🎧 Why This Website Is Impossible To Join
Why BiliBili makes it so hard to become a member, the ramifications of the loneliness epidemic, and the next big trend in social media.
This week I’m introducing a new format to the newsletter: Video. Future newsletters marked with 🎧 will have the option to watch a short (~10 minute) video version of the newsletter.
However, If you prefer reading, keep scrolling.
What is BiliBili?
Think YouTube, Twitch, Patreon, Steam and so much more all in one package. This is what BiliBili is for China’s generation Z.
Founded in 2010, BiliBili has quickly become one of China’s main entertainment portals for Gen Z with a wide range of content: anime, games, user generated videos, comics and so much more.
The company is growing fast. Now a $40 billion company with revenues increasing roughly 70% a year, and over 200m monthly active users averaging 75 minutes of engagement per day on the app. This engagement is insane and higher than both Instagram and TikTok.
A Closed Community
BiliBili is open for anyone to use, but becoming a community member is a hard process.
To sign up for BiliBili you need to pass an entrance exam of 100 multi-choice questions getting at least 60 answers correct within an hour. While this is a tough feat, the requirement has actually been watered down from the previous 80 correct answers in an hour. Questions involve answering anything from specific platform rules to niche questions based on topics (anime, games, tv series) of your choosing.
How many western platforms do this? I can’t think of any mainstream ones. They all try to minimise friction as much as possible and make it as easy as possible to join. Which feels like a no-brainer if you are trying to grow your platform as big and fast as possible.
Friction and the Aha-moment
The more you ask of a user, especially a new user, whether it’s signing up, installing something or looking at tutorials before they reach the “aha moment” the more likely it is that they will leave the platform.
So, what is the aha moment? It’s the moment when users understand the benefit of using a product or platform. The longer it takes them to reach the aha moment, the higher the likelihood that they will stop using the product.
Basically all companies want to reduce friction (design choices or bugs which makes tasks either unintuitive or require too much effort to complete) in their apps and it’s why a lot of companies now allow users to start using their app before sign up - the sign up process introduces friction and might cause potential users to leave.
Have you ever thought about why you can use TikTok without signing up? It’s because they want you to reach the aha moment as quickly as possible - make you understand why you want to use this app and want to sign up.
If companies can get users to reach the aha moment before signing up, entering credit card details, etc. they’ll have a much higher chance of converting someone into a long-term user.
Look at Airbnb. They demand a bunch of information from users when they sign up because a lot is needed to be able to rent someone's apartment. But if you had to enter all this before you’ve even tested their product you would most likely leave their website and go somewhere else.
So instead of forcing potential users to go through the arduous process of signing up, they let users explore their platform and what they have to offer first. This allows users to reach the aha moment and actually want to use the platform before they are required to sign up. If they find a flat they want to rent, it makes the sign up process so much easier go through with.
Engaged Communities
BiliBili’s entry exam actually serves a function: It’s a filter so only hyper dedicated users show up. These users will most likely be more engaged in creating an online community and are more likely to stick around on the platform for a longer time. Roughly 80% of members stay active on BiliBili 12 months after signing up, which is a lot higher than most platforms.
Having an engaged community is also very important because one of the biggest draws of BiliBili is their Bullet Commentary.
Bullet Commentary allows users to comment on top of videos so it shows up during certain time stamps, think Twitch Chat. This takes an otherwise single player experience and turns it into a social one since you are able to see real time reactions and what others are thinking at any point in a video. It’s like watching a show with friends.
Bullet commentary isn’t unique for BiliBili, it’s now a prevalent feature among Chinese online media, but because of their very special userbase, it’s probably one of the best versions of it.
Since Bullet Commentary and User Generated Content is so important to the platform, only allowing dedicated and interested users access increases the quality of content on the platform and makes sure the culture and community isn’t watered down over time.
This results in a highly engaged community which has a higher possibility of being monetised. Unlike many other streaming services, BiliBili is not an ad based platform, so they need to find other ways to drive revenue.
If you look at most apps or platforms that don’t use ads to monetize, power users make up a large majority of the revenues. In the game Candy Crush only 4% of the userbase spends money in-game. And only 10% of those users, so 0.4% of the userbase, make up 50% of revenues. This is why it’s so important for them to have a hyper engaged community. BiliBili hasn’t totally solved their monetisation yet, but one of their fastest growing categories is “value added services” - a subscription for premium content on BiliBili.
Over time BiliBili has become the hub for interest-based communities. Even if it started with anime and gaming it has transcended into music, science, film and a bunch of other interests.
Chinese vs Western apps
There is a very big difference between Chinese and Western apps and companies.
Western companies want to serve a function: Uber gets you a ride, zoom lets you do video calls, twitter lets you write 280 characters.
But Chinese companies focus on owning the user - they want to supply you with several different functions, they want their app to be the first and only app you open up on your phone and stay there all day. They want to have 100% of your attention by catering to all of your needs.
And that’s what BiliBili is trying to do for their super niche audience. They look at what their users are currently into, like Anime and Gaming, and expand into other things those users might also like: Manga, e-sports, live streaming etc.
They’re building a community for niche interests that users want to belong to and most likely we’ll see similar business models pop up in the west. Why?
The Loneliness Epidemic
We are currently facing a Loneliness Epidemic. A survey from 2018 found that nearly half of Americans sometimes or always feel alone or left out, and over half feel that no one knows them well.
And this was before the Corona pandemic. It’s safe to say that even more people feel isolated now. Many social places that aren’t home or work like bars, restaurants, and gyms are crucial for qualitative social interaction but have been closed the last year.
A lot of people think the loneliness epidemic is due to social media, and yes it might have accelerated it, but this isn’t a new trend. Over the last century humans have gone from communal to individualistic, emphasising self-reliance over solidarity.
Single person households increased from 13% to 28% between 1970 and 2012, and the share of households consisting of married couples was cut in half. A century ago, 75% of Americans older than 65 lived with relatives, by 1990 only 18% did.
This has been in the making for a pretty long time.
However, this most likely works as a pendulum. Where we in the last 50 years have shifted to individuality, the next 50 we will shift toward community again and digital communities will be driving this.
We can already see this in trends on social media platforms. Look at the popularity of Twitch’s Just Chatting, mukbangs, onlyfans, and hyper relatable vlogs and personalities. It’s all about community.
If the 2010’s were about status or clout online: curated feeds, selfies, showing off lavish lifestyles and vacations. The 2020s are about “belonging” to a community because of how isolated we have become.
The 4 categories of Social Media
You can break down social media and communication platforms into 4 categories:
Close friends and family (e.g. WhatsApp)
Friends (e.g. Facebook)
Acquaintances (e.g. Instagram)
Strangers (e.g. TikTok)
Category 2 and 3 are about status, showing off what you have and who you are while category 1 and 4 are about community.
In the coming years, more people will move toward small group messaging for intimacy, preferring WhatsApp and Messenger over Facebook and Instagram. And with the help of AI, people will be able to discover connections with strangers and create communities that they didn’t even know they craved.
Category 1 is about quality conversations and Category 4 is about casual small talk. Both are central components for a healthy social ecosystem. We will see people desire increased relationships with both real-world friends and digital friends: Creators on BiliBili, Twitch, and YouTube.
Young people are starving for community and intimacy when society has grown more isolated and lonely and the internet is where they will be able to find it.
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