Author: Yanqin Gao
A Study of User-Generated Content Based Mobile Video
Applications in China and the West
New Media and Digital Culture
Media Studies
School of Humanities
University Van Amsterdam
Table of Content
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 1
1.2 Research Question and Thesis Introduction ...................................................................... 3
2. Literature ..................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Current Academic Debates in China ................................................................................. 5
2.2 Current Academic Debates in Western Countries ........................................................... 10
2.3 Comparing China and Western Countries: Contrasting Views ....................................... 12
3. Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 14
3.1 Categorization and Cases................................................................................................. 15
3.2 Method of Case Study ..................................................................................................... 17
4. Case Study and Analysis in Each Category .............................................................................. 19
4.1 Real life Live Streaming Mobile Applications ................................................................ 19
4.1.1 Inke (China)........................................................................................................... 19
Who - Users ............................................................................................................ 20
What - Content ........................................................................................................ 21
Why - motivation .................................................................................................... 22
How - Process ......................................................................................................... 24
4.1.2 Periscope (West) ................................................................................................... 25
Who - Users ............................................................................................................ 26
What - Content ........................................................................................................ 27
Why - Motivation .................................................................................................... 29
How - Process ......................................................................................................... 30
4.1.3 Comparison and contrast ....................................................................................... 31
4.2 Short Video Mobile Applications .................................................................................... 34
4.2.1 MeiPai (China) ...................................................................................................... 35
Who - Users ............................................................................................................ 36
What - Content ........................................................................................................ 37
Why - Motivation .................................................................................................... 38
How - Process ......................................................................................................... 40
4.2.2 Instagram (West) ................................................................................................... 42
Who - Users ............................................................................................................ 42
What - Content ........................................................................................................ 44
Why - Motivation .................................................................................................... 45
How - Process ......................................................................................................... 46
4.2.3 Comparison and Contrast ...................................................................................... 49
5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 51
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 56
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1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Video is increasingly playing an important role in people’s daily lives, whether for
obtaining information, entertainment, news sharing or social networking. Coupled with the
improvements of the Internet environment around the world, video applications on mobile
phones are becoming extremely popular, as videos can be accessed from anywhere. For both
China and Western countries, video users are primarily from younger generations, and there is
abundant evidence that their watching habits are increasingly shifting from watching on
computers to cell phones.
Different cell phone APP stores feature various kinds of video applications developed for
news, short videos, video editing, live streaming, social networking, etc. The reports about the
current situation of mobile applications in China and Western countries are a somewhat different
in terms of statistical approaches that they apply, but they all reveal the trend that users are
spending more time watching videos on their mobile phones through these video applications.
The video industry in China has undergone rapid changes over the past few years. China
Netcasting Services Association (CNSA) issued a report on the current development of China’s
Internet videos based on the data provided by China Internet Network Information Center
(CNNIC), and according to this report, there were 461 million online video users up until June
2015. Among these users, 354 million were watching videos through mobile video applications
(CNSA 15).
The growth in the number of mobile phone users is the key premise of the growth in the
number of video APP users. In a report issued by CNNIC in 2013, 78 percent of total video APP
users watch videos on their computers, while 62 percent watch videos on mobile phones
(CNNIC 9). In 2015, the two percentages changed to 54 percent and 77 percent CNSA (21).
There was a dramatic decline in the number of users watching videos from computers, and an
obvious increase in the number of video APP users. Among all video users, young people aged
20 – 29 years old account for the most with 37 percent (17). Additionally, the report cited 80
percent of users watching online videos on a daily basis, more than that of any other form of
traditional media (CNSA 40). Based on these statistics, we can assume that video users in China
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are gradually shifting from watching on personal computers to mobile phones.
In Western countries, reports also indicate similar trends as that of China. Comscore, a
cross-platform analysis company based in the U.S., wrote in its 2016 Mobile APP Report that
since 2013, “total digital media time spent has grown 53%, driven mostly by mobile APPs”
(Comscore 5). Up until June 2016, the digital media time spent on mobile APPs accounted for
more than 58 percent of the total amount, and 80 percent of total digital media time were spent
on smart phones. Of all the time spent on multimedia APPs, 68 percent was spent on YouTube,
followed by Netflix with 21 percent, and Hulu with 4 percent. Disregarding television programs,
YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu are three major online platforms where people watch videos. In
Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update 2016–2021 White
Paper, it summarized that “[m]obile video traffic accounted for 60 percent of total mobile data
traffic in 2016. Mobile video traffic now accounts for more than half of all mobile data traffic
(“Cisco Visual Networking Index” 2017).” From these statistics, we can see that people are
committing more time to videos that are accessible from their phone. In addition, mobile video
traffic is an important impetus to the general growth of online video traffic.
Since video APPs are now the main source for people to watch videos in their daily lives,
these APPs can well represent the current development in the video APP industry in different
countries. Moreover, the research into popular video APPs is more meaningful because it can
truly reflect the characteristics of current social trends. A common feature of the emerging video
APPs is that they all rely heavily on user generated content (UGC). And the development of
user-generated content coincides with general trends of the Internet industry. According to the
China User Generated Content Report issues by iResearch in 2013, the standing point for UGC
is video because videos provide more real and direct experience, compared to words or graphics.
The report also pointed out that mobile phones are the new territory of user-generated content
(iResearch 8). Researchers at Social Annex said that “UGC has an enormous scope” and
“consumers on average spend 5.4 hours per day with user generated content” (Dhamdhere 2016).
DM News wrote, “web content increasingly is dominated by user generated content” (DM News
2015). According to Statista, user generated short clips are the leading type of video content
streamed to smart phones in the U.S. (Statista 2015). Although there is not much long-term
statistical analysis on UGC, it can be assumed that UGC is also expanding, and video content is
an essential part of it. From the role of users, the content users created, and how the APPs are
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designed, we can observe some society-related trends. To some extent, the APPs themselves are
mirrors reflecting the social environment and groups of people. In fact, popular UGC-based
video APPs in different countries are developed based on the same technologies, and with
similar designs. However, these APPs become very different in many aspects when they are
introduced to different countries. Therefore, this thesis aims compare similar UGC-based video
APPs in China and in Western countries with the same methodology to better analyze both
similarities and distinctions. Jumping out of the Western perspective and analyzing these APPs
from a Chinese perspective will surely bring out new findings.
