Platform mental status and usage guidelines

This article introduces four common platforms in our daily life - Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and Douyin. They have their own characteristics. For example, the same keyword may show different flavors of content on different platforms. This is also the reason why they are popular in the market. This article attempts to describe the "mental state guide" of different platforms. Let's take a look.

On Kuaishou, "Tianjin" is the "Uncle Diving Team" and the "Auntie Hair Perm Group", and the Kuaishou friends are full of enthusiasm and interest.

On Xiaohongshu, "Tianjin" is a popular place for sharing in Moments, with the themes of "a unique place for taking photos", "a holy place for checking in", "a treasure shop" and Citywalk being recommended and recommended.

On Bilibili, "Tianjin" represents international architecture, urban life, food and culture, interpreting the city's deeper and more lasting stories.

On Douyin, "Tianjin" has everything from the special forces' budget travel routes, to pancake coupons, to Tianjin Haidilao points, with dazzling sound, light and electricity, and everyone can participate.

One keyword can display different content styles on different platforms and also show completely different mental states.

And these unique mental states are precisely the embodiment of the vitality of the platform.

No.1 describes the mental state guidelines of different platforms by deconstructing the content of Xiaohongshu, Kuaishou, Douyin, and Bilibili. Is there an invisible line between mental state and brand image? Perhaps there will be an answer.

1. Platform Mental State

The platform slogan is not only a slogan, but also a hidden line that the platform adheres to in its long-term development. It runs through the long-term development, forms a unique mental state, and even becomes the source of the platform's vitality.

1. TikTok

As the slogan was upgraded from "Let worship start here" to "Record a beautiful life", Tik Tok has also changed from a trendy and cool "wave-making place" to a national entertainment "companion".

Tik Tok has also officially become a universal, pan-entertainment platform for users to record their beautiful lives, using "recording" to radiate all aspects of life, striving to achieve a spiritual state of daily companionship and care in all aspects.

Douyin covers "companionship" with the "DOU" plan, investing more resources in vertical fields that can reflect a better life, such as clothing, food, housing, transportation, etc., and encouraging users to publish short video works on related topics to achieve a platform attribute that is more in line with universality.

This year, Douyin has stepped up its efforts to invest in local life and get closer to users, making the sense of companionship even more significant:

Douyin launched the "Better Life Discoverer" campaign, mobilizing local influencers to visit stores offline. Using Douyin's main short video format, they promoted local attractions and stores, and then worked with merchants to launch online and offline promotions.

Douyin has also launched lifestyle service activities such as the "Good Life Festival", and set up offline activities such as "Photographing the Sunset" and "Watching the Sunset" at the West Lake in Hangzhou, aiming to vertically integrate Douyin into users' lives and replace virtual care with real companionship.

At the same time, artistic creations that originate from life and transcend life are still the main source of Douyin's traffic: various hot topics, crazes, divine songs, and hot dramas also constitute a part of Douyin's companionship in users' lives.

The companionship mentality jointly constructed by Douyin and its users has enabled Douyin to gradually transition smoothly from a short video platform targeting only "trendsetters" to a pan-entertainment, universal life companionship platform, and through continuous product layout, the spiritual attributes of companionship have been further deepened.

2. Kuaishou

Kuaishou’s slogan “Embrace every kind of life” highlights the word “embrace”, which is the mental state of “old iron” full of enthusiasm and love.

Just as the Tianjin uncle jumped into the water, the Tianjin aunties started to work hard. Whether it was the uncles' muscular bodies, their high-pitched shouts, the aunties' jewel-studded hair styles, or the aunties with peacock hairstyles helping netizens with their hair styles, the screen was filled with laughter, applause and energetic conversations, and outside the screen was the ordinary people's love for life and their eager embrace of every day of life.

Kuaishou uses the dual connection of "content and people" to connect users, mainly through the "follow + same city" method, to meet the users' needs to express themselves equally and be recognized by others, and also allow "every kind" of life to be expressed.

In March, "Gan Da Ji" became popular on Kuaishou, and the number of views under the "Gan Da Ji" tag exceeded 1 billion times.

Following the Kuaishou friends, you can visit rural fairs, Northeast morning markets, coastal fishing markets, flower and bird markets, fish markets, etc. The friends will use enthusiastic introductions to take you through the crowds. The biggest feeling of watching the videos is "freedom and happiness".

