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KakaoTalk, hope you’ve heard the name, is South Korea’s most widely used messaging platform. It recently came under fire after rolling out its largest redesign in 15 years. The update was announced at the company’s “if(kakao)25” developer conference. Introduction of short-form videos under a new “Now/Shorts” tab and the substitution of the classic friends list with an Instagram-like feed are the core components of the update. Kakao framed these changes as part of its “super-app” vision, but little did they know about the intense backlash with which the users responded, talking about privacy, usability, and parental concerns.
This overhaul drastically shifted KakaoTalk’s long-familiar interface away from its simple, yet effective, friends list toward a visually dynamic feed. A feed where updates, profile changes, and photos are displayed prominently. To make things even worse, a dedicated “Now” tab began pushing TikTok-style short videos directly into the app experience. From Kakao’s perspective, these features were just intended to increase user engagement and unlock new advertising opportunities. Nothing new, right? But for millions of users, they crossed a line. They tried turning a utility-focused messaging platform into a social media platform.
User Outrage and Ratings Crash
The response was swift like the wind and devastating like a hurricane. KakaoTalk’s app store ratings plunged within days, as users flooded Google Play and Apple’s App Store with one-star reviews. Complaints ranged from discomfort over seeing colleagues’ and family photos in the new feed to frustration at being exposed to videos without consent. Some did not even hold themselves back from accusing Kakao of prioritizing monetization over user trust. Parents voiced alarm at minors having automatic access to short-form content without clear safeguards.
KakaoTalk, for the Koreans, is deeply woven into daily life as it powers banking, payments, and even government services. That ubiquity makes privacy issues particularly sensitive. Many users felt that the redesign blurred the boundaries between communication and content consumption. This can potentially expose private updates more widely than intended. Critics argued that Kakao’s attempt to push engagement undermined the app’s core identity as a messenger.
KakaoTalk’s Response and Rollback
Kakao made a rare retreat. On September 29, the company announced it would restore the classic friends list as the default view in the Friends tab by relegating the new feed to an optional “news” section. A “minor protection” menu was also added to the Now/Shorts tab to give guardians some tools to restrict underage access. Kakao even promised further refinements in the fourth quarter to simplify user choice and strengthen parental controls.
Kakao’s investors were rattled by the backlash. Its shares fell by around 4–5% following the controversy. Analysts noted that the company’s attempt to chase time-on-platform metrics and advertising revenue may have backfired, damaging user trust in a platform that functions as a national communications backbone. Social media chatter revealed that some users disabled automatic updates or even considered switching services. Now that’s a rare threat in a market where KakaoTalk is nearly universal.
KakaoTalk’s ambition to evolve into a “super-app” is definitely unlikely to wane. But the uproar highlights the risks of pushing social and commercial content into a messaging platform, which people expect to be private and functional. The company will need to balance innovation with restraint because parents, regulators, and everyday users are watching very closely. Whether KakaoTalk can maintain trust or not, while expanding into new revenue streams, remains an open question. A question that could shape the future of South Korea’s digital ecosystem.
