Rewards, red envelopes, and product promotion: young people are playing the matchmaker business

The popularity of "Wang Po Matchmaking" has shown the young people's yearning and pursuit for love. On social media platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu, there are many new matchmakers similar to "Wang Po Matchmaking", and many of them are young people.

In the Wansui Mountain Martial Arts City Scenic Area in Kaifeng, Henan Province, the blind date show "Wang Po Matchmaking" hosted by 61-year-old teacher Zhao Mei became popular on the entire Internet in 2024. "Wang Po" also became the object of pursuit among young people, and everyone affectionately called her "godmother."

Wang Po suddenly became popular among young people, not only because of the deeply rooted image of "Wang Po" she played. More importantly, the show is not only simple and direct, but also full of fun and surprises. Female tourists come on stage to express their mate requirements, and men can express their love on the spot.

Encouraged by "Wang Po", the young man bravely pursues his own happiness. This straightforward approach greatly increases the possibility of love.

The popularity of "Wang Po Matchmaking" has shown the young people's yearning and pursuit for love. They are no longer satisfied with the traditional blind date model, but hope to find their other half in a more interesting and real way.

On social media platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu, there are many new matchmakers like "Wang Po's Matchmaking". Moreover, the image of matchmakers is no longer limited to the traditional middle-aged women in their 40s and 50s. Tech Planet found that young people who previously shouted "Long live singles" have also started to do matchmaking business on these platforms in a contrary manner.

Li Hong, a college student who acts as a matchmaker in Douyin live broadcast, told Tech Planet, "Matchmakers for young people should be young people. The emotional rhetoric of traditional matchmakers is no longer suitable for young people. Instead, matchmakers born after 1995 and 2000 can better integrate with single people of the same age. After a live broadcast, the income can reach four figures at the best time."

The young man, who was not very experienced in the world, was also doing well in the matchmaking business.

1. Young people compete to be matchmakers

Yueyue is a blogger with over 10,000 fans on Douyin and Xiaohongshu. At first, she only shared her own love stories, but as many of her fans sent her private messages and shared some of their emotional experiences, Yueyue keenly realized that this was a new opportunity to use her talent as a "matchmaker".

Yueyue believed that some of the single men and women who came to her to share their emotional experiences had similar emotions, and if she acted as a matchmaker, she might be able to help them find a suitable partner. So she began to post some information about single men and women and interesting blind date stories on her account.

At first, her account did not attract much attention. But through continuous learning on how to create attractive videos and graphic content, and improving her expression and affinity, her content gradually began to attract the attention and love of some people.

Later, she began to share some articles about love skills and emotional psychology, and also posted some detailed information and photos of singles. In order to ensure the authenticity of the information, Yueyue will carefully review the information of each applicant to ensure that they are sincerely looking for love.

As time goes by, Yueyue has helped more and more couples to get together. Her account has also accumulated a large number of fans and followers on Douyin and Xiaohongshu. Some couples even post videos to thank Yueyue, which makes her more determined to continue on this path.

In addition to online matchmakers like Yueyue, there are also offline campus matchmakers. Li Hong is one of them. Because her family runs a matchmaking agency and she is a social expert, she hopes to become a matchmaker to help her classmates and alumni find their partners.

Li Hong began to consciously collect information about classmates who wanted to find a partner and set up a WeChat group for those who wanted to find a partner. She would chat with her classmates and find out what they expected from their partners. Then, based on her own judgment, she would try to match some of her classmates up.

In this process, Yueyue not only gained the joy of helping others find happiness, but also made many like-minded friends. She believes that by imitating the "Kaifeng Wang Po", she can also become a "campus Wang Po" on campus and help more people find their own love and happiness.

Some young people use the most popular live broadcast blind date room model and act as matchmakers in the live broadcast room. For example, Xiaolin regularly posts information and self-introduction short videos of single men and women on Douyin and Kuaishou, highlighting the characteristics and advantages of each person.

Then, we let everyone interact and communicate through live broadcast. Compared with the traditional live broadcast room, it will not be the old-fashioned rhetoric, but will get to the point more directly, and add games such as Werewolf and Truth or Dare to liven up the atmosphere of the live broadcast room.

Once, she successfully matched a young couple from the same city in her live broadcast room. After they got to know each other online, they quickly got together when they met offline. Now, they are together and often send gifts to show their support in Xiaolin's live broadcast room.

These young people are breaking the limitations of the traditional blind date model in various ways. They provide singles with opportunities to meet each other in an interesting way through channels that are more suitable for young people.

2. Traditional matchmakers cannot handle the marriage and love business of young people

Nowadays, traditional "matchmakers" are gradually losing their role in the marriage and love business of young people. There are many reasons for this.

