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Chapter 117 0114 [This is actually a social experiment on the subculture of post-80s youth]

As Tsinghua University began selecting its campus beauties, neighboring universities such as Renmin University, China University of Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, and Beijing Institute of Technology gradually joined in the fun.

The main reason is that this thing is new!
In an era when Sister Furong's photos can go viral, the internet is really lacking in entertainment content.

The number of registered users on the school's intranet has surged.

To cope with the pressure from too many users, the company added a file storage server, a cache server, and a gigabit switch.

Some were new machines, while others were secondhand, costing approximately 7000 yuan.

In addition, the server we previously borrowed from Peking University was configured with hardware aimed at 10+ users.

In addition, due to the strong growth of the campus network, with the help of Wang Kai, the Peking University server was changed from being borrowed to being rented. The lease term is three years, and the rent is extremely low.

"How many registered users are there?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Guo Feng said, "There are more than 26000 users, mainly from more than ten universities in Beijing. Moreover, it is spreading to more universities in Beijing, and there are already more than 100 users from the Central Academy of Drama."

Chen Guiliang was slightly surprised: "The increase is very fast!"

This growth rate is much faster than that of Renren.com in another timeline!

The main reason is the earlier timing; it's now the end of 2004. There are no similar competitors, and even competition from other communities is not significant.

QQ Space is not even online yet.

"Should we open registration?" Ao Yanchen asked.

Chen Guiliang shook his head: "Don't rush, I'm afraid the server won't be able to handle it."

Guo Feng also said, "We'll test for a while longer. Can we say we're entering the public beta early? Once the public beta ends, we can open registration."

Chen Guiliang carried a small stool and sat down at the entrance of the dilapidated office.

In two weeks, I'll be able to move into the new office.

He looked at the workers carrying away construction waste in the distance and felt quite emotional about the current internet startup environment.

He held a high-profile campus beauty pageant, and surprisingly, few netizens criticized him for objectifying women.

"Hello, Mr. Chen!"

Lai Dandan, a reporter from the school newspaper, waved to him from a distance, accompanied by a male reporter.

Chen Guiliang stood up to greet them; these were the two he had been waiting for.

Lai Dandan introduced, "This is Lei Yang, a reporter from China Youth Daily. He was the one who wrote the report on the BBS craze in universities last year. Lei Yang, this is Chen Guiliang, the founder of Xiaonei.com."

"Hello, Mr. Lei, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hello, Mr. Chen."

Originally, university BBS forums were only followed by university students, but thanks to reporter Lei's coverage, their influence expanded from the internet into the real world. This also led to a large influx of people from outside the university into these BBS forums, creating a mixed bag of individuals.

Lei himself was highly regarded by the editor-in-chief because of this report, and from then on he paid more attention to Internet-related information.

He thought that having college students vote for their campus beauty was a great news topic.

Lei Yang had already learned about Chen Guiliang and the basic situation of Renren.com from Lai Dandan. He then asked about the latest developments and began the interview.

"Why did you think of holding a school beauty pageant?"

"A few days ago I saw a news report that Ms. Li Ying, an alumna of Peking University, was selected as one of the most fashionable and charming women in Asia in 2004, and the media called her the 'campus belle' of Peking University. I felt that the title of 'campus belle' is time-sensitive, and it would be more appropriate for a female student currently enrolled to take the role..."

"Did you ever think it would cause a sensation?"

"I had expected it. But the students' enthusiasm for voting was still somewhat beyond my expectations."

"The school's intranet uses a real-name system. What are your thoughts on real-name registration on the internet?"

Chen Guiliang suddenly realized that this reporter Lei's intentions were unclear!

Chen Guiliang carefully crafted his words: "I think that both real-name and anonymous use have their advantages. But some netizens' comments are indeed too outrageous, and the website should strengthen its management."

"Did you know that 'Yitahutu' was shut down?" Lei Yang asked.

Chen Guiliang looked puzzled and asked, "What does 'utter chaos' mean?"

The two sat on stools, staring at each other.

One was conducting a leading interview.

One of them was pretending to be stupid.

Before September of this year, which was the largest BBS in China?
It's not Tsinghua University, nor Peking University's Weiming Campus, but rather—"a complete mess!"
It was originally created by Peking University students and quickly spread to university students across the country.

They dare to talk about any topic.

There's even a dedicated section for gay men, attracting a huge influx of gay men; it's practically becoming the national gay dating center.

Some of the comments, in particular, are extremely sensitive!
In September of this year, "Yitahutu" was forcibly shut down.

The implementation of real-name registration for university BBS next year is a follow-up to this incident, with universities across the country being ordered to strengthen network management.

Tsinghua University and Nanjing University reacted most strongly to this.

The entire administration team and 151 moderators of Tsinghua University BBS resigned collectively, and the administration team of Nanjing University's Xiaobaihe BBS directly announced its dissolution.

Nanjing University students even created a Wild Lily BBS, with its servers located in the United States...

Lei Yang rephrased the question: "Is the fact that Renren.com uses a real-name system affected by the shutdown of 'Yitahutu'?"

Chen Guiliang still had that bewildered expression: "What exactly is 'utter chaos'?"

Lei Yang didn't mean to frame Chen Guiliang; rather, there was a heated debate both online and offline about whether or not to implement real-name registration on the internet.

