Nudity is Content: The Survival Portraits of Underlying Internet Celebrities in the Shadow of Pornography (Turn)
Regardless of whether it is a tuyere or a bubble, I have to admit that the outbreak of the Internet celebrity economy has indeed attracted a lot of capital. More than 200 live broadcast platforms emerged within a year, which is the most direct proof. And under the almost crazy restlessness of the entire industry, the war to burn money and grab Internet celebrities is also in full swing.
In this war, some platforms started early in the morning but caught a late episode. Especially those major platforms that first entered short videos, as the earliest Internet celebrity incubation platforms, when the industry was upgrading, they were caught off-guard by the live broadcasts that should have been naturally complementary. From the initiator of the Internet celebrity industry to a follower, Obliterate the crowd.
Today, with the fierce competition, the Internet celebrity economy has entered the deep water area. But no matter how the battle between the platforms changes, for those first- and second-tier Internet celebrities, so far, this is still an ongoing carnival feast. Maybe for the Internet celebrity individuals, this may be too much addiction, but at least they have enjoyed the benefits brought by the industry climax.
Spurred by these seemingly dazzling and short-lived success stories, more and more people have begun to flock to the army of Internet celebrities. However, what is slightly cruel is that behind those few successful Internet celebrities, there are more third- and fourth-tier Internet celebrities struggling and even degenerating for fame and fortune. The cruel survival status quo.
The hidden gray area of third- and fourth-tier Internet celebrities
Some time ago, there was a very popular article about the living conditions of the bottom-level rural internet celebrities. In the opinion of the author of the article, these bottom-level internet celebrities depended on self-abuse and vulgarity to make a living, and pointed out that this is the rural internet celebrity in the Despair under the isolation of city walls.
In fact, in addition to the so-called vulgarity and self-abuse of the so-called bottom-level Internet celebrities in rural areas, there are more third- and fourth-tier Internet celebrities who are eager to make money. They live in the city and do not have outstanding talents, but they have good looks and stature. They are not desperate, but the high consumption of the city and the pursuit of material things finally made them choose another difficult path: using their own appearance and body.
Even though pornography and normal content have clear boundaries and are prohibited by law, as one of the most primitive driving forces of the Internet, some platforms are driven by the survival needs and interests in brutal competition, as well as those who are eager for fame and fortune. Internet celebrities are gradually blurring the line between pornography and love. As you can see, even those mainstream Internet celebrity live broadcast or short video platforms will "accidentally" wipe out the edges "accidentally".
From video to live broadcast to content monetization, a very mature gray industry chain has long been formed in the Internet celebrity economy. This industry chain, like the world of the dark web, has a clear and low-key business logic, which not only arouses users' voyeuristic desires and physiological desires, but also brings a strong monetization ability. This model, to a certain extent, is even more efficient and viable than other Internet celebrity economic chains.
Among them, micropai and microluke are the most typical representatives of this gray industry chain. On these two short video platforms, which are not well-known, there are many third- and fourth-tier beauties and online celebrities active, and almost one-third of the videos with borderline content account for at least one third. If you use some of the words that old drivers like to search on the platform, the results show that the scale is even more shocking.
Open the popular videos or popular celebrities of these two apps, almost all of the top ones are such third- or fourth-line internet celebrities and edge-wiping videos, and what is even more amazing is that the reading of each short video The volume is almost in the hundreds of thousands, and if you are lucky, you can even see some content that you can only see on special websites.
So, how popular is this low-key platform? Just taking the search index of Weipai in the search engine as an example, compared with Meipai, which also relies on short videos to start, except for the sudden outbreak of Meipai one day, the rest of the time, the data of the two are basically the same. Although Meipai's limelight tends to be surpassed by the new generation of online celebrity live broadcast platforms, it is still an established online celebrity platform after all. With such a result, one can imagine the popularity of Weipai.
Similarly, in the search demand, the search demand map of Weibo is also intriguing, because three of the top four most popular related keywords are related to welfare. The word welfare, in the context of the Internet ecology, has almost been equated with pornography. It can be seen what its biggest attraction in the audience circle is.
It is precisely the most attractive demand of "welfare" that has become an important means for many third- and fourth-tier Internet celebrities to gain attention and realize cash. Not only Weibo and Wechake, but also on some mainstream platforms, if you are lucky, you can also find welfare content. Even Kuaishou, which is considered to be a platform for self-abuse and violence by rural internet celebrities, has no shortage of such content.