Whether it is high-brow art or the daily life of ordinary people, all kinds of life can be warmly embraced on Kuaishou. This is the most vivid mental state conveyed by Kuaishou’s old friends, and it is also the vitality that distinguishes Kuaishou from other platforms.

3. Bilibili

Bilibili says: "All the videos you are interested in are on Bilibili. " In order to make users "interested", Bilibili incorporates the "interesting" mental state into various themes and types of creations, and also explores the "interesting" faces of thousands of people.

From the initial ghost videos, remixes, and spoofs, the creators of Bilibili have used the most obvious "funny" as the standard of fun.

Today, fun has become diverse and rich——

The stick figures that I casually drew on cardboard when I was a child have become interesting protagonists in the videos of UP hosts on Bilibili: UP host Ginger Omelet Rice has the magical power to make cardboard come alive, and the protagonist of the video is the stick figure, with simple lines but rich expressions.

The long and tedious history has come alive on Bilibili: the UP host Bohai Xiaoli, who tells history in the storytelling style of Tianjin people, is both interesting and academic. His series on the Qin, Chu, Han and Three Kingdoms thoroughly analyzes the changes between geography and history, as well as the power struggles in history books.

It is interesting, and has found a suitable foothold in videos of various types, styles and themes in various sections. Rather than saying that video makers are creators of Bilibili, it is better to say that they are "interesting" explorers.

To cater to the community's spirit, Bilibili also spreads "fun" through various activities.

For example, in October, Bilibili held its first science event "bilibili Super Science Night", inviting UP hosts from the knowledge and technology areas to use experiments to verify scientific problems in life, which made the audience exclaim with excitement.

At this point, the "fun" generated from "interest" can be said to be the consistent mental state of B station's creators, and it also gives B station vigorous vitality.

4. Xiaohongshu

Xiaohongshu, whose slogan is "Mark my life", highlights the word "mark" to show the influencers' enthusiasm for sharing on the Xiaohongshu platform.

"My" shows the mental state behind "sharing" - expressing oneself, and even more so the spiritual pursuit of empathy.

Unlike social communities such as Weibo and Moments, Xiaohongshu's social recommendations tend to be more focused on shopping, travel, life, and other strategies. In terms of traffic distribution, the push logic is flat, and for "amateur" users with a small number of fans, traffic may also be inclined to a valuable question or experience sharing post - personal experience is expressed explosively.

For example, on Xiaohongshu, the keyword "travel guide" has 18.47 million notes, "gift suggestions" has 48.82 million notes, and "blogger introduction" has 3.38 million notes. Whether it is a sharer, interactor or browser, under the joint effect of tags and traffic, they all seek resonance and empathy in the process of interaction.

The obvious manifestation of this mental state is that the social attributes of the community are strengthened between planting and pulling out grass.

Xiaohongshu users' spiritual pursuit of empathy is also reflected in the fact that as sharing becomes richer and more diverse, Xiaohongshu has developed an image of a community that integrates "consumption decisions" and "lifestyle sharing."

On this platform where there are no acquaintances and a greater sense of security is achieved, netizens can freely ask questions and share experiences. Driven by tags and traffic, netizens with similar opinions are gathered together, interactions resonate, pressure is released, and there is a sense of spiritual richness.

This is also reflected in users' yearning for a refined and beautiful life - the aesthetics of Xiaohongshu's pictures, texts and videos, as well as the quality of its copywriting, are constantly being polished and improved.

Xiaohongshu has shifted from consumer guidance to a community of experience sharing, echo chamber, and tree hole, where users can interact more comfortably and find space for resonance.

2. Instructions for use

The spiritual state of the platform may seem a little illusory, but it actually injects sustainable development vitality into the platform's vitality.

The mental state of the platform contributes to the platform's commercial attributes and marketing development.

It can be seen that Kuaishou’s “old iron” spiritual attribute has helped Kuaishou to gain a differentiated advantage in the market.

