Short videos have been online for a year but the hype has died down and it is difficult to replicate the success of Weibo

Short video apps represented by Tencent Weishi and Sina Miaopai have been around for nearly a year, but none of them has been able to stir up a new wave. Meipai was launched and topped the free list of the app store in just a few days, which made people feel like they were in the mood for short videos. However, Sanmao believes that the emergence of Meipai is unlikely to change the current short video landscape, and it is likely to return to silence after a brief period of false popularity.

What will be the next era of Weibo? Internet experts told us that there will be short videos. With the popularization of 4G, pictures and text will decline, and short videos will rise. Tencent Weishi and Sina Miaopai have made early plans, using WeChat and Weibo to convey to users that it is time to take a video with your mobile phone.

Unlike foreign markets, filming is not so fun in China. In China's reserved culture, people are generally shy, and there is another important point for women - how can they ruin their beauty in short videos after using Meitu Xiuxiu or Beauty Camera to make themselves beautiful?

Users are not willing to shoot short videos automatically. Internet giants Tencent and Sina believe that in order to educate Chinese users, the first step is to lower the entry threshold for users. Several product changes have been made to solve the problems of user upload speed and traffic, and even traffic subsidy packages have been launched in some areas, making product traffic free. The result is that for a period of time, we often see several videos with no content and poor quality in Moments. Even though these platforms keep emphasizing how lively such a video is and that its traffic is as low as a few pictures, Sanmao would rather choose a beautiful photo than a video that is self-destructive.

The experts think that the traffic problem has been solved, and the next step is to mobilize the initiative of users and teach them how to play. In the early days of Weishi, wall-walking, magic tricks, and other gameplay that used the video delay function to achieve various special effects did attract the attention of a small number of users, but this attention soon died out as the interest curve declined. Creativity, shooting, music, and post-production require certain skills, and not everyone can participate. Some people must say, why is Vine so popular? Let's go back to the shy Chinese. You let the friends who have been harmed by the exam-oriented education for so many years become creative masters overnight. Isn't this a joke?

The experts thought, "Okay, if you don't want to participate, we'll find someone to lead you to play." The power of role models was quickly established, so they invited various celebrities to join. Weishi Queen Fan Bingbing and Miaopai Queen Deng Ziqi were very popular, trying to copy the success of Weibo Queen Yao Chen. Unexpectedly, the path went further and further away, and short videos changed from "active shooting" to "passive viewing", becoming a small circle of celebrities and photographers. It was supposed to be a tool for users to record and share themselves, but it became a mini video website for viewing only.

The main concept promoted by Weishi after the revision is: in Weishi you can be a viewer, in Weishi you can be a director. Watching interesting videos is put in the first place, with many private life videos of celebrities, hundreds of talents, creativity, comedy, beauties, cute pets, food, and travel . At first glance, Weishi is a prosperous content, but users are watching content instead of producing content. Miaopai also emphasized that the key to mobile short videos is not playing but sharing. At this time, the length becomes a paradox again. Is the short video more condensed, or is the long video more complete and exciting? We see that Weishi has extended the long video function as a supplement to make the "watch" function more complete.

The media thinking of Tencent and Sina has also made them more and more hurt in the field of short videos. First of all, short videos are used by every user to shoot and share themselves, and every user should be a producer. However, with the layout of Tencent and Sina, Sina hopes to highlight the media value of Miaopai at the social level. It is not difficult to analyze from the news of Miaopai that it is eager for media attributes.

Han Kun, the founder of Miaopai, believes that "through various collaborations with Sina and CCTV, micro-video sharing has become a news tool for media organizations and ordinary users of major hot events in China due to its fast upload speed, low traffic usage, one-click upload on Weibo, and cross-platform sharing. In addition, Miaopai will also increase its investment in the near future to encourage and cultivate more video experts, and attract video viewers by developing video shooters."

In terms of user thinking, both Tencent and Sina have shortcomings. Therefore, no matter how much effort Weishi and Miaopai put into product promotion and education, they have not given users the identity of "active shooters" and a reason to "you must use short videos." The height of the industry always makes the big guys think about the product first when making products, not the user's feelings, but blindly elevate the product.

Meitu XiuXiu, which has a large number of "crazy fans" for cameras, can the launch of Meipai help solve the dilemma of short videos? Meipai's product positioning is "everyone is a star", the "Meitu XiuXiu" of the video industry. To put it bluntly, Meipai is telling the public that I am a camera with great effects: "Meipai combines the five major elements of editing, filters, watermarks, music, and high-definition image quality into MV special effects, turning all the complex post-processing work of video into a simple one-click operation. With just one click, an ordinary video can be transformed into a beautiful MV in one second.

Meipai has strengthened the concept of “shooting” and returned to the essence of short videos, mobilizing users’ initiative and surpassing Tencent and Sina’s understanding of short videos. However, due to its small scale and its main target audience being mostly women, when users are tired of filters and special effects, what value can Meipai produce sustainably? Meipai’s product features also limit it to being just a shooting tool, while short videos are like a disabled child with congenital deficiencies. The content that can be covered in 8 or 10 seconds is too little, and it can only be used as an upgrade and beautification of content such as text and pictures. It cannot become a weapon for users to express their opinions, and it will never be able to replicate the success of the next “Weibo”.

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.