1.2 Research Question and Thesis Introduction
This thesis will look at the major UGC-based APPs that allow users to create and share
videos both in China and in Western counties. In general, video APPs include integrated video
APPs, live streaming, television relay, short videos, video editing APPs, and etc. Some of them
provide mainly professionally produced content, while others rely greatly on content created by
users. Among these APPs, the APP versions of online video Web sites also provide users with
films and dramas, and other kinds of professionally generated content. While emerging video
APPs including short videos APPs, live streaming APPs, and video editing APPs rely heavily on
its users to create content. Instead of analyzing the mobile APP versions of the major video Web
sites such as YouTube or Youku, this thesis will focus on the relatively new video APPs where
users can create content of their own, and also network based on that contact. The video APPs
developed in China and in Western countries are very similar in terms of technology; however,
they have very unique features and functionalities developed to meet the needs of users that are
specific to their regions. This thesis aims to compare those technically similar video APPs and
find out the similarities and differences between them. These APPs are usually discussed
separately within their own social context, rather than in comparison with similar APPs in other
countries. In general, they are all video platforms that allow users to easily create personalized
videos or start live streams on their phones. Instead of being just tools, they are developed to
expand the social conversations among their users. Despite of the fact that these APPs in
different countries have a lot in common, there are great cultural differences between them if one
looks at the traits of their users, the content created, motivations, and the functions provided
within the APPs. The fact that they are designed aiming to meet the needs of their potential users
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and what users do within the APPs are all good reflections of cultural and societal similarities
and differences.
This thesis will focus on two categories, which are UGC live streaming and short videos.
The two APPs for live streaming that will be analyzed are Inke (China) and Periscope (Western
countries); the two short video apps are respectively Meipai (China) and Instagram (Western
countries).
Inke is the leading interactive live streaming platform in China, where broadcasters
gather and users’ network with each other (Myapp_Inke 2017). So far, it has been downloaded
for more than 250 million times on Android phones (ASO114_Inke 2017). Periscope is a live
streaming social networking APP used in many Western countries. Inke is often called “the
Chinese version of Periscope” (QonRoger 2016; 36krnext_Weibo 2015).
Meipai is a short video social networking APP that allows users to create high quality
videos (Myapp_Maipai 2017). It has been downloaded for more than 507 million times
(ASO114_Meipai 2017). Although Instagram started as a photo sharing social networking APP,
it has since introduced short videos, which has made it even more popular (Desreumaux 2014).
In order to better compare these APPs, it is important to know what research has been
done in this field. By reading the literatures both in China and from Western countries, it can be
observed that the scholars in both camps approached the topics about popular video APPs in very
different ways. In many Western countries, scholars often take quantitative approaches to
analyze user behaviors. Many of the discussions are centered on the technological basis and
conditions that have made the development of those video APPs possible. In comparison,
Chinese scholars put more emphasis on the social influences of those APPs, and how they
actually work in terms of content management, profiting models, and user engagement.
Looking into the literatures in both camps, they focused mainly on APPs in their own
countries, and not much research has been done in analyzing platforms from different countries.
Since they all have their own perspectives and approaches when analyzing their own platforms,
it is necessary to apply a same method so findings can be more consistent and more comparable.
This thesis will apply the Chinese approach when looking at the four selected APPs. In
the analysis of the APPs in China and in Western countries, this thesis will apply the genre
theory proposed by Chinese scholars in their research of online user generated contents. The
genre theory looked at user generated content from four aspects, namely “who, what, why, and
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how” (Zhao et al. 71). To answer these four questions, this thesis will look at the four aspects in
each APPs to analyze who their users are and what they are allowed to do, what content that
users have generated, the motivation of the users, and how content is created and shared through
the platform.
To sum up, this thesis will try to answer the following research question: What are the
similarities and differences between the most popular mobile APPs for live streaming and short
videos in China and in Western countries, and how those differences reflect cultural differences.
These APPs rely mostly on user-generated content and the social connections of users.
When comparing these platforms, this thesis will apply the genre theory used by Chinese
scholars in analyzing user generated content, which will focus on four questions: who, what, why,
and how. Through this comparison, this thesis aims to find out the common features in these
platforms, and more importantly what is unique to these platforms. Furthermore, this thesis will
also try to discuss those differences in a cultural context, and point out the limitations in user
generated content in different countries.
2. Literature
Since this thesis aims to compare the mobile video APPs that contain user generated
content in China and in Western countries, it is necessary to look at related literatures in both
academic camps. In terms of video media, there is not enough communication and exchange
between these two camps and how they approach the topic is quite different. Due to the
particularly isolated media environment in China, it has developed various APPs for mainly
domestic users. Not only are the platforms different that scholars in both camps look at, but they
are also analyzed from different perspectives. Therefore, in this part of thesis, literature from
China and Western countries will be discussed separately.
2.1 Current Academic Debates in China
Since there were few published articles in China that analyzed the videos APPs that will
be looked at detail in this thesis, the focus is on literature about user generated content, video
media, and critiques about video platforms. In general, the video platforms being discussed were
mainly large online video Web sites where people can watch professional dramas, shows, and
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programs. There were few in-depth discussions about the emerging video APPs that were very
popular among the youth in China. The articles and work written by Chinese scholars were
mainly from the major and most comprehensive online publishing platform of graduation theses
and journal articles, CNKI.NET (China National Knowledge Infrastructure). According to the
research question and case study of this thesis, relevant literature for these topics included user
generated content, the “SoLoMo” mode (Xiaonan 96), video media in China, and research about
specific platforms or mobile applications.
“SoLoMo” refers to the social, local, and mobile, which was coined by Doerr from
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) in 2011 to predict the future development trend of
Internet to be social, local, and mobile (Gillum 2012). It was used by Chinese scholars when
discussing the Internet industry and online videos. In general, there were several academic
research conducted concerning the overall landscape of the status quo of video media and the
media environment in China (Sun and Huang 70; Wang and Zhao 74; Zhao 68). However, most
of these articles focused on the dominant video Web sites in China such as Youku, iQIYI, and
Tencent Video (Chen 2013; Li 64). Only a few short critiques mentioned video APPs on mobile
phones currently popular with user generated content (Wang 2016; Yang 52; Fu 2014; Zhang
2014). Additionally, there were many articles that took the “SoLoMo” mode as a theoretical
framework and background of their research (Li 96; Long 87; Li and Wu 2013; Chen 73). The
following paragraphs will summarize the current academic debates in terms of user generated
content, “SoLoMo”, and video platforms in China.
