, the company plans to announce specific improvement measures for the "Friends" tab early next week. This decision comes in response to a flood of negative reviews from users following the update.
Singer Lee Youngji expressed dissatisfaction through her fan communication platform Bubble, saying, "I tried not to update KakaoTalk, but is it okay to update like this without the person's consent?" Mainstream Winter official website.
User response to the recent overhaul has been overwhelmingly negative. According to PXD, a user experience (UX) analysis group, which analyzed 1,000 app reviews, 42% of users expressed dissatisfaction with the overall update, and many described it as "the worst ever" among other strong reactions.
Singer Beomgyu of TXT expressed frustration, saying, "Why does the KakaoTalk update happen on its own?" He added, "I am someone who hates sudden changes the most, so I really dislike the update." Official website of Big Hit Entertainment.
The biggest complaint was that the "Friends" tab, which previously displayed profile photos and status messages, was changed to display friends' profile updates in a grid format similar to an Instagram feed. Users criticized this, saying, "The messenger has lost its core functionality and is awkwardly imitating a social networking service," and 15% of users requested a return to the previous version.
Another major issue, cited by 6% of users, was the increased proportion of advertisements displayed in the same size as friends' profiles. As harsh criticisms such as "Stale Instagram (Shinstagram)" poured in from users, Kakao's stock price dropped more than 4% during trading on September 26, falling below the 60,000 won mark.
In the end, Kakao accepted the criticism and began working on improvements. First, the company added "minor protection measures" to short-form content, responding to significant criticism from parents. Additionally, in response to feedback that the grid-style feed caused fatigue, Kakao is making minor updates such as adjusting the size of status messages and birthday notifications.
A Kakao representative stated, "We are listening closely to user reactions and feedback and are actively discussing improvement measures," adding, "We also plan to share the improvement plan for the Friends tab soon."
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