He wanted to write two reports. One report was about college students voting for the most beautiful girl on campus.

Another article discussing the real-name registration system on the internet requires interviewing not only Chen Guiliang, but also other website owners.

Seeing that Chen Guiliang continued to play dumb, Lei Yang could only say, "People often spread rumors online, causing very bad public opinion. Some people think that people shouldn't use their real names online. Some people think that only university BBS should require real names. Others believe that all forums, chat rooms, and social software should require real names."

Chen Guiliang said, "I think some forums really need to be more regulated. Those rumors are simply insulting to people's intelligence, yet many netizens still believe them."

"You mean Tianya Forum?" Lei Yang asked.

“No, I meant certain forums,” Chen Guiliang said.

Tianya Forum is the real breeding ground for online rumors. Looking back ten years and forward twenty years, no other online community can surpass Tianya in spreading rumors.

Some of the rumor posts on Tianya are beyond description, bordering on bloody and violent; they can be directly categorized as "anti-humanitarian."

Faced with Lei Yang's repeated questions, Chen Guiliang could only say: "The real-name registration system for the internet is still debatable, but strengthening the supervision of online speech is necessary. A website accountability system should be introduced; those websites and administrators responsible for spreading rumors that have a negative impact must be held accountable. The internet is not a lawless zone!"

Is the internet a lawless zone?
Lei, the reporter, was immediately struck by the idea; he could use that sentence as a headline.

Chen Guiliang continued, "But the problem is how to hold people accountable? I believe we should legislate. Only with clear laws can we ensure that there is a legal basis for action. What's the point of all our discussions if there are no laws?"

Reporter Lei was satisfied with this answer and then proceeded to interview the school beauty pageant.

Why do you think the school beauty pageant caused such a sensation?

"It wasn't exactly a sensation, but many students did participate. This reflects the strong need for self-expression among the post-80s generation, and is an experiment in the migration of youth subculture from offline to online."

"Youth subculture?"

"Yes. When young people are in school, they can't avoid these kinds of topics, but it's not convenient to discuss them openly. I brought this topic online, so students can be more open about it. They already have this need, I just provided a platform."

It's just a school beauty pageant, why bring up youth subculture and social migration experiments?

After this interview, reporter Lei felt that Chen Guiliang was quite capable, and that he could ask him again if there was anything else.

Ten minutes later, he shook hands and said goodbye, then went to Peking University to interview teachers and students.

"Hello, student, I am Lei Yang, a reporter from China Youth Daily."

"Hello."

What are your thoughts on the real-name registration system for the internet?

"I don't want to watch it. Real-name registration infringes on people's privacy, and I oppose real-name registration on the internet!"

"But Renren.com requires real-name registration."

"That's different. Renren.com is like moving real-world social relationships online, which is fundamentally different from other forums."

"What are your thoughts on Peking University BBS implementing a real-name registration system?"

"Then why should I even bother with BBS? I might as well just post in the group chat on the school's intranet."

Next year, all university BBS forums nationwide will require real-name registration, and non-students will be prohibited from registering.

By then, the user activity level of Renren.com is expected to increase significantly!

Are you a campus network user?

"I'm not one of them, but I've heard of it. This website requires an invitation code to register, and I'm too lazy to ask anyone for one."

Do you know about the school beauty pageant?

"I know."

What are your thoughts on this?

"It's quite interesting. I went to observe as a tourist. In the past, there was no credibility to the titles of 'school beauty' or 'department beauty.' This time is different; it was chosen by student vote. The top three in our department are now very famous and prestigious. This morning, a professor even joked and asked if any girls in our class were the 'department beauty.'"

"So, you support it."

Why would I object?

Reporter Lei then interviewed the teacher and eventually found Liu Xuan.

"Congratulations on being selected as the most beautiful girl at Peking University."

Liu Xuan was both amused and exasperated: "The voting isn't over yet."

"But there's no suspense anymore. Has this matter caused you any trouble? For example, being surrounded by onlookers?"

"There's nothing bothering me. Since entering Peking University, no one has been watching me. The only exceptions are people who glance at me a few times or point and comment from a distance."

Have any boys written you love letters?

"We rarely communicated. Especially in my freshman year, I hardly spoke to my classmates. Mainly because we lacked common topics, so we couldn't have any conversations. It's better now; I've gotten to know all my classmates well."

"What would you like to say about being elected as the most beautiful girl at Peking University?"

"Um... thank you for your kindness, classmates."

After conducting interviews at Peking University, reporter Lei then went to Tsinghua University and Renmin University.

Two days later, an article was published in China Youth Daily: "Online Campus Beauty Contest Sweeps Beijing Universities - A Migration Experiment of Youth Subculture from Offline to Online".

As for the interview content related to the online real-name registration system, reporter Lei has not yet written an article; he needs to interview more people.

Once the news about the campus beauty was published, it was widely reprinted by media outlets across the country.

Especially since it involved a celebrity like Liu Xuan, even entertainment tabloids got involved, and the headline was very straightforward: "Olympic champion elected as Peking University's campus beauty, even doctoral students enthusiastically voted."

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(Thanks to Zebra Still Asleep and Greg_Laswell for their generous donations.)
(Last day for double monthly passes, brothers who still have them, don't waste them!)
(End of this chapter)