In 2011, John Doerr from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) first coined the
word “SoLoMo” to predict the future development trend of Internet to be social, local, and
mobile (Gillum 2012). This concept has been widely accepted in both Chinese and Western
academia. When the term “SoLoMo” is applied specifically to analyze the video platforms, it has
several implications. In terms of the “Social” aspect of videos, most of the video platforms
would not confine the sharing activities of their registered users within their connections on their
own platforms, but would allow instant and direct sharing to other social media platforms or a
specific person in his or her contact lists. For example, on Facebook and Twitter in Western
countries and Weibo and WeChat in China, videos have now become important content in cross-
platform social interaction. If a certain video was shared from a platform to WeChat friends or
moments (Wechat friends community), the name of this platform would also be shown in the
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moment that could attract potential users to use that platform and enable even more social
interactions within or outside the video platform.
Being “local” means that the video applications should also integrate location based
services into the functions. The video applications will first obtain the location of the users with
the users’ permission, and then allows the users to search the video sources published by other
users near him or her, or the application itself can recommend locally relevant videos to certain
users. In this way, the video applications can customize the videos contents more accurately
according to the users’ location and indicated interests, and increase the stickiness and loyalty of
the users to the videos on their platforms.
“Mobile” first means that people can watch videos anywhere and anytime. This has
already been a reality because of the widely covered Wi-Fi signal in China and in Western
countries, and the quick development of 3G/4G mobile technology and services provided by
various mobile service companies. Being “mobile” also indicates the freedom and flexibility for
users to upload creative contents onto the video platforms, which are often referred to as “user
generated content”. Video APPs on mobile phones have made it possible for users to capture any
scene easily and instantly with their phones and upload their videos onto the APPs so that other
users can watch even real time. These APPs often have functions that allow users to edit and
process their videos by taking some quick steps. These three elements are indispensable to and
interdependent upon each other. “Mobile” is the foundation for “social” and “local” because it
provides the technological and content basis for watching and sharing of videos. It can be seen
that the development of online videos platforms also fits into this “SoLoMo” mode, and the core
is user generated content.
The discussion of “SoLoMo” is also closely related to other fields in the Internet industry.
Yaping Long, an e-commerce researcher, considered “SoLoMo” as the foundation and source of
business model of WeChat marketing, as WeChat is a phone-based APP, and it relies totally on
user's’ friend community (87). This concept was also discussed in the network in the field of
scientific research (Li and Wu 2013), and as part of a new business model combined with O2O
(Chen 73). In almost all of the academic work concerning “SoLoMo”, it was discussed as the
basic condition for either social networking media platforms or for profiting in business models.
In addition, this concept was also creatively used in the research of video media. Xiaonan Li, in
her master dissertation Study on the Online Video Social Behavior and The Trends in the Online
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Video Socialization in China, connected the concept of “SoLoMo” to the future development of
the video industry. Li deemed “mobile” as the physical condition for the other two elements,
which would contribute to the boom of user generated content (96). She regarded mobile phones
as the best carrier of socialization (100) and local is the future direction of development (104).
However, “local” has also been realized by APP developers these days as most of video APPs
have location-based functions that allow users to discover either other users or videos nearby.
In the academic articles about user generated content, although there is no universal
definition to this term, most of the scholars agree to three characteristics of user generated
content given by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its 2007
report: published on the Internet, creative in nature, and produced by non-professionals. Based
on these characteristics, Shulan Sun and Yibiao Huang, experts in information management,
asserted that UGC is not only about creativity and innovation, but represents certain social
relations (Sun and Huang 70). Zhan Wang and Hongtao Zhang also pointed out that user
generated content is the result of online virtual community, and further stated that virtual
community is the reason why user generated content can also generate profits (74).
In terms theoretical debates about UGC, Zhao et al.’s article Conceptualization and
Research Progress on User-generated Content was one of the most dominant in the Chinese
academia. As professionals in information management, they retrieved and combed related
literatures from both China and Western counties, and proposed an analytical framework to UGC
based on genre theory. They conceptualized UGC into four dimensions — who, what, why, and
how — which referred to the roles of users, the content created by them, their motives in doing
so, and the process of creating contents (68).
Current academic debates in China about video platforms are closely related to the
concept of UGC. User generated content was most discussed together with online video websites
in China. Benshuang Xiao discussed the media landscape with a focus on the mode of UGC,
which was also referred to as the “YouTube mode” (2014). Lin Li analyzed the modes of video
Web sites in China, and identified that “the main development modes of video Web sites in
China were ‘legal copy + free + advertising’ and ‘Hulu + UGC’” (64). UGC mode online video
websites were the starting point of her research (2012). Yongfeng Chen used YouTube as a case
study, and looked at the development of the online video media industry as a whole in the
context of the discipline of communication study (2013).
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Yanxuan Wang categorized live streaming into three categories: spontaneous
rebroadcasting, platform-produced content live streaming, and UGC live streaming, and viewed
them as important components of the current new media landscape in China (2016). Of the three
kinds of live streaming, this thesis will only focus on UGC live streaming. Debates about UGC
live streaming in China were mainly centered on the problems and future prospects of UGC in
the societal background of “everybody can be a broadcaster.”
Zilong Wang further discussed the participants and content in the wave of online
broadcasting in China leaded by UGC live streaming platform Periscope (2016). Tiannan Yang
wrote in Talent Magazine that “in the wave of live streaming, we have come to the age of Web
Celebrity 3.0” (52). Lintong Wang and Rujin Bai took Inke, the largest live streaming APP in
China, as case study, analyzed live streaming from the perspectives of time-bias and space-bias
of network media, and discussed the positive prospects of the industry in terms of freedom of the
contents (2016). Ting Yao discussed the transforming power of live streaming and its
applications (2016). Bingjie Zhu wrote in his article the current problems in live streaming in this
UGC dominated industry such as homogenization and vulgarization (2016). However, few of the
articles were discussed with the detail analysis of specific live streaming platforms.
The discussion about short (or micro) video applications in China mainly focused on two
aspects: (1) short videos apps for social networking; and (2) news in short video forms.
According to the concept of short or micro video given by SocialBeta, “a new form of
video in a few seconds that relies on instant shooting and editing on intelligent mobile platforms
allows real-time sharing” (SocialBeta 2015). Video news should not be included in this category.