First, the rapid development of science and technology has changed people's social methods and pace of life. Young people are increasingly dependent on the Internet and mobile devices. They prefer to make new friends on various social platforms, which is freer, more convenient and has more choices. The traditional matchmaking method is relatively limited and fixed, and cannot meet young people's needs for diversity and immediacy.

Tech Planet found that the opposite-sex dating show "90 Marriage Agency" launched by Bilibili has been well received by young people. The variety show is hosted by Meng Fei, but young stars such as Kan Qingzi, Shen Yifei, and Meng Chang have joined as the program's dating group, and the gameplay is also in line with young people. On Douban, "90 Marriage Agency 2021" and "90 Marriage Agency 2022" scored 6.8 and 6.6 points respectively, which is higher than the 6.2 score of the traditional marriage and love variety show "If You Are the One 2010".

Secondly, young people's concept of love and marriage has changed a lot. They pay more attention to personal feelings, the compatibility of interests and hobbies, and spiritual communication. Traditional matchmakers tend to pay more attention to the matching of some external conditions, and it is difficult to deeply understand and grasp the real needs of young people. In contrast, young matchmakers of the same age can empathize with the conversations between single men and women.

In addition, young people pursue individuality and autonomy, and they do not want their love lives to be interfered with or arranged too much. The traditional matchmaker's matchmaking method may make them feel constrained and uncomfortable.

Most importantly, with the wild growth of dating platforms, traditional matchmakers have also come to light, with problems such as only focusing on sales, lack of review, infringement of privacy, and trust crisis. The Su Xiangmao and Zhai Xinxin incident in 2017 brought the public's trust crisis in traditional matchmakers on online dating platforms to a peak.

Because of this, young people have taken the initiative to play the role of matchmakers. According to the Beijing News, Douban posts blind date posts, Xiaohongshu publishes blind date diaries, and Bilibili learns and observes single-life skills... Even Taobao's fund discussion area has become an online blind date corner for single young people. Young people who are eager to get married have not missed any corner of the Internet.

However, it is difficult for traditional "matchmakers" to enter the private territory of these young people, and it is difficult for them to adapt to the young people's marriage needs and patterns.

3. Rewards, red envelopes, sponsorships, and product promotion: young matchmakers have many ways to make money

Young people can also earn a lot of income by working as matchmakers.

"We do blind date live broadcasts every night, and the income from each live broadcast ranges from 100 to 500 yuan," Zhang Yang, who works as a blind date matchmaker on Douyin, told Tech Planet.

There are two types of income from live streaming: one is rewards in the live streaming room, and the other is private red envelopes as a thank you.

The amount of reward in the live broadcast room mainly depends on the novelty of the matchmaker's gameplay and her eloquence. Abandoning the boring blind date live broadcasts in the past, Zhang Yang will organize various novel blind date activities, such as escape room blind date, script-killing blind date, etc. These activities allow single men and women to get to know each other in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. Zhang Yang will also carefully prepare small gifts and surprises for each blind date couple to make them feel special care.

"If the male and female guests recognize my professional level, or if we are successful in getting together, they will give me gifts. After deducting the 55% commission of the platform, that is the actual money I earn. I live broadcast for more than 5 hours a day, and I can earn more than 300 yuan for each live broadcast. If they are big matchmakers, their income for each live broadcast is more than four figures."

Zhang Yang added, "In addition to online income, some people will also express their gratitude privately, such as sending red envelopes of tens or hundreds of yuan. This is especially true for male fans, because they feel happy for having successfully found their partner."

Another young matchmaker, Suna, turned out to be a girl with many ideas. She turned the previous live broadcast in the voice hall into a stage for love.

She invites single men and women to connect with her live broadcast room, allowing them to show their charm and personality directly in the live broadcast room, and let both men and women show their talents. Single men and women accept her because she can make blind dates like a fun party. They can express themselves in the live broadcast room and see the true state of others.

Suna makes money mainly through fans' tips, referral fees and cooperation with some sponsors. Among them, sponsors are more like a sales model, and they will hang some products in the live broadcast room for sale and get commissions. Based on the existing 50,000 fans and the blessing of two business models, the monthly income can reach 20,000 yuan.

Once, Suna held a special live broadcast matchmaking event, which attracted many high-quality single men and women to participate. During the event, many people found their ideal partners, and Suna also received rich rewards. By innovating and improving her live broadcast content, more people are willing to pay attention and participate.

Young people acting as matchmakers are expected to open up a new world in the marriage market with their technological literacy, innovative abilities and understanding of their peers.