FIREFLY LIVE: Developing social networking platform is the advantage of Asian mindset
Clubhouse has been prevalent for a while lately, and its recent popularity bears certain relation to the long-term increasing demand of new interaction method that is different from original instant message method with acquaintances. As it does not only meet the needs of making friends online and expand the circle, but also complete the upgrade of the communication form, Clubhouse has led Internet companies all over the world to further exploring virtual community operation methods. Similarly, several methods have been practiced by FIREFLY LIVE for years as well.
Indeed, the social purposes of the new generation of users have grew significantly, including entertainment, discussing topics of interest, expanding social circles, and understanding strangers, compared to previous Internet users. All of them indicate the arrival of a wave of upgrading the global virtual community operation methods.
According to this, the social methods of reflecting real world entirely by text, image. video and audio comprehensively are in an important stage of value discovery. And the value of them deserves to be put great emphasis on.
Yet the more considerable part is the innovation of virtual community operation methods rather than the technological innovation of social methods, like audio or video. Let us take a look at the differentiated attributes inherent in making friends with strangers.
I. From innovation in the way of making friends with strangers to innovation in virtual community operations
In fact, making friends with strangers, entertainment and interaction in virtual community have always been closely correlated and connected in the Internet industry. Medium-intensity and high-intensity games, as well as entertainment platforms such as live broadcasting app, actually provide entertainment for virtual community as a whole instead of individuals separately. Meanwhile, virtual community and its recreation are actually an online form of physical pub, and private club room.
Establishing social networking tool products based on acquaintance circles and innovating technologically in social methods have always been the advantages of American Internet enterprises. At least, the breakthroughs of completing the process from 0 to 1 are basically made by these companies.
“However, the management of virtual community groups, the integration of peer-to-peer strangers into a group and then creating the corresponding business value have been the advantages of the East all along, especially the Asian companies.” Said Wang Sichong, the founder of FIREFLY LIVE which focuses on live-streaming entertainment for virtual communities and clubs.
FIREFLY LIVE is a typical live-streaming social networking platform whose technology development team comes from Shenzhen, the China’s Silicon Valley and a city of technological innovation. And it has accumulated millions of users in Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Indonesia while owning offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.
II. The superiority of Internet platforms intensely operated by Asian enterprises
Asian Internet enterprises have been undertaking the role of innovation with respect to the construction and operation of virtual community, no matter which Internet fields, such as live-streaming platforms prevailing in various countries in the past few years, audio-video platforms, text platforms with different content forms, medium-intensity and high-intensity games.
One thing that the operational entertainment and dating community is more friendly to latecomer innovative companies than the social network based on acquaintance circles is that this industry seemingly cannot form a long-term monopoly, and the emergence of giants is also phased and transient. This is mainly because exclusivity is the inherent attribute of the relationship chain of acquaintance circles, which is opposite for virtual community.
Even if there are leaders, the road to innovation in the field of virtual community always exists, just as various cities formed naturally in countries or club and entertainment venues formed continuously in cities. Unlike exclusive relationship chain of acquaintance circles in social platforms, there are no obstacles for startups to grow in the area of virtual community. Also, compared with the game industry, it is more independence of software content innovation iterations.
In accordance with a research report by China Founder Securities additionally, the generation born after 1990 is more eager for a sense of belonging to their peers gaining by their social behaviors, and comparatively the proportion of active social interaction with acquaintances is gradually decreasing.
III. Emerging markets are more likely to have potential opportunities
Take Southeast Asia, the area FIREFLY LIVE currently focuses on, as an example. Southeast Asia, with more than 600 million people, has a large population, low Internet penetration rate but rapid growth.
It is reported by eMarketer’s data that the Internet penetration rate in Indonesia has increased to 36.5%; the Internet penetration rate in the Philippines has exceeded half of the total population with an increase of 10.1% year-on-year, and the average duration of social media visits per day is 3.5 hours.
The demographic dividend in Southeast Asia has not yet appeared very well, especially for the live broadcast industry. Hence, it is a potential market worth exploring and developing. With the popularization of smart phones and the penetration of online payment, the locals become gradually more open and acceptant to Internet entertainment. Many live-streaming and short video business have begun to penetrate the Southeast Asian Internet market while the competition is gradually intensifying as well, which become the counterpart of traditional American social network platforms.
The Internet ecology of this world is led by two types of dominators, social networking giants and medium-sized and small Internet enterprises good at intense virtual community operation.
Although American giants and Asian enterprises from China, Japan, Korea have not catered to the pleasure and culture of locals in depth yet, it can be opportunities as well.
IV. Sustainability of the business model of entertainment social platforms
There are mainly three business modes of virtual community operation based on socializing with strangers, including ticket system, reward system and value-added service system. Ticket system means to block non-paying users from products in high demands, while reward system is a sharing economy model which tap into paying users’ money and non-paying users’ attention.
Although both of them are unfriendly for non-paying users, the business model of reward system may be more in line with future development trends and it has already had a certain period of history.
“The implementation of a fee system in the virtual community will always bring conflicts, thus hindering the joining of a part of users. However, it is also a filter to sustain a good virtual community ecology.” said Wang Sichong. Even though all kinds of live-streaming platforms create various intriguing features, users will eventually return to reality and meet to further relationship. The live broadcast is just the preceding stage. After all, finding a cafe or pub to chat is more real than chatting in a live broadcast room.
The live broadcast industry is criticized for the business model. Although its reward system as the business model criticized by the market is simple and direct, this fee system is actually to escape the fate of becoming an instant message platform for acquaintance circles.
In the era of Internet user traffic, making friends and fortune are the two keywords for user traffic. Though social software is still profitable, it is difficult to survive and struggling to excel in the fierce competition of social industry which is consist of stable giants and continuously emerging latecomers.
What we should realize is that the need of constructing virtual community for strangers will exist for a long time and new Internet enterprises will continuously emerge, while it is not easily achievable to be a new giant since the amount of global Internet users stops growing. During the process of it, Orientals have an advantageous background in the innovation and exploration as their culture and history attach great importance to groups and collective ideas instead of individual spirits.
Let us wish good luck to these innovators who operate virtual community.