Why is it a false proposition that “everyone broadcasts live and everyone watches”

Live streaming is very popular, especially in August. For major live streaming platforms, this August should be a month worth recording in history - the combination of the Olympic Internet celebrity and Wang Baoqiang's divorce case has not only enabled these platforms to enjoy an unprecedented influx of traffic, but has also further cultivated users' habits of using and watching. In the face of the impressive data, many platforms further cheered that the era of "live streaming for all, watching for all" has arrived. However, after calming down from the craze created by accidental superposition factors, we found that: live streaming for all, watching for all is largely a false proposition.

1. The double impact of the Olympic Internet celebrity and Wang Baoqiang’s divorce case has pushed the live streaming platform data to a new high

Live streaming is very popular, and the data is very bright. In August, the double carnival brought by the Olympic Internet celebrities and Wang Baoqiang's divorce case has brought the data of the live streaming platform to a new high. Fu Yuanhui, Zhang Guowei, Zhang Jike, Du Li and other Olympic Internet celebrities contributed the first batch of popular data. The data shows that the viewing data of Du Li, Zhang Guowei and Fu Yuanhui's live broadcasts on the live broadcast channel has broken the original records again and again, with 16 million times, 17 million times and more than 50 million times respectively, and Zhang Jike once paralyzed the server when attracting fans to the live broadcast channel. Entertainment gossip and folk Conan took advantage of Wang Baoqiang's divorce case to bring a new wave of climaxes with the desire for justice. Whether it is to explore Wang Baoqiang's American mansion, volunteer to "catch his adultery and avenge him", or rely on hype to get promoted, the live broadcast data is running towards tens of millions of times.

Prior to this, capital had already made live broadcast platforms grow wildly. With the entry of 360, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, Sina and venture capital, entrepreneurs who are good at smelling capital trends have sprung up live broadcast platforms. According to media reports, since May 2016, a new live broadcast software has been launched every 3 hours on average.

2. Has the era of universal live broadcast and universal onlookers arrived?

The wild growth of the platform, the favor of capital, and the record-breaking live broadcast data all demonstrate the thriving development of live broadcasting at the moment, so much so that many platforms have proudly declared that the era of "live broadcasting for everyone, everyone watching" has arrived.

But has the era of live broadcasting and watching by all people really arrived? After tearing off the craze and observing it from a distance, we can find that the August craze has largely failed to achieve normalization, the Matthew effect of live broadcasting is obvious, live broadcasting platforms are caught in a money-burning war, and the middle-level anchors who support the development of live broadcasting platforms have a hard time surviving. The content is highly homogeneous, and the uneven distribution of benefits is a potential crisis. The high threshold for ordinary users obviously makes it difficult for it to be popularized at present; and the increasingly improved supervision has made the development that previously relied on pornography increasingly difficult.

1. The live streaming data boom in August does not have the characteristics of subsequent normalization to a large extent

As mentioned earlier, the live streaming platform's audience data staged a wave of miracles in August, which was quite encouraging. But under the prosperity, there is a question that cannot be ignored: Is this wave of data explosion sustainable or can it be normalized in the future? However, it is obvious that this explosion of live streaming data will not be normalized in the future. The madness of this wave of live streaming data in August was actually based on events that were less replicable and highly concerned by the whole people - the Olympic Games held every four years and Wang Baoqiang's divorce. There is also a coincidence that the two actually formed a superposition state in terms of the time of occurrence, thus creating a greater potential for communication.

Fu Yuanhui, Zhang Jike, Zhang Guowei and others are so popular now, which is inseparable from the promotion of the Olympics. One fact is: in fact, before the Olympics, they had already had a novel style, but it did not cause a sensation on the Internet, and they were not pursued by various parties. It can be seen that the unexpectedness under the high attention of the whole nation is the key to triggering the craze. Now, with the enjoyment of the process, the release of personality or the novel style conveyed by this group of athletes at the Olympics, it has become a new requirement for the audience to have an athlete. After that, it should be normalized, and another explanation for normalization is "not surprised by seeing it", which naturally greatly reduces the impact. For the successors, it means: no matter how they perform, it is bound to be difficult to reproduce the current craze. Under the conspiracy theory and critical spirit of the Internet, the performance of transition will largely doubt whether it is a deliberate hype to realize the value of Internet celebrities. From the above, we can see that the heat of August is only unique, but not universal and normalized.

2. The Matthew effect and timeliness of Internet celebrities are obvious, and the battle for Internet celebrities is essentially still a battle of burning money.

From the traffic-attracting capabilities demonstrated by current popular internet celebrities such as Fu Yuanhui and Zhang Jike on live streaming platforms, we can clearly see a reality: the Matthew effect of live streaming platform anchors is obvious, and celebrity fresh meat and hot topics are the core of traffic explosion, and will also become the core of platform pursuit and grabbing.