As a result, a very interesting pattern has been formed: first- and second-tier Internet celebrities are concentrated on mainstream Internet celebrity platforms such as Yizhuan, Yingke, Huajiao, and Meipai, and rely on relatively high-quality content to slowly monetize. And those third- and fourth-tier Internet celebrities are active on many small-platforms such as Weipai and Weluke, and in a relatively ambiguous environment, relying on the crude method of nudity, that is, content, to accumulate their own popularity and quickly realize it. The author (crookedao, public account: crooked thoughts) defines this behavior as "welfare realization". And some of them, after the popularity has accumulated to a certain extent, even began to squeeze into the mainstream platform.
"Welfare realization" is uglifying the Internet celebrity economy
Video + live broadcast is the main incubation method for Internet celebrities at present. Live broadcast is responsible for interaction and brings an instant sense of companionship, while video provides a long-tail effect for the influence of Internet celebrities. Looking at the most popular Internet celebrities today, they mainly made their fortunes in short videos, and then extended to the field of live broadcast. Because only in this way, can it be closer to forming a closed loop of online celebrity ecology, and this just reflects the most important way for mainstream online celebrities to realize their money: advertising and rewards.
This also means that it is difficult for platforms with only live broadcast or short video mode to completely retain Internet celebrities. For example, Meipai, based on this assertion, has been trying desperately to add the live broadcast function since the short video. But obviously, this is relative to a platform with normal content. Under the Internet celebrity economic model of "welfare realization", this conclusion is invalid. For example, micro-shooting and micro-recording of short videos are the best proof.
However, it is precisely because there are only short videos and the ambiguity of the scale, under the strong demand for welfare realization, the bad money drives out the good money, so that in the end, only the third- and fourth-tier small internet celebrities are settled. This has led them to even become a disgraceful role in the Internet celebrity economy, and there is always a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads: because the group of retained third- and fourth-tier small Internet celebrities, the biggest core Content is welfare, and this will cause the platform to bear huge legal risks at any time.
In fact, it is very difficult for the platform to change its content, and it can only be allowed to grow wildly. Because the two are almost bound by interests, one needs users and the other needs fame and fortune. Third- and fourth-tier Internet celebrities put large-scale video content on the platform, bringing huge traffic and users to the platform. Realize yourself.
The third- and fourth-tier Internet celebrities are relatively better. They will put their live broadcast portals on other platforms in the video, and use some provocative words and words to lure fans to other platforms for support and secondary realization. There are also some vulgar WeChat accounts that promote and participate in, and get a large number of fans and then receive some false advertisements. And what's more, they directly sell their so-called private videos.
This relatively special profit model in the Internet celebrity economy is very appropriate to use the word "welfare realization". However, "welfare realization" has brought a very negative impact on the Internet celebrity economy, and even vilified the Internet celebrity economy.
Because "welfare realization" is very easy for third- and fourth-tier Internet celebrities to face the temptation of edge balls and erotic services, if they can't resist, they will often further break the bottom line. For example, one-to-one recognition of live video. What’s more, the direct provision of sexual services turns short videos and live broadcasts into O2O for sex transactions. And this will make a net red completely degenerate, adding the indelible "peripheral girl" label to the word net red.
In addition, there are still some people who will use the method of "welfare" to realize pornography-pornography-fraud. Because it attracts customers through welfare videos or live broadcasts, it has higher accuracy and great harm. And this kind of news has been emerging one after another, almost every day on the Internet. For example, some erotic information is sent from the platform, claiming to provide paid erotic content. When the "customer" pays money under its various guidance and temptations, it will be deleted as a friend, and the deceived has no way to do it. . And scammers, internet celebrities or not, have already had a huge negative impact on this nascent industry.
Why do the bottom net reds carry out "welfare realization"?
So, why is there a phenomenon of "welfare realization" in a gray area outside the mainstream of the Internet celebrity economy? In the author's view, the entire industry and the overall environment have an inescapable responsibility.
1. Fierce competition among internet celebrities
Some data show that the number of Internet celebrity anchors in China has already exceeded one million, and this number is still expanding rapidly. In addition to attracting the influx of capital, the outbreak of the Internet celebrity economy is also attracting more and more stars to test the waters. In addition, there are also a large number of students, third- and fourth-tier models and ordinary white-collar workers who want to become the next Internet celebrity.
