In the era of stock users, the enlightenment and warning brought by the passive "out-of-circle" of Internet celebrities

This article first proposes that we have entered the stock era, and further explains the internal competition between anchors and guilds in the stock era. Then it analyzes the reasons for the popularity of "Xiucais", and finally analyzes what the ban of Xiucai has brought. This article is suitable for major anchors and guilds to watch and understand the current development status of the Internet era.

The live streaming short video industry in the first half of 2023 has faded away from the noise of its early years.

"No news is good news" does not apply to the lively audio-visual stage. Since reaching its peak in 2020, even if e-commerce live streaming is still in the limelight, its user scale growth rate is inevitably slowing down: as of December 2022, the scale of online live streaming users in my country reached 751 million, a year-on-year increase of 6.7%, accounting for 70.3% of the total netizens; the scale of short video users was 1.012 billion, a year-on-year increase of 8.3%, accounting for 94.8% of the total netizens.

After a rapid expansion, the number of audio-visual users has finally entered the stock era. However, every era has its corresponding trendsetters. For example, in addition to Feng Timo and Xu Xu Baby, who are always at the top of the traffic, we also saw unfamiliar yet familiar names such as Xiucai and Yixiao Qingcheng. They have accurately cut their own cakes among the stock users, living a thriving life, but maintaining a "silent" state.

Recently, Xiucai was blocked for violating the platform's regulations. Without talking about the red line issue, today we want to talk about the enlightenment and warning brought by the popularity of "Xiucai" and "Yixiao Qingcheng".

1. Involution of anchors and guilds under the competition of existing resources

What are stock users? They are users who have used live broadcast and short video products, as opposed to incremental users. Under the competition for stock users, the industry has undergone drastic changes, and some guilds and anchors still choose extensive growth methods: first, they recruit anchors crazily, regardless of whether they are of the same type or the quality of the anchors themselves, and win by quantity; second, they extend the length of live broadcasts, with high frequency and high online time, which aggravates the inefficiency of internal circulation; third, a live broadcast model that can monetize traffic will be infinitely copied.

In the early days, live streaming was a business of washing traffic. How long a single anchor could last and how much revenue he could bring were not considered by the guilds and platforms. Copying live streaming content with monetization capabilities can always cover as many user groups as possible.

This is reflected in the market. In the first half of the year, there was a live streaming sales account called Nanmimi Group. Its anchor Changqing Niangniang once entered the top ten of the sales list for dozing off during a late-night live streaming. For a while, when people browsed Douyin in the early morning, they all saw the dozing anchor. Later, Nanmimi Group's magical dance + rap sales became popular. Whether the major live streaming rooms rap or not is another matter, but the magical dance became a standard feature. After the novelty wore off, people only felt aesthetic fatigue, and the effect was greatly reduced.

When a live broadcast content becomes popular, they will quickly copy it to reap the first wave of dividends without considering the next content form that may become popular. Online performances are unlikely to apply for copyright protection in the short term, like film and television works. Following others' path and leaving them with nowhere to go will kill the industry's enthusiasm for content innovation. It will also make users gradually lose interest in watching live broadcasts and short videos, and the length and frequency of users' mapping to live broadcasts and short videos will decrease, making the industry pie smaller.

According to the 2023 Douyin E-commerce Semi-annual Report released by Chan Mama, the number of likes, bullet comments, and new fans in Douyin e-commerce live broadcast rooms in the first half of the year increased by -29.6%, -18.5%, and -25% year-on-year, respectively, which means that the audience's willingness to interact is decreasing and the length of stay is significantly shortened. The data of show and game live broadcasts, which have fallen out of favor and entered a sedimentation period, are even more unsatisfactory, and the media has repeatedly questioned whether they are declining?

If it weren't for the social news that a 72-year-old lady traveled thousands of miles to Anhui to meet the male internet celebrity "Xiucai" and became a hot topic, we might not have noticed that on the other side where young people's aesthetics and demands are the mainstream, there is a group of internet celebrities who have grasped the niche sectors, walked out of the internal competition, and are living a fulfilling life in another track.

2. How did the “scholars” become popular?

A 3:7 hairstyle, old-fashioned shirt, black belt + big leather shoes, and sometimes a suit, this image was undoubtedly the most popular look in the 1990s. The performance of the scholar in the camera is usually that he accidentally discovers the camera with flowers and plants in the countryside as the background, then smiles shyly, sticks out his tongue to touch his hair, and then sings some old songs. Young people think it is greasy, but mothers and aunts like it very much and express their love crazily in the comment area.