Ruoyan Fu stated that short videos have led social networking into a new era with a burst
in User Generated Contents (2014). Zixuan Zhang et al. considered shorts videos as a future
trend in social life and news industry (2014). Wang et al. summarized the types of short video
applications into three categories: social networking, tool, and news, and put forward the current
problems in these UGC-based platforms (2015). Xiaohong Wang and Yaoti Ren wrote in Media
Observation the new characteristics and challenges faced by the short videos whether for the
purpose of social networking or news collecting (2016).
From the literature above, there are several discussions about UGC and online video Web
sites, however, research into the emerging video APPs is still relatively small. The video APPs
were often discussed as part of the social trend or phenomenon instead of as research objects.
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Almost none of the research analyzed these APPs in terms of users, content, functions, etc.
Although Western country APPs were sometimes mentioned in these articles, they were not
analyzed in detail, or in comparison.
2.2 Current Academic Debates in Western Countries
In order to see how Western scholars were discussing the same topics, the following
paragraphs will also focus on the discussions about user-generated content and various UGC-
based platforms. One of the major differences between the discussions in two camps is that
although the “SoLoMo” mode originated from Western countries, it was seldom used by
Western scholars as a theoretical framework to discuss the Internet industry or video platforms.
Just like the Chinese scholars, discussion about UGC in Western countries was also
closely related to the major online video Web sites, and there was not much analysis of the
emerging popular video APPs. The main source of literature from Western countries is journal
articles, and published works on Google Scholar. As there were also very few articles directly
related to the research question of this thesis, the same keywords were used to find out the
dominant research results about the closely related topics. The keywords were respectively “user
generated content”, “live streaming”, “short/micro video”. Articles analyzing specific APPs were
also looked at. In general, the western scholars emphasized more on the technological basis of
the video platforms, and used quantitative statistics to study the personal behaviors of users. In
terms of UGC, it was mostly discussed with YouTube as a leading case. Much Chinese academic
work discussing UGC mentions YouTube, as it is the inspiration for the establishment of Youku
in China.
The academic debates about UGC in Western countries often took YouTube and its user
generated content video system as case study. YouTube, “the world’s largest UGC VOD system”,
is creating new patterns and social interactions (Cha et al. 1357). In Users like you? Theorizing
agency in user-generated content, José van Dijck referred to “you” as active internet contributors
who were able to put in creative effort out of professionalism, and all this was made possible by
UGC platforms such as YouTube (41). Jin Kim explored the institutionalization of YouTube,
analyzing how it transformed towards professionally generated content (PGC) from its original
establishment as a UGC platform (2012). Also, there were statistical researches about YouTube
such as video popularity characteristics (Cha et al. 1357) and social networks on YouTube
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(Cheng, Dale and Jiangchuan Liu 229). Apart from discussions around YouTube, UGC videos
were also discussed in their relationship with traditional television. Jiyoung Cha found that “the
time consumers spent using the Internet to watch user-generated video content reduced the time
they spent on watching television” (79).
This topic was also discussed from the perspective of social behaviors. Namkee Park,
Younbo Jung, and Kwan Min Lee looked into the role of social norms and ego-involvement in
uploading behavior and intention (2002), which are the reasons why people are willing to create
UGC videos in the first place. However, as YouTube is the dominant UGC platform, not much
was discussed about other popular forms of UGC based platforms.
Much of the debates about live streaming were discussed from the aspect of technology,
such as the basic conditions for live streaming and how live streaming applications actually
function. Stonebraker, Cetintemel and Zdonik identified eight rules for stream processing
concerning data and data process (43-45). Viswanathan Swaminathan also analyzed the
streaming system and protocols in his article Are We in the Middle of a Video Streaming
Revolution? (2013). Siekkinen, Masala and Kämäräinen took Periscope as case study and looked
at the anatomy of live streaming with the method of API crawling of videos (2016). Other
academic works also related live streaming to user generated content distribution. Karine Pires
and Gwendal Simon retrieved datasets from YouTube Live and Twitch to illustrate the “behavior
of UGC live streaming video system” (229). Debates in the topic of live streaming were heavily
focused on the technological perspective, and not much discussion was centered on the role of
mobile live streaming applications in the society or specific live streaming platforms.
Short or micro videos were considered to be “a new form of user-generated content on
social media platforms” (Redi et al 1), which motivated creativity among the society. They were
also seen as an important part of the new media structure, as they turned audience into publishers
and at the same time provided mobile and real-time communication (Huang, Zhang and Yang
2016). Lei Zhang, Feng Wang, and Jiangchuan Liu took Vine as case study to understand how
user-generated content function on video clip platforms (2014). Although the past debates were
closely centered on the mobile APP Vine since it was a pioneer in micro videos, it has now
changed greatly. The web version of it has been officially shut down as of January 17, 2017.
Users can only search for archived videos saved on the server, and the function for hosting new
videos has stopped. The APP is still available, but has “shift[ed] to Vine Camera, a different APP
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that will also let users create 6.5-second looping videos that they can either save or post to
Twitter” (Huddleston 2017).
Through reading the literature in China and Western countries, there were some
differences in how the scholars in both camps approached similar topics. Firstly, the Western
academics tended to focus more on analyzing the technological environment, which provides the
foundation for the development of all video platforms, while the Chinese academics focused
more on the social impact brought by those platforms and the business model behind them.
Second, although the concept “SoLoMo” was originated in Western countries, it was
more frequently used as a theoretical framework by the Chinese scholar when analyzing the
Internet industry. This concept was not found in the popular academic articles of Western
countries when analyzing video platforms.
Third, as the media environment in China is very unique, the platforms that were being
discussed were distinctive to their own societies. In terms of specific video APPs in China and
Western countries, Chinese academics more frequently took the popular Chinese APPs as case
studies to analyze their influences on the society.
Lastly, the definitions of short or micro video were slightly different in the Chinese and
Western academia. Short video applications in China sometimes also included APPs providing
news in the form of videos that often last for a few minutes, while from the Western point of
view, short/micro videos are mainly videos APPs with UGC that aim to promote social
networking. After looking into the related academic works in China and Western countries, this
thesis can better situate itself in the current discussions by bridging the gap between both camps,
and provide new insight on the UGC based video APPs in both spheres. As this thesis aims to
compare the similar mobile APPs in China and Western countries, it is essential to take into
account how they have been analyzed.