Domestic Internet celebrities not only have fierce internal competition, but also face the pressure of foreign troops externally. It is reported that there are more than 10,000 Korean anchors who are rushing for gold in China, involving e-sports, singing and dancing, variety shows, e-commerce and other fields. Of course, there are many Internet celebrities in South Korea who "realize welfare". The most important thing is that most of the female anchors in South Korea have undergone very strict training and become more professional. This part of the foreign Internet celebrity also consumes part of the Internet celebrity market.
The competition in the industry is so fierce, coupled with the connivance of the platform, so some people will use their brains and choose "welfare realization" in order to survive. Because this is a relatively simple and quickest way. In addition to the above-mentioned groups, there is also a special group, that is, the "peripheral women" who have switched careers from the pornography industry. The most mainstream of them should be the unemployed since the economic transformation of Dongguan. The reason why they want to be Internet celebrities is to "realize welfare", and they can break through the bottom line of "welfare" without any pressure.
Second, the user's favorite
And the emergence of "welfare realization", its target audience users also have a certain role in promoting. In addition to those who have a hobby, there are more ordinary single men. And this group has almost no resistance in the face of Internet celebrities who like to export welfare, and even run around to spread the word, and eventually become old drivers.
In fact, this can be regarded as one of the evils of the imbalance between males and females.
As we all know, due to the deep-rooted patriarchal ideology and the one-child family planning policy introduced in 1980, the unbalanced sex ratio at birth has become the fundamental reason for the unbalanced sex ratio of the Chinese population. This has led to a gap of 33.66 million men and women between men and women today. In 2020, there may be 30 million to 40 million bachelors who cannot find their wives.
This situation not only caused some problems in the society, but also deeply affected the rapid development of the Internet era. Of course, the internet celebrity economy is just one example. This huge group, whether it is physical or spiritual needs, will not exclude the emergence of "welfare" realization. Even to a certain extent, it will help fuel the flames.
Therefore, whether it is forced or speculative, it is difficult for the bottom-level beauty Internet celebrities to get ahead, so "welfare realization" seems to be a good choice. After all, it is too difficult to become a first- and second-tier internet celebrity without talent and professionalism. However, the mental and physical needs of the majority of old drivers are still waiting to be fed, which is much simpler than relying on talents to create high-quality content.
3. Ineffective supervision of the platform and forced connivance
In fact, in all the current major online celebrity platform conferences, there is a living environment for pornographic and vulgar content. Due to the limitations of technology and supervision, platforms are often unable to deal with such content in the first time, even in a certain To some extent there will be forced connivance.
The reason why I say this is because there is a very interesting phenomenon on the influencer platform:
Once a welfare video or live broadcast appears on the platform, and during the period when the platform cannot respond in the future, users will be very excited, one-sided applause and word of mouth, which will greatly increase the platform's traffic. Once the benefits are deleted or banned, many users will have strong dissatisfaction with the platform and turn to other platforms, resulting in the loss of a larger number of users, because other platforms still have benefits that are too late to handle.
The sudden surge of users and the sudden collapse of users is unacceptable for some platforms when the current industry war is in full swing. Therefore, we have to choose default or connivance. Over time, batch after batch of welfare content will squeeze normal high-quality content into the corner, allowing the platform to enter this vicious circle and completely become a platform that can only rely on welfare content to stay. live user.
The above reasons have led to the emergence of "welfare realization", and it is believed that this phenomenon will continue to exist. Because, although the content of pan-life Internet celebrities has risen strongly, everyone has a love for beauty, and it is also sexual. Even if the content of pan-life is more diversified, I want to squeeze out the edge ball among them. The "welfare realization" model is still an impossible task in the short term.
But the worst consequences could come at any time. Because with the barbaric growth of the Internet celebrity economy, the introduction of relevant laws will definitely become an urgent matter for the relevant departments. Once the policy changes, it may be a fatal blow to platforms and Internet celebrities that focus on "welfare realization". Only Internet celebrities with healthy content and platforms with high-quality users will not only not be implicated, but will also become the biggest beneficiaries in the standardized Internet celebrity economy.
However, those Internet celebrities with healthy content and high-quality users, in such an impetuous market, according to the trend of changing Internet outlets almost every six months, can they persist until the day when they are completely standardized?
Author: Crooked Road, an in-depth observer of the Internet and technology circles.