Mobile video live streaming is on the rise: ideals are great, but reality is still tough

In the past few months, Huajiao, Inke, Yizhibo and other mobile video live streaming companies have successively received large-scale capital investment... The heavy investment of capital giants seems to be telling people that the mobile video live streaming industry has ushered in spring, and various mobile video live streaming software has sprung up. According to ITjuzi statistics, there are more than 200 live streaming-related startups in China. Is the mobile video live streaming industry, which is on the cusp of the trend, really going to take off?

"Beauty Economy" is still the most brutal shortcut to traffic diversion

Last year, various mobile live broadcasting software began to emerge like mushrooms after rain. The widespread use of WiFi and the reduction of traffic charges created a hotbed for the rapid growth of mobile live broadcasting. Chen Jianwen, the founder of Yizhibo, who started out as a video technology expert, believes that this is a natural product of the current development of network technology and hardware performance.

"In the early days of the Internet, there was not much information, and most of it was expressed through text, voice, and pictures. But they were all shallow information interactions. As information exploded, after solving the breadth and efficiency of information, the next step that urgently needed to be developed was the depth of information, and the solution must be video." Chen Jianwen told the Beijing Morning Post reporter, "Just like in traditional cyberspace, others can't teach you to do magic and draw through text and pictures, but videos can. As people's lifestyles and ways of expression become more and more abundant, live video will be able to exist as a new way of expression and interaction in the future."

In Chen Jianwen's view, videos can be divided into three forms: long videos, short videos and live videos. Unlike the first two forms that connect people with content, live videos connect people with people, so the keyword for the development of mobile live video platforms should be "social".

But when we open any mobile app store and search for the word "live broadcast", we will find a large number of beauty show products. "Beauty economy is the simplest and crudest way to enter the live broadcast industry, which can directly divert traffic and make money. The reason why many mobile live broadcast platforms have begun to sign online celebrities to do shows is for this purpose. But in this way, there is another 9158. What innovative significance does it have for the entire Internet ecosystem?" Chen Jianwen said.

"The industry cannot be stopped from doing beauty shows, but there are also many problems. Using only the beauty economy as a point to create an Internet product is obviously a generalization and does not have a long-tail effect. Shows are actually interactions between people and content, and beauties are just content. In fact, the group that really watches beauties is only a small group of people, and they will all disperse when the beauties leave. Moreover, once the image of a beauty show is established in the minds of users, and other businesses such as online education are expanded in the future, ordinary people will definitely not come in again."

Serious homogeneity of product form

"For mobile Internet products, the most important thing is product and positioning," said Chen Jianwen. Lian Jie, head of Huajiao's operations department, also said the same thing in an interview with reporters.

In the past few months, there have been many reports that Huajiao APP has signed contracts with internet celebrities and artists to transform into a show. "In the early days of the platform, we needed traffic, and some internet celebrities also saw that this platform can allow them to interact with fans more directly, so there will be some such cooperation in the early days. With the expansion of the user base and the increase in traffic, there is no such binding method now. For Huajiao, it is meaningless to create another mobile show. Huajiao's positioning is to create an entertainment-based social network based on ordinary people's live broadcasts. The concept of entertainment is the more popular entertainment spirit and fun things. The atmosphere we want to create is to bring people closer together." Lian Jie said.

Although different live broadcast platforms tell different original intentions and stories, Ms. Zhang, who has just tried several live broadcast software, did not find any differences in their product forms. Clicking into the live broadcast rooms of various platforms, most of the time, various anchors are either humming songs, or responding to fans' questions by watching the real-time scrolling messages in the lower left corner of the screen. The top of the page constantly shows that new viewers have entered the live broadcast room. The anchors will also constantly greet them, or send various requests to everyone for gifts...

"I found it boring after watching it too much. I originally hoped to use the live broadcast software to see more scenery elsewhere and listen to more interesting people talk about interesting things, but the reality is that it is difficult to find the points that I am really interested in and participate in. Later, I simply uninstalled all these software." Ms. Zhang told the Beijing Morning Post reporter.

This year may usher in a brutal reshuffle

"The biggest problem with domestic live streaming software now is the serious homogeneity. So far, there is no company that can make a fundamental difference," said Chen Jianwen.

"Although many new companies keep emerging, at least the products look the same. We can only say that some companies do better and some do worse. Signing internet celebrities or celebrity anchors is simply a marketing tool. At this point in time, although various financing news are starting to heat up, the live video product is still to be seen. What the live video platform will do in the future, I think the products on the market have not given a good answer so far." Chen Jianwen intends to slow down Yizhibo's development. He hopes to stick to his original social intention and make something better first.

"At present, domestic video APP platforms are still in the exploratory stage. Breakthroughs in products, positioning, monetization, and business models are still hurdles that every live broadcast platform needs to face." Chen Jianwen said: "But I still think it's worth the effort. If this is successful, it will definitely be a major event in the transformation of social methods."

Perhaps the first thing that can be confirmed now is that Lian Jie, Chen Jianwen and many people in the industry agree that there will be a reshuffle of video live streaming apps in 2016. Some platforms that do not have licenses, qualifications, core competitiveness and good capital support will be eliminated, and the landscape of the mobile video live streaming industry will begin to emerge at the end of this year.

Internet celebrities are coming

Grassroots anchors are a bit lonely

A barbershop at 10pm, a barbecue stall waiting for customers under a solitary lamp... these are common scenes for many people on their way home after working overtime. In Beijing, there are too many "night walkers" who pursue a better life without stopping their efforts under the cover of night. In this colorful life, it seems that there are always many opportunities waving to you.

Youyou is just like them. She came to Beijing after graduating from university. For her dream, she lived a nine-to-five office life. "After get off work, she came home and finished various chores such as eating. When she was free, it was already ten or eleven o'clock." At this time, she would open a mobile video live broadcast software and start playing another role - video anchor. As an "indigenous anchor" who joined the live broadcast software platform in the early days, Youyou was also one of the beneficiaries. She loved sharing, singing, painting and handicrafts. She once became a "little famous" on the platform and attracted many fans. Some fans gradually became friends with her. She also received gifts worth 2,000 yuan.

"After that, those sexy and beautiful anchors came, and many new users basically went to them. And with the explosive growth of the number of anchors on the platform, the display position of the anchor on the homepage interface began to become particularly important. Although the official said at the beginning that the anchor position was arranged based on data such as online active popularity and the number of gifts given, many of our old anchors later discovered that most of the positions were actually manually adjusted by the official. Anchors like us with ordinary looks naturally can't compete with those "Internet celebrities". Therefore, the position is basically the kind that no one can find, and naturally there are not many new users paying attention to it. The reason why I continue to do live broadcasts now is mainly because of the friends I accumulated in the early days who can play together."

"I just hope that the mobile live broadcast platform can reflect more 'interaction and sharing' rather than becoming a mobile version of a show." Youyou told reporters.

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.