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Chapter 2010198 [Promoting the Weibo Concept] (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Chang'an Little Talent)

Chen Guiliang adjusted the microphone height: "Hello everyone, my name is Chen Guiliang, founder of ByteDance."

"ByteDance currently has three websites: Xiaonei.com, Kaixin.com, and Kaixin Marketplace... Mr. Jin from Cyworld China has already explained their specific functions..."

“I am very pleased that Cyworld, a Korean website, has developed to the point where users can send updates to each other via their mobile phones… Perhaps great minds think alike, because Cyworld’s ‘Cyworld Message’ is actually the ‘microblog’ of Kaixin.com. Moreover, the two were launched around the same time, so there is no question of one imitating the other.”

Even if Chen Guiliang dislikes Koreans, and even if Cyworld is a competitor, they should still be amicable at times like this. Let's work together to make the pie bigger!

Because "microblog," or more specifically "Saiwoxin," is a completely new phenomenon. Each additional pioneer can accelerate the expansion of the market.

It wouldn't hurt to work together to make the pie bigger, and then have a final showdown.

Moreover, Kaixin.com currently holds an absolute advantage.

Chen Guiliang continued, "I just heard Mr. Jin say that Cyworld Korea has already turned a profit, earning $30 a day. Even 'Mobile Cyworld' and 'Cyworld Trust' have a considerable number of users. This gives me even more confidence..."

These words were meant for investors and media reporters.

Similar products in South Korea are already profitable, and the scale in China is much larger. Kaixin.com and Weibo will be able to make money sooner or later.

Chen Guiliang said, "As of yesterday afternoon, the number of users who have activated the mobile Weibo function has increased to more than 2900. In the past two weeks, it has been growing at an average rate of 120 people per day. With more and more celebrities joining, this rate will accelerate. I believe that by next summer, Weibo will have 5 paying users!"

"It's not just celebrities. Ordinary paying users have also started posting on Weibo, recording and sharing their lives anytime, anywhere..."

"In addition to SMS and MMS monthly subscription services, we will also launch a gift-giving function..."

"Currently, SNS websites don't lack users; what they lack are ways to monetize and generate revenue. I believe Weibo is a great example of this. I also hope that websites like Sina Blog and BlogChina can launch Weibo functionality. Let's all work together to make this market bigger..."

"Let's make this a big deal" is just Chen Guiliang hyping up the Weibo concept.

If this concept gains popularity and more people become aware of it, the number of paying users on Kaixin.com and Weibo will increase rapidly.

In fact, the representatives of small and medium-sized companies who came to speak today all had similar ideas to Chen Guiliang. They were either promoting their own websites or hyping up some business concept.

offstage.

Chen Tianqiao asked Ding Sanshi, "What exactly are this 'competition letter' and 'Weibo'? I don't understand."

"It might be a brand new wireless value-added service." Ding Sanshi didn't quite understand either, because neither of them had ever used an SNS website.

The internet changes every year, and compared to today's young people, they are already somewhat "outdated".

Sina CEO Wang Yan seemed thoughtful, planning to go back and have his team investigate whether a mobile version of Sina Blog could be launched. Let's call it Sina Weibo!
Sina Blog is burning through cash like crazy, but hasn't made a single penny in profit.

Kim Hee-yong of Cyworld was somewhat frustrated.

After arriving in China, Kim Hee-yong has been diligently studying his main competitor, Kaixin001.

He was surprised to find that Renren.com and Cyworld.com had exactly the same functions. The only difference was that Renren.com only served the student population.

While Kaixin.com may seem similar, it actually took a different path: attracting followers from strangers!

This stranger following feature is very helpful in attracting celebrities from all walks of life, and it can also expand the social circles of ordinary people.

Take "Saiwoxin" for example; only a user's friends can see it. But "Weibo" allows users to share with all their key followers!

When Kim Hee-yong first came to China, he was also somewhat arrogant, thinking that he was a max-level character entering a newbie village.

But he quickly put aside his arrogance and wrote a 10,000-word report to headquarters, hoping that Cyworld (China) could also adopt this model.

The South Korean headquarters simply wouldn't approve it.

They even gave him a severe dressing-down, telling him to obediently replicate the South Korean model in China.

Fang Xindong, CEO of BlogChina, watched Chen Guiliang speak eloquently with a blank expression.

He couldn't stop himself, launching projects like a search engine and email one after another, leaving him with neither the money nor the energy to work on Weibo in a short period of time.

He's feeling lost right now; he can't seem to get anything going with any of his new projects!
But on the surface, it still looks glamorous, with BlogChina's market share firmly holding over 60% (it was 70% two months ago). It is absolutely number one in the industry.

The other dozens of small and medium-sized blog websites have now been killed off by Sina Blog.

The problem is, that damned Sohu has also jumped in, launching Sohu Blog a few days ago. Zhang Chaoyang even invited a large number of business celebrities to flock to Sohu to write blogs.

The next step will inevitably be a tripartite balance of power.

"Clap clap clap!"

A round of applause rang out, and Chen Guiliang stepped down from the stage.

The vice president of China Yellow Pages walked onto the stage with a smile and began a long, rambling speech. Like an industry report, it was so monotonous it made everyone drowsy.

This is the second longest speech so far.

The longest speech was given by the CEO of Netku Yellow Pages, who even exceeded the speaking time limit and continued speaking.

……

Finally, when it came time for the media interviews, a bunch of top figures just disappeared.

Only Zhang Chaoyang stayed on his own initiative, so a large number of media outlets went to interview him.

