Image: The updated KakaoTalk interface. Credit: Kakao.
On September 27, the popular app KakaoTalk 카카오톡 rolled out a major update that added an Instagram-like timeline feed of profile photos and posts to the messaging app. Kakao withdrew the update just two days later, following a widespread uproar that sent its stock plummeting by more than 6% in just one day.
KakaoTalk is an essential feature of Korean life. What began as a mobile messenger app in 2010 has since evolved into the “everything app,” used for sending and receiving payments, ordering food delivery, shopping online, and virtually everything else. But KakaoTalk underperforms relative to social media apps like Instagram and TikTok in terms of the amount of time users spend in the app, which translates to lower ad revenues.
Kakao’s attempt to change this state of affairs triggered an immediate backlash from Kakao users who primarily use the app for messaging. People who use the app for work or school have complained about seeing unwanted personal updates from their bosses or teachers. Rank-and-file employees within Kakao have also mutinied, relentlessly leaking to the press that the newly installed executives pushed out the update over internal opposition.
