New Idol Era: Fan Economy and Social Platform Reconstructed by Live Streaming (Translation)
Text / Popov
WeChat is still throwing easter eggs from time to time. From the "hot texts in the circle of friends" that dominate the recommendation engine to read to "that year and today" when playing the time shuttle machine, all of them are trying to keep users for a while longer, but the historical balance of the social platform has turned to Mobile live tilt.
On June 25th, a live broadcast of TFBOYS on the Meipai app that lasted for more than 40 minutes attracted more than 5.6 million viewers. Three boys under the age of 15 were in the transition from cute and cute to sexy adults. Imperfections are all in the hearts of fans, and even the clumsy way of handling the spatula has blessed them with their goodwill in the hearts of fans.
This live broadcast not only predicts the popularity of an idol group and a live broadcast platform, but also announces the arrival of a new social era.
The post-90s step into the center of social platforms
The post-80s have entered the boring middle-aged life after the 30s, and the post-70s also began to put on red jackets and 60s to go outdoors, photography, and half a foot into the state of retirement. The seed users of the new generation of social platforms must be post-90s.
Let’s go back to the two areas where mobile live broadcasting first flourished: games and shows, which are basically the world of the post-90s generation. According to the statistics of NetEase's game live broadcast platform, 60% of game anchors are born in the 1990s. Similar to LOL game commentary anchors Ruofeng, Miss, and White's annual income are more than 10 million yuan.
The social energy contained in the post-90s generation is astonishing: in the last year, live broadcasts have rapidly migrated from PC to mobile, and content has rapidly spread from game commentary to pan-entertainment fields such as beauty, sports, and fitness, from anchors to users, everywhere They are full of youthful faces full of collagen
American psychiatrist Erickson proposed in his eight-stage theory of personality development that children between the ages of 12 and 18 most need to solve the conflict between self-identity and role confusion, often in "who am I", "" Who am I going to be?” and star-chasing happens to be the most common path to self-identity.
The gorgeous personality of the post-90s generation is largely attributable to the diversification of today's idol market. Compared with the post-70s generation who only had Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung in their youth chasing stars, and the post-80s who flocked to stand in the "Four Heavenly Kings", as the aborigines of the Internet, the post-90s generation no longer needs to compete with their parents for the remote control, and the choice of star chasing It is also much broader: under the protection of the Internet, subcultures are flourishing, thus providing idols with more fields and more characteristics for the post-90s generation to choose from.
TFBOYS, which was not understood by the post-80s straight men with cancer, is one of the dazzling choices on the shelves of the idol store in this era. Mango Channel helped TFBOYS establish its initial reputation, but a dense network of fans was woven on the Internet. More fans have long been accustomed to getting information about idols from Tieba and QQ-groups. Once TFBOYS live broadcasts, let Countless post-90s passers-by have turned fans.
In early 2016, Tencent Technology conducted an online survey of more than 16,000 post-95s and found that the Internet is the main platform for post-90s to chase stars. Fan groups and celebrity posts are the most convenient platforms to discuss and obtain information about idols. Most post-95s prefer Real and lively stars, too dignified are not easy to be accepted.
This survey result well explains the sudden emergence of grassroots and talent stars on live broadcast platforms. If we refer to the situation in the United States, we can find that the Internet has shaped the aesthetic taste of idols of the post-95 generation: According to Variety’s survey of American teenagers aged 13-17, among the top 20 most popular idols, 10 grassroots talents accounted for half, and the top 6 of them are YouTube stars.
time killer and growing friend
The reason why mobile live broadcast quickly conquered teenagers on both sides of the Pacific Ocean and made the previous generation of social platforms look old-fashioned is largely due to the fact that this platform can create a sense of authenticity, intimacy and companionship when communicating with idols and fans. , which is unique to WeChat, Weibo, Twitter, and Facebook, and even more unmatched by TV, newspapers and magazines.
