28: Chapter 28: Micro-View Big Data Launched

Inspur Technology.

Qin Mo handed a list to Zhao Lei.

On it were the fifty accounts on Douyin with the fastest follower growth over the past three months, categorized by content type.

At the top of the list wasn't Jiang Youyou, but a middle-aged man who taught cooking; his followers had already surpassed one million.

"Notify the Operations Team to fully open up live streaming permissions."

"If the data for the first batch of internal testers isn't ideal, expand the sample size."

"If a hundred people streaming isn't enough, then a thousand. If a thousand isn't enough, then ten thousand."

Zhao Lei took the list and glanced at the names on it.

"Isn't ten thousand people too many? This is just the beginning—"

"Live streaming isn't something you can build just by poaching a few big streamers."

Qin Mo interrupted him.

"You think that's a lot?"

"What I want eventually is for everyone to be able to live stream on Douyin!"

"Douyin's live streaming won't rely on any single big streamer to get popular. It relies on thousands of ordinary people turning on their cameras simultaneously, and then Douyin's algorithm telling each ordinary person that someone is watching their stream too."

"This is the true moat for Douyin's live streaming."

"Think about it. Someone who has been filming videos on Douyin for two months might only have two or three thousand followers, but those two or three thousand people truly like his videos."

"When he starts a live stream, he doesn't need big streamers to jump ship from elsewhere; he is the star of his own live room."

"Douyu and Huya can't achieve this because their users go there for the big streamers, but Douyin can because Douyin users go there for the content."

Zhao Lei listened, stood there for a moment, and then looked down to check off a few items on the list.

"Alright, I'll go arrange it now."

...

The next half month.

Douyin's live streaming beta continued to roll out, and the number of creators starting broadcasts grew every day.

From dozens of people on the first day to over a hundred on the third day, the number of broadcasters even approached a thousand after half a month.

Although the online numbers for most live rooms were mediocre—dozens of viewers being the norm, with the occasional person breaking a hundred—only Jiang Youyou and a few scattered big bloggers who already had a follower base could break a thousand.

The first thing Zhao Lei did every morning was open the live streaming backend and scroll from start to finish, trying to find some numbers that would make his eyes light up.

But it was roughly the same every time.

The data wasn't bad, but it couldn't be called good either.

"Boss, are you worried?"

Zhao Lei couldn't help but ask once.

Qin Mo didn't even look up.

"What's there to worry about?"

"Weikan's algorithm is probably about to launch, and we haven't made much of a splash on the live streaming side..."

"There's no need to rush the live streaming matter."

Qin Mo put down his pen and leaned back in his chair.

"Once users get used to seeing live footage on Douyin, once they know that while scrolling through Short Videos they might suddenly see someone talking in real-time, then this matter is a success."

"Whether today's data looks good or not isn't important; what's important is whether this habit has been formed."

"Once the habit is formed, no platform will be able to cross the moat of Douyin's live streaming."

"When that time comes and we open live streaming to everyone, that will be the true arrival of the live streaming era."

Zhao Lei stopped asking.

At the same time.

During this half month, the thing truly generating constant hype was still The Rap of China.

After the third episode aired, the discussion level for this show across the entire internet had completely surpassed Singer; every episode that aired would stay on the trending searches for three days.

Douyin's Daily Active Users (DAU) curve climbed along with the show's popularity, rising from three million to three and a half million, and then to four million.

There were no skipped levels or exciting explosions, but every step was a steady advance.

As for Weikan, Tencent threw in every resource they could use this time.

To build momentum for the new version of Weikan, they placed a countdown pop-up on the home page of the Tencent Messaging App for an entire week. They also announced on Weikan's official Weibo that a 'Red Envelope Check-in' event would begin on the day of the new version's launch, where users could receive cash just by opening Weikan that day.

Everyone was waiting.

Waiting to see exactly when Weikan's big data would go online.

Finally.

On this day, Weikan's official Weibo posted a countdown for the new version's launch.

"Weikan 2.0, with a brand new upgrade to the Recommendation Algorithm. Final countdown of fifteen days until we officially meet you. Open Weikan and discover the world you love."

A poster was attached below the announcement, printed with 'The Era of Big Data, Weikan Comes Prepared' and Weikan's logo.

The comment section was filled with uniform hype comments.

This Weibo post was also pushed to the top of the trending searches by Tencent.

"Tencent is finally getting serious."

"Those who said Weikan was no good before, just wait to be slapped in the face."

"Tencent's technical strength is right here; they just hadn't gotten around to making an algorithm before."

"Douyin is finished; this time it's really over."

Zhao Lei forwarded this official Weibo post to Qin Mo with only four words.

"They are coming."

Qin Mo replied with one word.

"Good."

The final half month flowed by quickly amidst the silence of both sides.

Weikan didn't release any more smear articles, and Douyin didn't issue any response.

With the help of the Singer program, Weikan's DAU remained around three million without change. However, because the popularity of The Rap of China grew with each episode, Douyin's downloads continued to climb.

But everyone understood.

The time for the decisive battle between Douyin and Weikan had not yet arrived.

...

Finally, the day arrived for the official launch of Weikan 2.0.

However, no one expected...

That on this day...

It would be Douyin that made the first move.

Eight o'clock in the morning.

Douyin's official Weibo posted a data announcement.

"Douyin's DAU has surpassed five million."

"Thanks to every creator for their creations, and thanks to every user for staying. Record a beautiful life; Douyin walks with you."

Below was a simple data card; there were no flashy posters, only a line of numbers and a single sentence.

DAU: Five million.

Average usage time: Sixty-three minutes.

After this Weibo post was released, a large number of users quickly flooded the comment section.

Some were amazed that Douyin took less than four months to go from zero to five million, while Weikan's DAU was still at three million.

Others analyzed calmly, saying that Weikan's algorithm hadn't launched yet, and once it did with the support of Tencent's traffic, it might not be impossible to surpass this number.

Even more people were waiting.

"Weikan updates in an hour; let's see then."

"This is the final calm before the storm."

"To be honest, I've used both. Douyin is indeed much better to scroll through than Weikan, but with Weikan backed by Tencent, it's really hard to say."

"My reason tells me Tencent can't lose, but Douyin's five million DAU is also too fierce."

"The Rap of China is still airing, so Douyin can still grow. Weikan can only rely on throwing money to stay alive."

"But Tencent's money can be thrown for a long time. How long can Douyin's money burn?"

The comment section argued for nearly an hour without a clear winner.

At exactly nine o'clock in the morning.

Weikan officially pushed the new version equipped with the Recommendation Algorithm.