2.3 Comparing China and Western Countries: Contrasting Views
Looking at the debates and discussions from both camps, it is obvious that the Chinese
and Western scholars have their own approaches and focuses when studying the video platforms
with user generated content. In the West, discussions about UGC platforms were mainly focused
on YouTube, while other popular UGC based video platforms were not given enough attention,
including mobile APPs. In China, more emphasis has been put on theories about UGC, but
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detailed analysis about specific UGC platforms is relatively small. This essay will include the
popular UGC based video platforms on mobile devices because they are gaining more popularity
among users, and are leading the social networking trends in different societies.
Rather than focusing on the already much debated platforms such as YouTube and Youku,
this essay aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of video applications on mobile
devices. By drawing comparison and contrast between UGC based video APPs on mobile
devices in China and Western countries, this thesis will provide clearer insight into both the
uniqueness of these applications and the similarities between them, and try to understand those
differences in a broader context.
Based on the academic articles written by both Chinese and Western scholars, there are
several things neither have paid enough attention to. Although the concept of UGC has been
discussed since 2006 when the phrase was first created, academic works from both sides are still
discussing this topic together with major video Web sites in both societies. There is very few
detailed or in-depth analysis of the UGC video content on the popular mobile APPs, which are
becoming the dominant platform where people spend increasing amount of time.
Second, the current debates, whether from a technological perspective or a social
perspective, are mainly about platforms in their own society rather than in comparison to similar
APPs developed in other societies. Since platforms both influence and reflect certain aspects of
the society and certain groups of people, it is vital to look at the platforms that are built based on
the same technologies, but are socially very distinctive. As the media industry has changed since
the inception of YouTube or Youku, this thesis aims to analyze the emerging popular UGC based
video APPs as a complement to the current debates.
When analyzing the selected video APPs, this thesis will apply the same method to the
four UGC based APPs from China and Western countries: who, what, why and how.
Chinese scholars Xuxiang Zhao, Zhe Fan and Qinghua Zhu proposed these four aspects
when they discuss user-generated content in their article (69). In terms of those concepts, this
thesis will analyze the users of the specific APPs, the video content on those APPs, the reason
why users are on that platform (their motivations), and the detailed process of content creation in
those APPs.
This thesis aims to contribute to the current debates in the following aspects: (1) connect
the academic research in the video APPs that are based on UGC in China and in Western
14
countries; (2) compare the similar but socially different video APPs; and also (3) discuss the
current situation and limitations in the development of user generated video APPs. Since the
academic debates on both sides are different, this thesis will mainly apply the approaches of the
Chinese scholars, so that this thesis can provide a unified comparison between APPs from China
and Western countries.
3. Methodology
Different countries have different ways of categorizing APPs, and different analytical
methods for those APPs. It is essential to keep consistency when analyzing APPs. In this thesis, I
am interested to learn more about APPs from Western countries when analyzed from a Chinese
angle. The methodology of this thesis is composed of two parts. The first is to choose the APPs
from different categories as objects of case study, and the second is to make comparison and
contrast between similar APPs. This thesis will only look at APPs that are related to videos.
For the first part, as the research question of this thesis is to compare and contrast the
UGC based mobile video applications in China to similar applications in Western countries, it is
essential to have an understanding of the general landscape of the video media applications in
China. Therefore, the first method of research can be divided into two steps: (1) to categorize the
popular applications in China; (2) to choose the most representative application in each category
and find its counterpart in Western countries.
For the second part, this thesis will also contrast and compare the groups of contrasting
cases with the Chinese approach: “who, what, why and how”, based on the analytical framework
proposed by Chinese scholars. These four questions refer to different aspects of the APPs and
their users, allowing us to see more clearly how these APPs reflect cultural differences and
features of the video media industries in both spheres.
15
3.1 Categorization and Cases
Figure. 1. Categorization of Video APPs in China by TalkingData.; “Report of Mobile Video
App Industry 2015”; TalkingData; June 2015; https://www.talkingdata.com/index/files/2015-
06/1434099182962.pdf.
According to a report about the industry of mobile video applications from TalkingData,
China’s largest independent big data service platform focusing on the mobile APP marketplace
(TalkingData_About 2017), mobile video applications in China can be divided into three main
categories: online videos applications, TV/live streaming applications, and micro videos (see fig.
1).
This categorization by modes is inclusive of almost all the video mobile applications
currently in the marketplace, which is beneficial to research as it provides an overall and
comprehensive understanding of the industry and helps to better sort out the major UGC based
applications in China. As online video applications are simply the extension of online Web sites
on mobile devices, and online video Web sites have already been widely compared with each
other, this thesis will only focus on the other two categories. As shown in fig. 1, live streaming
applications include live TV, vertical live streaming with professional content, and real life live
streaming. Since the former two subcategories are mainly composed of professional-generated
16
content, they will not be part of the research in this category. To answer the research question
proposed in this thesis, I will only look into popular applications in the categories of real life live
streaming and short videos.
Since this thesis aims to find out the similarities and differences between the popular
mobile video APPs in China and Western countries, the next step is to choose the most popular
or representative applications in the categories selected above, and then looked for their similar
APPs in the West.
In the category of real life live streaming, the APPs to be compared are Inke and
Periscope. Inke, officially launched in 2015, is now the most popular live streaming mobile
application for both iOS and Android in China. According to a report published by QuestMobile
(2016), total monthly active users for Inke has surpassed that of YY, a live streaming APP
founded 10 years earlier than Inke, and now ranks first among other similar applications in the
market.
Inke also topped the ranking in terms of monthly user amount and active rate in May
2016, which is 61 percent on Android and 64 percent on iOS, according to the data provided by
QuestMobile.
The most similar mobile application in the West is Periscope, which was acquired by
Twitter. The APP was regarded as number one among the popular live streaming APPs (Top
Mobile Trends 2016), and was named the best iOS apps of 2015 by Apple (Warren 2015).
In the category of micro video mobile applications, Meipai from China and Instagram
will be a pair of contrasting cases. According to AppAnnie, Meipai is “[the] No.1 on APP Store
overall list for 24 days continuously” under the category of photo and video in iOS China (2017).
It also has the most number of downloads among the search results of “short video” in Myapp
Android APP store, the most dominant android APP store in China (2017).
Advertising Age introduced Meipai to its audience as “a video app with parallels to Vine”
(Flemming 2015), and Meipai has often been called the Chinese version of Vine. Although Vine
was originally the most similar APP to Meipai, this thesis will not choose it as case study
because it has now greatly changed, and is much less popular than when it was launched. It has
now been changed into a total different APP called “Vine Camera”, and some of the functions
have been shut down. Thus, this thesis will study Instagram instead, which describes itself as “A
simple, fun & creative way to capture, edit & share photos, videos & messages with friends &
17
family” (Instagram 2017), and is much more popular among users than Vine. To sum up, this
thesis will analysis the following APPs as the objects of case study.
