Increase in Advertisements and Inconvenience with Friends Tab
Kakao: "We Are Listening to User Feedback... Gradual Improvements Planned"
Following a major update to KakaoTalk, the platform has faced strong backlash from users, leading to a noticeable trend of people turning to NateOn as their messenger of choice for greater convenience.
Recently, numerous posts related to "using NateOn" have appeared on Blind, an anonymous community for office workers. After the KakaoTalk update, excessive advertisements and changes to the main interface have transformed it from a "messenger" into something resembling a social networking service (SNS), making it much less suitable for work purposes.
The biggest source of discontent has been the replacement of the traditional friends list with a feed-style main screen. Users have overwhelmingly responded with comments such as, "It's no longer a messenger," and "I only used KakaoTalk out of habit, not because I liked it."
Many users have found that installing and using NateOn is much more convenient. Unlike KakaoTalk, which now forces profile changes to be posted as updates-making it difficult to use for work-NateOn maintains a friends-list style interface similar to the original KakaoTalk.
One user commented, "It's obvious they're trying to boost profits by inserting more ads, which is already off-putting. If it's also inconvenient to use, there's no reason to stick with KakaoTalk any longer."
After Harsh Criticism as a 'Musty Instagram'... KakaoTalk to Revamp Friends Tab
In response to the intense backlash from users, Kakao has decided to introduce improvements to some features.
According to Kakao on September 28, the company plans to announce specific directions for improving the "Friends" tab early next week. This measure comes after a wave of negative feedback following the update.
First, the company has added "minor protection measures" for short-form content, which had drawn significant criticism from parents. Kakao is also making minor updates, such as adjusting the size of status messages and birthday notifications, in response to complaints that the grid-style feed is overwhelming.
A Kakao representative stated, "We are closely listening to user reactions and feedback and are actively discussing improvement measures," adding, "We will soon share plans to improve the Friends tab as well."
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