Previously, when Papi Jiang, the No. 1 Internet celebrity in 2016, first broadcast live, several live broadcast platforms wanted to obtain exclusive live broadcast rights, but the final result was a rare eight-party joint broadcast. It can be seen that the battle for Internet celebrities is actually exactly the same as the current video websites' battle for high-quality IP to obtain exclusive broadcast rights, and it will be the same in the future. However, to attract these Internet celebrities with strong traffic-generating capabilities to broadcast exclusively on their own platforms, what is needed is economic benefits, and real money must be spent. In the end, it is still a competition of capital and a war of burning money.

On the other hand, influencers also fade away quickly, and the timeliness feature is particularly evident in influencers. For platforms and influencers, the greatest value can be achieved when the platform is at its hottest. However, this is also the time when money is spent the most.

3. The middle layer of the live broadcast platform: ordinary anchors are highly homogenized, their ability to attract money has declined, and the possibility of becoming popular is very small

As the middle layer of the live broadcast platform, ordinary anchors are the supporting force for the development and growth of the platform. The strength of ordinary anchors' appeal to the audience should be the standard for judging whether a platform is truly prosperous. Unfortunately, judging from the current living conditions of anchors, most of them have become ordinary people, and the possibility of becoming popular in the future will become increasingly slim. The big bonus of the live broadcast explosion has passed.

The popularity of live streaming is largely not due to social needs but to the release of hormones for sensory needs and voyeurism. Previously, many pornographic borderline balls made some anchors earn a lot of money. But after the new platform rules of "no exposure of breasts and buttocks, and even bananas cannot be eaten" came out. The talent show may be the real attraction of these cone-shaped faces. Looking at these talent shows, it seems that they are all standard skills of these anchors-chatting, dancing and singing, and then thanking for the reward, and saying hello to handsome guys. In addition, it is difficult for us to see real differentiated content in the anchors, and the content in the anchor world is highly homogenized. And homogeneity makes their appeal to the audience weaker and weaker, and the audience's impulse to reward ordinary anchors has gradually disappeared. And there are rumors that when the anchors signed contracts with the platform before, they did not mention the basic salary. At present, most anchors have to see if there is a basic salary support when they enter the platform. And nowadays, another funny thing is that the anchors have begun to transform from their previous artificial and cute broadcasts to sincere live broadcasts, hoping to touch the audience's nerves again.

4. Potential crisis in the division of interests between platforms and anchors

From the perspective of live broadcast platforms, their profit model is relatively simple and single. At present, there are generally virtual props income, reward sharing and advertising income. In the future, it is conceivable that there will be e-commerce shopping guides, brand implantation and other income methods. And this source of income relies on the anchors on the platform. However, one issue that cannot be ignored is that although the platform and the anchors are interdependent, they are also in a dynamic game. There is a high possibility that the platform and the anchors will have differences in the income sharing model.

At present, in the revenue sharing between the platform and the anchor, the platform generally takes the lion's share, and the anchor can only get a commission from the gifts. However, there is a paradox: the anchors have the ability to attract traffic and migrate users, especially the popular anchors, and the platform needs to rely on the anchors to generate income. Under the profit-seeking human nature, this profit-sharing model is likely to make the anchors with the ability to attract traffic dissatisfied, and thus put forward requirements such as increasing the share ratio or monopolizing advertising revenue, but the platform is largely unable to counter. After all, at a time when popular anchor resources are in short supply, "if I can't stay here, I will go somewhere else."

5. The threshold for live streaming is high. For ordinary users, there is a lack of motivation and skills.

Although you can start live streaming with just an account and a smartphone, it seems that the entry barrier has been lowered. But in reality, live streaming still has a high threshold. For ordinary users, there is a lack of motivation and skills. Under this threshold, live streaming for all may not be possible.

In terms of motivation, live streaming requires audience interaction, the development of an attention system, and the feeling of being noticed. However, as an ordinary user, how many people will come back to watch and reward a live broadcast? First of all, there is an inherent lack of motivation.

In terms of skills, although we say that the current anchors are seriously homogenized, they are much better than us. From opening topics, continuing topics, guiding emotions, singing and dancing, etc., it is a technical job. However, in reality, most ordinary users do not have such abilities and lack skills.

Conclusion:

It is undeniable that live streaming is popular nowadays and has a great potential market, but we can also clearly find some difficulties that live streaming platforms are facing nowadays. At present, when these difficulties have not been solved, it seems a bit hasty to advocate the coming of an era of "everyone live streaming and everyone watching" with an event that is not normal. At present, it seems that live streaming is popular, but the proposition of "everyone live streaming and everyone watching" is a false proposition. And the capital dads, do you still remember the O2O by Daming Lake?

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.