Table 1.
APPs to be researched in this thesis:
Live stream Short video
China Inke Meipai
West Periscope Instagram
3.2 Method of Case Study
As mentioned before, western scholars tend to analyze the video APPs either from a
technical point of view, researching the technological basis upon which the APPs operate, or
with quantitative statistics trying to reveal a certain pattern in user behaviors. The Chinese
scholars tend to analyze those APPs by looking at their contents, functions, and the social
influences upon users. Since a unified method is needed to look at APPs from China and
Western countries, this thesis will choose the Chinese approach to look at the APPs. By applying
the same Chinese lenses on APPs in both China and Western countries, the analysis of this thesis
is not only more consistent, it can also allow us to look at the Western APPs in a different way.
and lead to different results from the current research perspectives.
This thesis will apply the analytical framework put forward by Chinese scholars (Zhao et
al. 68), which looks at UGC from four aspects: who, what, why, and how.
“Who” refers to the types and roles of users. According to Zhao et al., the roles of users
are complicated. From a cultural perspective, they are receivers and participants; and from an
economic perspective, they are producers and consumers. They divide users into three categories:
individual users, organizations, and user community. In order to analyze the users of UGC
platforms, we need to look at how they choose, participate, and create as an individual, and also
how they their behaviors facilitate the formation of the general user community (Zhao et al. 71).
In the case analysis of this thesis, I will look at both what users are allowed to do within the
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APPs as individuals and statistics of the user demography of the APPs in general. And also, I
will look at the users of the APPs as individuals, organizations, and communities.
“What” refers to the types and attributes of UGC. According to the authors, there are five
types of UGC: entertainment, social networking, business, interests, and public opinion (Zhao et
al. 71). Most of UGC is a mix of these types. For the APPs to be researched in this thesis, their
content is mainly combinations of all these types, with entertainment and social networking as
dominating. When analyzing the content of the four APPs, the video content being published on
the platforms that are available to the public will be analyzed. Since most of them are a
combination of all the types above, this thesis will look in detail what categories of video content
they provide and how or whether they fit into the five types mentioned above. Although the
detailed categorization in each APP might be unique in its own way, the content still falls into
the five types as the purpose of video APPs is for entertainment, networking, and communication.
“Why” refers to users’ motivation to create contents. The motivations for users to create
content can be both internal and external. External motivation mainly comes from material and
financial stimulation, while internal stimulation comes from user’s personal desire and sense of
belonging to a certain social group (Zhao et al. 72). The users’ motivations to use different APPs
can be partly revealed by what platforms allow them to do to meet their needs. Although the
motivations of users are not directly seen in the APPs being analyzed, they can be reflected by
certain design and functions in the APPs since they are developed to meet certain needs of its
target users. In terms of the question “why”, this thesis will try to find in each APPs what are the
functions that is in accordance with users’ motivations, and how these APPs are designed to meet
their needs. The motivations are almost always internal and external. Business and marketing
purposes and direct financial gains are all external motivations for users.
“How” refers to the process of how UGC is created by users. The Chinese scholars
summarized the process into four types: individual, collective, competition, and collaborative
(Zhao et al. 72). The individual process is the creating and publishing activity that only involves
the content creator himself. Collective means that the content created by individual users are in
some way inter-related. The effort to gain more attention and generate more “likes” can be seen
as competition. Collaborative refers to the creation of content with the same purpose, for
example a campaign. This thesis will look into the detailed publishing processes on each of the
platforms, which involves the aforementioned four processes. Individual creating process will be
19
put most emphasis on because it can be directly demonstrated through the posting process in the
APPs.
4. Case Study and Analysis in Each Category
This part of the thesis will analyze the selected APPs in detail. Bolter and Gromala (34)
referred to computer applications as a “wooden mirror”, as it demands the viewers to express their
desires to it and what they can see is the reflection of themselves and the world around them.
They also stated the interface as a window as it “helps us to forget the interface and
concentrate on the texts or data inside (42)”. This is also true to mobile applications. Since the
design of interfaces is a reflection of the society and culture, the following chapter will be
discussing the APPs from the aspects of who (users), what (user generated content), why (users’
motivations), and how (the process of content creation).
4.1 Real life Live Streaming Mobile Applications
The first pair of APPs to be researched and compared is Inke from China and Periscope
from Western culture. Both APPs are popular real life live streaming APPs where anyone can
create their own content and share it with others. Their basic functions are similar in that they
allows users to stream their lives on mobile phones, and viewers can comment and like anytime
during the live stream. However, analyzing them in detail from the four aspects, who, what, why,
and how, unique features can be revealed and cultural differences can be observed. The
following analysis will first look at each APP and then discuss their similarities and differences.
4.1.1 Inke (China)
Inke is a live streaming platform on mobile devices that aims at making live streaming an
essential part of daily life. Since its launch in 2015, the application has become popular among
younger users, and now it has the largest number of users compared to other live streaming APPs
in China. According to Sohu News, the CEO of Inke published an open letter to all its 130
million users (Sohu Pivot 2017). This number means that one in every 10 people in China use
Inke to live stream their life. Unlike other live streaming platforms that rely heavily on celebrities
and stars to attract the attention of fans or regular users, Inke is innovative in that it aims to create
a platform where normal people can easily do live streaming. They don’t have to be a celebrity to
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stream their life. Within the APP, users can link their Inke account to other social media accounts
and share videos and links to those platforms. Inke also provide real-time services to make live
streaming a better experience for both the broadcasters and the viewers. Sohu News owed the
success of Inke to three reasons: better 4G data access and wider internet coverage, higher
definition of the front cameras on mobile phones, and a better eco-system with rules that enable
the benign interaction between the platform, broadcasters, and users (Sohu Pivot 2017). The
following paragraphs will analyze this APP in the four aspects by retrieving data from the
Internet and by looking at the features in the APP.
Who - Users
Users of Inke can be divided into two groups: viewers and broadcasters. In general, Inke’s
target users are mainly the young generation who were born post-1990. It intends to identify
itself as an online convergence of fashion and beauty. The majority of broadcasters on Inke are
female, while the ratio of male to female users is approximately 6:4 (Tai 2015). The existence of
young attractive female broadcasters explains why there are more male users than female users.