"You can attend tomorrow's group forum; I won't be coming," Chen Guiliang said to Ao Yanzhen.

Ao Yanchen pointed at the group of bigwigs who were leaving and joked with a smile, "I understand. The real big shots only need to show up on the first day."

Chen Guiliang was already used to Senior Sister Ao's sharp tongue. "Hello, Mr. Chen, I'm Li Jun, a reporter from Internet Weekly." A middle-aged reporter walked over.

"Hello."

"First of all, congratulations Mr. Chen, ByteDance has been selected as one of the 'Top 100 Internet Innovators of 2005'."

"Thank you."

As the year draws to a close, all sorts of lists and rankings are being released.

This "2005 Internet Innovation TOP100" list was compiled by Internet Weekly.

Chen Guiliang didn't need to go to accept the award; it was announced directly in the magazine.

Li Jun said, "This time, we are focusing on internet innovation. Kaixin.com's mobile microblogging function is a clear example of innovation. How did Mr. Chen come up with the idea of ​​a microblogging product?"

Chen Guiliang was naturally pleased that some media outlets had taken the initiative to help promote his Weibo account: "Blogs allow ordinary netizens to share their articles and lives. But blogs ultimately require a computer, and computers cannot be carried around all the time."

“A laptop will do,” Li Jun said with a smile.

Chen Guiliang said, "For example, if I'm walking down the street and I see Fan Bingbing and Xu Jinglei fighting, I can't exactly take out my laptop to write a blog post. In that case, I can use Weibo on my phone, take out my phone to take a picture of them pulling each other's hair, and then write a few words to describe it. A minute later, all my followers may see it."

Ao Yanchen sat next to her, covering her mouth and chuckling.

This example is like Fan Bingbing and Xu Jinglei pulling each other's hair on the roadside!

Li Jun was amused: "I'm going to publish it in its entirety."

"I'm just giving an example; you could change it to Li Yunlong versus Lü Bu," Chen Guiliang said.

Li Jun said, "President Chen is very humorous. Do you think this model can last?"

"With the advancement of mobile phones and communication technology, microblogs will definitely become more and more popular."

"Relying solely on celebrities to drive sales?"

"Of course not. Celebrities only played a role in the initial stages; ordinary users are now starting to interact on Weibo as well."

After exchanging a few more words, Li Jun left.

When a reporter from China Computer News came to interview him, he originally asked about the prospects of Web 2.0, but Chen Guiliang managed to steer the conversation toward Weibo.

Meanwhile, the reporter named Li Jun, after leaving Chen Guiliang's side, immediately went to find Jin Xiyong, the general manager of Saiwo.com.

"Hello, Mr. Jin."

"Hello."

Li Jun said, "Currently, Saiwo.com's biggest competitor in China is Kaixin.com. Saiwo.com has just surpassed 100 million users, while Kaixin.com already has over 300 million users. Do you think Saiwo.com can overtake it?"

“Of course,” Kim Hee-young said. “We launched Cyworld in South Korea in 2001. All other similar websites around the world, including those in the United States and China, are imitating us. We have 1300 million users in South Korea, and our revenue from wireless value-added services ranks first in South Korea.”

"But this is China."

"China is the same; they all imitated Cyworld. The functions of Renren are exactly the same as Cyworld. If it wasn't imitation, how could it be such a coincidence?"

"But Kaixin001 is different. Cyworld allows users to add each other as friends, while Kaixin001 allows strangers to follow each other."

Kim Hee-young also thought the stranger-following model had potential, but the Korean headquarters wouldn't allow it. He could only lie and say, "The stranger-following model is destined to fail; it can't cultivate user loyalty and activity. So, although Kaixin001 is number one in China, Cyworld China will catch up very quickly!"

Li Jun asked a few more questions and then went to Chen Guiliang again.

Chen Guiliang was a little puzzled: Why is this guy here again?

Li Jun said, "Mr. Chen, I just interviewed Mr. Jin from Saiwo.com. He said that the stranger-following model is doomed to fail. Do you agree with this view?"

Chen Guiliang did not answer immediately, but smiled and looked at Li Jun.

Finally, Chen Guiliang said, "I disagree."

"Where do you think he went wrong?" Li Jun asked.

Chen Guiliang said, "There is a phenomenon called 'Dunbar's Law.' It states that the stable social network that a person can have is 148 people, which rounds up to 150. Whether in the countryside or the city, whether in school or in the company, it is impossible to exceed this number. No matter how capable a person is, even if he knows thousands of people in his lifetime, he cannot maintain a social network of more than 150 people at the same time."

"While traditional friend-adding features allow you to add more and more people, the number of people you can maintain a social network with simultaneously is unlikely to exceed 150. However, the stranger-following feature can break through Dunbar's Law!"

"Next, Renren.com will also allow strangers to follow each other. We will define the friends that Renren.com users have added before as 'close friends' to distinguish them from the strangers they follow."

Li Jun asked, "So, you think that Cyworld's friend system will inevitably be phased out?"

Chen Guiliang said, "It's not elimination, it's being surpassed!"

Li Jun was very satisfied; a provocative article was ready to be published.

Because South Korean online games dominate the Chinese market, and the Korean wave has swept across China, many readers now have a strong aversion to South Korea.

His article is definitely worth reading.

Chen Guiliang guessed what Li Jun was planning to do, but he was happy to see it happen.

The list of the top 100 websites has been released, and a ranking of the online gaming industry is also in the works.

"Three Kingdoms Kill" and "The Emperor's Reign" will definitely make the list!

(End of this chapter)