The self-reliant interpersonal attributes of "Laotie" have given Kuaishou leverage in brand marketing and commercial breakthroughs:

In July, the "2023 Kuaishou Live Broadcast Summer Peak Night" was held. Through this national summer carnival, Kuaishou showed the market the dark horse of the live broadcast industry, as well as Kuaishou's new layout to promote the diversification of live broadcast content and ecology;

In August, Kuaishou launched a new content IP for creators called "Lao Tie Shuo", which sowed seeds and allowed "passion" to blossom and bear fruit.

In September, Kuaishou teamed up with China International Fashion Week to hold the "Definitely Stylish" fashion show, completing a bold cross-border innovation.

It can be seen that the mental state of Kuaishou’s old friends has become the backbone that cannot be ignored in Kuaishou’s various development lines and project modules.

The differentiation brought about by the mental state of Laotie will also attract long-term attention from users with strong stickiness and high trust.

The platform has a clear spiritual state. Through the continuous operation of the platform, the brand and the target audience are more in line, and user stickiness is also improved simultaneously.

Bilibili attracts explorers who are interested in "fun". Whether it is the content of the creators or the content produced and broadcast by the platform, they are all practicing the keyword "fun".

Judging from the self-produced works of Bilibili in recent years, exploring the interesting society and life has become a habit of Bilibili: self-produced dramas such as "Sanyue Got a New Job" which tells the story of the mysterious funeral industry, "Ancient Love Song" which tells the story of time travel in a novel way of flashback, "Sparkling Pediatrician" which focuses on the children's department, and self-produced documentaries such as "Guarding Jiefang West" which focuses on Changsha Pozi Street for four consecutive seasons.

Bilibili spares no effort in exploring "interesting". This is a two-way rush between the platform brand and user preferences. Bilibili also has a stable user group whose mental state is consistent with the platform.

And a beautiful mental state also makes the platform more attractive.

Xiaohongshu users develop a mental state of empathy through the interaction between planting and pulling out new products. And with more than 70% of female users, Xiaohongshu has formed a "female power" that is different from other platforms.

In March, Xiaohongshu commercially launched the "Love Girls Plan", a marketing IP focusing on the female group, and introduced a lifestyle of "feeling the world with softness and fulfilling yourself with strength", and promoted the concept of "Double-S Girls" - "soft and powerful" on the platform.

Driven by the platform and spontaneous participation, celebrities and top KOLs have encouraged female users to speak out, conveying the four major life attitudes of "beautiful and confident, healthy and self-disciplined, happy and independent, and free and at ease", which have been sublimated in the spiritual state of empathy.

Commercial marketing and brands began to consciously emphasize "female power" when entering Xiaohongshu, which not only made "female" more emphasized in the Internet environment, but also made Xiaohongshu more attractive.

It can be seen that platforms with a positive mental state seem to have a more vigorous and benign vitality. The mental compatibility between users and platforms also makes the platform itself more confident and supported in the process of expansion and development.

These differentiated and personalized mental states are exactly what long video platforms lack.

On long video platforms, users are like the tide, following the works rather than the platforms themselves, which makes them stay or leave. This makes film and television works have higher expectations, while the brand competitiveness of the platform itself is difficult to improve.

In fact, long video platforms are also trying to create a unique mental state.

Among them, "theater" is a path of exploration: iQiyi created the "Misty Theater" in an attempt to associate the "suspense style" with the platform and add a personality label to the platform.

However, it will be difficult to deepen the label into spiritual attributes simply by relying on the expansion of theaters or units, and the long video platform still has a long way to go.

3. Conclusion

Browsing Xiaohongshu is like shopping in a mall; watching Kuaishou is like walking through the streets; using Bilibili is like visiting a science and technology museum or a museum...

The clear and corresponding APP image in the user's mind is the characteristic given by the platform's mental state.

A platform with a distinct personality and mental state is unique. Cultivating this mental state is not easy and requires a two-way effort from both the platform and the users.

The mental state is the core and the thread that threads the needle. It deftly integrates the scattered modules of the platform and fully reveals the brand temperament of the platform.

Mental state, as the endogenous culture of different platforms, will break the stereotyped, copy-and-paste temperament of platforms. This is welcomed by market vitality and healthy development, and is also something that long video platforms are expected to learn from.

Author: Di Fei

WeChat public account: Media No. 1 (ID: zcfhxy), a pioneer new media in China’s media industry, industry-university-research cooperation.