According to QuestMobile, in May 2015, the number of use per user is 34 times and the
total number of use amounts to almost 880 million. The total duration of all live stream videos
were estimated to be over 218 million minutes (2015). From these statistics, we can have a
general understanding of the user community of Inke. Although the vast majority of broadcasters
are female, there are more male users who are interested to watch the live streams. Within the
APP, every user has his/her own identity account and all activities of the users can be tracked
and recorded in his/her personal profile (see fig. 2). Users can manage the list of broadcasters
they have subscribed to, and check those who have subscribed to them (called fans). They can
see their earnings, which is in the form of “Ying Piao” (which means box office on Inke),
exchange it into RMB, and withdraw the deposit to their real-name verified bank accounts.
In the user profile, there is also a user level system. Users can unlock the next level by
contributing more time in the APP, posting more videos, receiving or giving more gifts, to name
a few examples. The higher one’s level, the more privileges one receives. For instance, an Inke
avatar will glow when one enters a broadcast room, or one can choose to stay invisible in the
rankings. From the settings and design of Inke, we can see how individual users are managed and
regulated by the platform. As a standardized platform, it also tries to provide personalized
options for individual users.
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Figure. 2. Inke Profile Page Screenshot.
What - Content
The tabs on top of the main page indicate clearly what kind of video content Inke
provides. There are a total of eight tabs: subscription, trending, nearby, videos, Sakura, talents,
gaming, good voices. A click on any one of them will lead users to a different APP page (see fig.
4). The subscription page provides the user with a short cut to the live streams they are
subscribed to. The trending page presents the current most popular live streams; however, the
ranking algorithm here has no public rules. The level of the broadcaster, location, number of
likes, and other factors will all affect the order of live streams presented. Nearby shows
broadcasters based on their locations obtained by the APP. If the broadcaster does not allow Inke
access to his/her location, Inke will interestingly present your location as “in Mars.” The video
page does not provide live streaming, rather, it is video clips captured during live stream. Sakura
is a new feature of Inke started in April 2017 (see fig. 3). It is a competition initiated by Inke to
select 10 beautiful female broadcasters from 10 tracks including gaming, talent, creativity, and
etc. The competition lasted one month from 24 April to 27 May, during which “Sakura Muses”
are selected based on the voting and gifting of the viewers. The page for talents, gaming, and
good voices gathers live streams with personal performances, gaming screens, and live singing
performances. The content on Inke is inclusive of entertainment, social networking, business,
interests, and public opinion. Live streaming is a new way for people to communicate and
express their emotions.
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Figure. 3. Sakura Muse Screenshot. Figure. 4. Tabs on Inke Screenshot.
Despite of all these categories, the content of live stream on Inke are in fact mainly about
the personal life of the broadcasters, and often take place in a quiet indoor environment. Much of
the commentary from the online show business is that there are many civil celebrities, Awl-
shaped faces, and younger individuals on Inke, but they are not competition to the professionals,
as their content are too plain and shallow to retain viewers’ long-term attention (Li 2017). Based
on this observation, most of the live streaming videos do not have a theme or topic; they are
more like a monologue of life shows with good-looking male or females as the center of
attention. Apart from occasionally answering questions raised by viewers, the broadcasters
constantly thank them for their gifts; welcome individual viewers for entering the broadcasting
space and invite viewers to subscribe to them. To some extent, live streams on Inke are more
focused on creating civil celebrities with good-looking faces rather than delivering content with
quality.
Why - motivation
Why refers to motivations for users to create the content. The reasons why the users of
Inke create live streams are both internal and external. Live streams published can be shared to
other social networking platforms to be shared with friends. The interactivity and connection
among the users within the APP gives people a sense of community. These factors are the
internal motivations of the content creators on Inke. As to Inke’s external connection to other
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social networking platforms, it provides either one-click sharing or a copy of links of the live
stream video. Both broadcasters and viewers can share a live stream directly to Weibo, their
connections on WeChat, WeChat Moments, QQ contacts, and QQ Space, as long as they also
installed these APPs on their phone (see fig. 5). These three APPs — Weibo, WeChat, and QQ
‘— are the major social networking platforms in China. According to a report of CNNIC in 2017,
WeChat and QQ are the two APPs with most usage rate of all (CNNIC 49), respectively 77
percent and 60 percent. Meanwhile, WeChat moments, QQ Space, and Weibo are the top three
social APPs (CNNIC 53). Live stream will not be synchronized on these platforms, but a special
post will be generated that can redirect those who click to the mobile web version of Inke. With
connection to these popular APPs, broadcasters can attract more viewers to their live stream, and
viewers can also share live stream to their connections. In this way, Inke live stream becomes
part of users’ social life. An obvious external motivation for users is profit. Viewers can
purchase Inke diamonds with via WeChat Wallet, and buy broadcasters gifts with diamonds.
There are in total 24 kinds of gifts equivalent to different amounts of diamonds (see fig. 6). The
gifts received by the broadcasters will directly go into their earnings account in the form of
diamonds, which can later be changed into “Ying Piao” and money in a certain ratio (see fig. 7).
This is a direct attraction to broadcasters, since views can be translated into material profit and
higher rankings.
Figure. 5. Inke Sharing Screenshot.
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Figure. 6. Inke Gifts Screenshot.
Figure. 7. Inke Earnings Accounts Screenshots.
How - Process
The only condition for one to live stream is that he/she has verified his/her identity in
Inke’s real-name verification system. Within some easy steps, users can start instantly. Before
launching the live stream, broadcasters are allowed to adjust settings, for example, whether to
show location, whether the video is private or public, and what specific platforms to share to
once they start. Also, they are asked to write a title for their upcoming live stream in order to
better attract the interest group. What is unique about Inke is that it has the function of facial
beautification, which will automatically beautify the broadcasters so that they can be more
confident while live streaming and be more attractive to viewers (Myapp 2017). During the live
steam, broadcasters can still share their video to their connections and invite them to watch by
clicking the “+” on the upper right corner. They also have the right to kick viewers out of their
25
virtual broadcasting room in the “-” list. If there comes a moment that the broadcasters want to
record, a click on the camera tab will allow them to capture simultaneously. In addition, users
can also make changes to their live streams at anytime, including editing the title of video, on/off
mirror effect, shifting between front and back cameras, and on/off of the auto-beautification
function (see fig. 8). This is individual creating process of live streaming. In addition, there are
also competition and collaboration on Inke in the category of Sakura. Broadcasters do live
streams with the ultimate purpose of attracting more viewers, and getting more likes than others.
