Abstract: Mobile social contact has become a socializing way rapidly with its great social influence and economic influence. Wechat, as the most popular socializing APP, has obtained more and more concern from the industrial and academic circles. The essence and using motivation, source and development and potential value of Wechat are analyzed from the perspective of social network. The development of Wechat is divided into three stages: instant messaging software of private social contact, instant messaging software of multidimensional social circle supplemented by strangers, multi-functional mobile life platform. Meanwhile, the potential value of Wechat is also analyzed in the fields of e-commerce, media and education, in order to better understand the situation and development of mobile social network.

Key words: wechat, mobile social network, developmental stage, potential value