The Yangtze River's waves behind push the waves ahead, and the waves ahead die on the beach. With the change of the times, when the next generation gradually gains the right to speak and their own aesthetics become the mainstream aesthetics of society, it is hard to say what the previous generation will feel. They will not cater to it, but this preference will be hidden in a corner of society, waiting to be discovered and waiting to find an outlet.

"Playing" short videos and live broadcasts is no longer exclusive to young people. Who still remembers that most of the first batch of Chinese netizens are now in their 50s and 60s, and it is not too difficult for them to keep up with the trend of short video live broadcasts. Smart phones are popular among the middle-aged and elderly groups, and 94% of Chinese netizens are short video users. They may not necessarily speak out for love like the post-80s and post-90s, hit the charts at lightning speed, and surpass younger idols in one day. Their support is of the type that moistens things silently.

Being good at short video live streaming and having corresponding emotional needs, Xiucai quickly filled the market gap. Being very rational and restrained, and not showing any signs of skirting the line, Xiucai accurately captured the hearts of middle-aged and elderly aunts. In three years, Xiucai has gained 12 million fans and become the top star in the aunt circle. Similar to him is the female version of "Xiucai" Yixiaoqingcheng. In the short videos full of Internet celebrities, Yixiaoqingcheng's retro clothing and appearance can take the uncles back to the era when there was a girl named Xiaofang in the village.

Some netizens commented: "I'm so busy every day. My mom is waiting at Xiucai and my dad is waiting at Yixiaoqingcheng", "Who in my family understands? This was originally my account, but I gave it to my grandma. When I logged in today, the first person I saw was him, and he followed her."

The youth group track that has been lifted off from the competition and whose standards for content are still rising, Xiucai and Yixiaoqingcheng's earthy love words, the most ordinary videos, and the pastoral life full of memories, coupled with simple updates day after day, are enough to "create stars", and the cost is not low. In the ebb tide of generalized traffic dividends, there are still many similar very secret and segmented needs. Discovering them and cultivating them may not be a bad direction to break through the bottleneck of short videos and live broadcasts.

3. “Scholars” are sealed. It is easy to obtain but difficult to maintain.

Judging from various indicators, the middle-aged and elderly groups are definitely high-quality users - they have time and spending power. According to the "2023 China Future Consumer Report", the 330 million people born between 1965 and 1979 in China account for 23% of the population and 34% of the wealth, ranking first among all generations. They have accumulated more wealth over time, and the children born in the 1960s have grown up, started working and started families, without the pressure of supporting their families.

The three-year epidemic has made them shift their entertainment from offline to online. At the same time, their consumption habits have also shifted online. So it is not surprising that the top brother of "A Smile That Allures the City" spent as much as 20 million.

If Xiucai had not been too anxious to cash in after becoming famous, the dream he created for middle-aged and elderly aunts would probably never have come true. This brings us to an embarrassing aspect of the "silver economy": their ideas and concepts may not necessarily understand the form of consumption of watching live broadcasts and giving rewards. For example, a 62-year-old Beijing woman gave a reward of 510,000 yuan and called the police, saying that Xiucai was a fraud. The police responded that there was no crime involved, and the two parties reached a settlement spontaneously.

In addition, middle-aged and elderly people belong to a vulnerable group - they have poor information discrimination ability and weak thinking ability, which makes them easy to be deceived. Some comments pointed out that the photos of Xiucai were stolen, and unscrupulous merchants sent messages to the middle-aged and elderly groups to buy low-quality goods at high prices, claiming that it was recommended by Xiucai's younger brother. There are also accounts pretending to be "Xiucai" to set up paid fan groups, and joining the group requires 1,000 yuan. Blinded by the halo of idols, many middle-aged and elderly people have been deceived.

In a nutshell: chaos abounds. And the scholar's ability alone cannot solve the chaos surrounding him. Or perhaps, he himself is part of this chaos.

In the live broadcast room of Xiucai, all kinds of primitive dirty words are mixed in. Middle-aged and elderly people should express their emotions more explicitly, which is inconsistent with the current governance of the Internet atmosphere.

At present, there are only speculations about the specific reasons why Xiucai was banned. Short videos and live broadcasts can be said to be one of the Internet sectors that middle-aged and elderly people flock to the most. Before a suitable management method is found, the sword of Damocles will hang over the heads of every middle-aged and elderly anchor. The anchor and the team's every move must follow ethics and regulations. Especially in terms of monetization methods, it needs to be carefully considered.

By then, the "silver economy" will be able to shine in live streaming, short videos and even the Internet.

Author: Liushuang WeChat public account: Audio-visual Observation