First of all, live broadcasting has greatly shortened the psychological distance between fans and idols. Traditional stars are distant and high above. Fans learn more about them through movies, TV dramas, and records. Whether it is screaming at the concert site with iron fences separated from idols by dozens of centimeters, or licking the screen at the PC monitor, idols. The sense of distance between fans and fans has never been eliminated, and the desire for closeness cannot be fully satisfied. In the mobile live broadcast, fans can sit on the sofa, lie on the bed, or even sit on the toilet, and choose any comfortable position to watch the idol’s live broadcast. The fans’ attitude towards idols is also changing subtly: to consumption.
Secondly, under the setting of the live broadcast, the star will communicate with the fans in a more natural and easier way. The live broadcast first created a new space for celebrities and fans to communicate. In the past, celebrities sat in the live broadcast room, but now they may be on the road, in the supermarket, or in their own kitchen, sharing the more real side of life in real time. Fan Bingbing often broadcasts live broadcasts during work breaks.
There was no rehearsal in advance, no director devising strategies on the side, everything seemed to happen so casually, and the most important thing was to allow fans to gain a perspective of the people around the star, which played a role of real-life companionship similar to VR. For celebrities, compared to attending some offline events, showing their faces on the live broadcast platform for half an hour not only saves the trouble of traveling, but also makes it easier to attract fans.
Lastly, live streaming is also a legitimate collective voyeur. For more ordinary people, life is always unsatisfactory, so it is more necessary to find a sense of existence and satisfaction in another space. Compared with passive boredom such as daily commuting and various parties, live streaming is also an active boring option.
Almost 24 hours on the live broadcast platform, there are various stars, talents, and grassroots taking turns. They have created a real and virtual space in this entertainment city that never sleeps. The moment the user clicks on the live broadcast APP, it is like opening A window, you can quietly watch, you can also type and ask questions in the comment area. It's more fun than watching TV shows.
A more powerful printing press
As a new generation of social platforms, the launch and realization of mobile live broadcasts are almost simultaneously launched, unlike Weibo and WeChat, which only started commercialization after attracting hundreds of millions of fans.
From the first day of the live broadcast platform’s launch, from the rewards and various props to the function settings, I have been thinking about how to make users pay willingly. In the more than 40 minutes of TFBOYS live broadcast, the total cost of fans’ tips and props is nearly 30%. million. This amount of money may be only a small amount for first-line stars, but it is an important indicator to measure a star's popularity. It makes fans' liking, loyalty, and dependence on idols measurable.
The core of the fan economy lies in the community. At the core of this community are idol stars. Different fans form a differential pattern according to the degree of chasing idols. In the past, the interaction between idols and fans mainly relied on large-scale live performances, and the venue, number of people, and distance were limited. Now, with the maturity of live broadcast technology, one-to-many interactions between idols and fans, and many-to-many interactions between fans and fans can be realized at low cost through mobile phones and live broadcast platforms with social functions.
Compared with the star-chasing behavior of the post-80s generation, the post-90s and post-00s have stronger star-chasing willingness and spending power. According to a survey by Phoenix.com in August 2015, games are one of the ways to spend time after study. However, compared to playing games, 51% of the post-00s prefer idol-related entertainment such as star chasing, variety shows, movies, music, etc., and even imitate the dress of idols of the same age.
The report "Post-90s: Native People in the Internet Era" released by NetEase in 2015 shows that the post-90s are more interested in concerts, sports events and automobiles in the casual consumption segment - hedonic consumption accounts for the highest proportion of high-consumption groups. get a larger proportion. Willfulness and spontaneity are the consumption keywords of the post-90s generation. In terms of this kind of consumption concept, which is very different from the post-80s generation, it is the hope of the live broadcast industry as the post-90s, especially the post-95s, who are born in the sun at eight or nine in the morning.
*The article is the author's independent opinion and does not represent the position of Tiger Sniffing.com
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