Rebirth begins with e-commerce

After Douyin was launched, in just over a year, it not only became popular all over the country, but also triggered a new Internet revolution.

The early Internet was a portal for thousands of people, and websites such as Langxin and NetEase were the representatives.

Users will read whatever information appears on the website.

Everyone sees the same page. The website editor is like God and has the right to decide whether to feed users dry food or shit.

Most of the time, they are feeding shit.

By the middle stage, users have learned to actively initiate searches and decide what they want to see.

Of course, what appears on the search page may not be what you want to search for.

For example, if you have a headache in your toes, the search results may suggest that you need amputation from the neck down.

If you want to search for clothes that look good on flat chests, the results may lead you to buy a bunch of breast enhancement products.

So at that time, someone came up with a term called "Souqiu" and juxtaposed it with "IQ" and "Emotional Quotient".

Search business means, in the era of information explosion, human beings’ ability to acquire knowledge through tools.

Now, with the emergence of Douyin, Internet content has become an immersive information flow feed, and algorithms have an increasing impact on human beings' access to information.

What everyone sees when they open the app is different.

The algorithm will push content that the user likes based on his preferences.

For example, Yi Qingfei will see a lot of beauty-related videos, while Zhao Jianye will see a lot of two-dimensional wallpapers, and Li Shan will only push scantily clad young ladies dancing.

"The algorithm you made is not accurate at all. I don't like watching this kind of video at all. This is slander!" Li Shan said indignantly.

"Admit it, you are an LSP." Luo Xiu said disdainfully.

"I am not old."

"You admit that you are a SP?"

"That doesn't admit it either."

Luo Xiu snatched his phone, opened the like list and follow list, pointed at the rows of beautiful women's faces, and questioned him: "You say you don't like them, but your body is still very honest."

Li Shan did not blush and continued to say: "I am doing this to preserve my footprints and continue to vigorously criticize this kind of uncivilized behavior in the future."

"You are obviously afraid that the system will mistakenly think that you don't like this kind of content and will not push it to you in the future."

…

The rise of Douyin is inseparable from this kind of data-feeding algorithm.

The system is like a beautiful woman who is completely obedient to you. It knows what you like and can always push what you want to you.

However, such a push algorithm quickly encountered criticism from the outside world.

In particular, some traditional Internet bosses hate this deeply.

Because everyone has a certain amount of time that can be used for entertainment in addition to study, work and sleep time.

After Douyin takes up most of the time, less time is given to them.

A technological revolution often destroys tradition first.

They said mercilessly in various public occasions: "When algorithms become the key for online media platforms to open the 'any door' of the information world, do users see a bigger world or a smaller world?"

"When Duke Huan of Qi is rational, he likes Guan Zhong, but most of the time, Duke Huan of Qi loves the minister who always pleases him, because the minister knows what the lord likes to hear, and can always say what the lord likes to hear. But loyal words are often offensive and can make people unhappy.

The lord grew disgusted with him in his heart."

"I think the algorithm should be a loyal minister rather than a sycophant. It should take the initiative to understand the user's high-level goals instead of following the user's instinctive preferences."

This passage quickly aroused heated discussion on the Internet.

Netizens joined the discussion one after another and detailed the shortcomings of the feeding algorithm.

"Our current feeding algorithm will make a person's access to information narrower and narrower. If he likes to watch young ladies dancing, the platform will constantly push such content, which is not conducive to him receiving new knowledge."

"The daughter-in-law will see on the Internet that all the mothers-in-law in the world are vicious, and the mother-in-law will see on the Internet that all the daughters-in-law in the world are mean."

"Girls see on the Internet that there is not a single good man in the world, and boys see on the Internet that all girls are boxing."

"The Internet should be more open, rather than narrowing the information we receive."

"Each of us can only see the content we like to see. Everyone is trapped in an information cocoon and cannot access information outside the cocoon."

"We cannot be pigs raised in captivity, but beasts that actively hunt for food."

…

There are also some people who disagree with this opinion. They think that their work and study are very tiring, and their leisure time is just for relaxing and watching something they like.

"I just watch short videos to kill time after get off work, why do you still ask me to 'progress'?"

"Can't I just watch something I like? Isn't it okay if I don't want to work hard?"

"If I want to study and work hard, I will go to school instead of through short videos."

…

The two viewpoints are at loggerheads. Both sides have their own reasons, but neither can convince the other.

At this time, many people were also looking forward to what Luo Xiu would say to defend himself.

As a result, the person involved didn't say anything and seemed to let the ridicule go unnoticed.

But within the company, he still called the technical staff over and talked about his views.

"Our current algorithm based on user preferences has brought us great success and allowed us to successfully cut a piece of cake on the Internet, but we must not be satisfied with our current achievements. Such algorithms have limitations. We

There should be higher pursuits.”

Zhao Jianye asked puzzledly: "What are our limitations?"

"The limitation is that even if users are interested in something they like, they will get tired of it. If they look at long legs every day, they will get tired of it if they watch it too much."

Luo Xiu said seriously: "The reason why we humans are human and stand out among all things is because we are curious about unknown things and because we have unknown desires.

We want to know more about unknown things, we are curious about the world, and we want to experience a different life. However, our system cannot currently do this.

Our future direction should be to not only make users like it, but also help users broaden their boundaries and tap into users' in-depth goals and needs, rather than feeding pigs."

That is, "entertaining and teaching through fun".

Luo Xiu does not want to be a saint, he wants to promote the development of human civilization.

Rather, human beings have an innate desire for knowledge and want to explore more unknown things.

All Luo Xiu has to do is satisfy the deepest desires of human beings.

In Li Shan's words: Bikini exposes 95% of a woman's area, while men are only interested in the hidden 5%.

Of course, higher-level algorithms cannot be produced in a day or two, and may take several years or even longer.

But as an enterprise, it must have a long-term goal and cannot be satisfied with immediate achievements.