The fact that they are all creating content in accordance to the competition themes can be seen as
the collaborative process of creation.
Figure. 8. Inke Live Streaming Screenshot.
4.1.2 Periscope (West)
Periscope is a live streaming APP owned by Twitter.Inc, which promotes itself as a
platform that allows users to “broadcast and explore the world through live video” (Google
Play_Periscope 2017). Launched in 2015, it has grown greatly during its first year. In its own
blog post celebrating its first anniversary, it said that “as of today, over 200 million broadcasts
have been created on Periscope and over 110 years of live video are watched every day on iOS
and Android” (Medium_Periscope 2016). It is often called the Western version of Inke, and the
two are often compared in China (QonRoger 2016).
The technologies that the two APPs are built on and the basic functionalities are quite
26
similar, but how they present themselves to the public and what they allow users to do within the
APPs are very different. As in Inke, Periscope also has two versions for different devices, which
are mobile APP and web version. The web version allows users to do everything that the APP
can do except the live streaming functions for broadcasters. Users can only live stream with the
mobile APP, but they can still search and watch live stream videos on computers. However, the
videos shown on the web version are still in video format for mobile phones, with small size and
relatively low definition. What is special in Periscope is that it supports 360 videos, which allow
viewers to change their viewing angle to see the surrounding environments of a live stream while
watching (Periscope_Help 2017). Since Periscope is now part of Twitter, it is fully integrated
with Twitter. Broadcasters can broadcast to a larger potential audience and gain more attention.
Despite its early success, it is also facing great challenge, as a number of competitors have
entered the space since its launch; Facebook live or YouTube live.
Who - Users
There are no official statistics published by Periscope about the exact number of users.
Third party research institutions provide the following statistics. According to a report published
by Global Web Index in 2016, three-fourth of Periscope’s total users were aged between 16 and
34, with 41 percent between 16 and 24, and 34 percent between 25 and 34 respectively (Buckle
2016). The report also pointed out that 35 percent of the users were female, while male users
accounted for 65 percent. Periscope is officially available in 25 languages, including Chinese.
The most popular countries: United States, Turkey and Brazil.
Since Periscope is not available in the major android APP stores in China, and Twitter is
not available in China, there are very few Chinese broadcasters. Just like Inke, users have their
own account and profile. Once they are logged in with either Periscope or Twitter, in the profile
page on Periscope, there shows the number of hearts one has received from viewers, the
accounts a user is following, total followers, blocked accounts, and the past broadcasts (see fig.
9).
According to an official blog post of Periscope, the company launched the Periscope VIP
program for those active live stream broadcasters in October 2016 (Periscope Blog 2016). There
are in total three tiers for VIP broadcasters: bronze, silver, and gold. In order to upgrade to higher
tiers, broadcasters need to meet the minimum requirements, such as in terms of average numbers
of viewers per live stream, total number of live streams in a week, and conforming with general
27
terms to unlock these tiers.
However, this upgrading is not realized automatically in the APP. Broadcasters need to
fill out an application first, and enjoy the privileges and rewards granted by Periscope after
approval (Periscope VIP Program). No information about these tiers can be seen in the personal
profile page.
Figure. 9. Periscope Profile Page Screenshot.
What - Content
As the slogan of Periscope is to let you see the world through others’ live streaming
videos, the content of Periscope is very diverse, whether in terms of category, language, or the
background of content provider. The suggested search words for live streams indicate what kinds
of content are being live streamed in this APP. There are travel, music, sports, news, talk, inspire,
art, food, teach, comedy, and First Scope (see fig. 10).
From these search words, we can see that the content on Periscope is mainly focused on
entertainment, social networking, interests, and public opinion. Below these categories, there are
numbers telling viewers how many live streams are currently available in each category. As
shown on the page of live streams (see figure. 11), each live stream contains a title, name of the
broadcaster, number of current viewers, and a screenshot of the live stream automatically
generated every few seconds.
Since live streams can also be live simultaneously on Twitter, hash tags can also be added.
In this case, the live stream can be linked to a specific event or catchword in Twitter. However,
not all live streams show keywords or tags. In the video page of Periscope, only one live
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streaming event will be shown on the top, which is promoted by the APP (see fig. 12). Below
that is a list of recorded videos of live streams that have ended recently. These videos are tagged
on the right corner of the category that they belong to.
Based on observation of live streams on Periscope, the content is not limited to indoor
scenes or events such as medication, monologue talks, and music playing. There are also many
outdoor scenes such as sightseeing views, sports games, and events. A lot of the video content is
in English, but there are other languages as well. There are even many live streams that take
place in a professional radio or TV studio. For example, JSL News addresses professional news
broadcasting to the audience (see fig. 13). What is special about Periscope in terms of content is
that it is also used by companies to do branding and marketing. Spotify, for instance, posted a
“behind-the-scenes video with Irish folk singer Conor O'Brien from the band Villagers”
(Johnson 2015). Others include Red Ball, Doritos, Benefit Cosmetics, Adidas, General Electric,
Ralph Lauren, and etc (Siu 2017).
Figure. 10. Periscope Search Screenshots.
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Figure. 11. Periscope Live Streams Screenshot. Figure. 12. Periscope Video Page Screenshot.
Figure. 13. Periscope Live Stream – JSL Screenshot.
Why - Motivation
What attracts users to use Periscope in addition to broader vision and entertainment are
(1) its close connection to Twitter, and (2) that it can be a perfect tool for digital marketing. The
first one is internal, as it fits the users’ need to expand their connections so that more people can
see live streams. After Twitter acquired Periscope, it became an integrated part of the live
30
streaming function on Twitter. Videos can be live on Twitter at the same time as they are live on
Periscope. As stated on the blog by Kayvon Beykpou, CEO and co-founder of Periscope,
“We’re making it easier to see what’s happening by bringing Periscope broadcasts — both live
and replays — directly into Tweets” (2016). Twitter, a platform with 328 million monthly active
users in the first quarter of 2017 (Statista 2017), can surely give broadcasters on Periscope a
larger audience.
Since most people already have a Twitter account, and they can log in with Twitter and
share live stream to the connections they already have on Twitter, they are more motivated to use
Periscope than other live streaming APPs. Connecting and synchronizing live streaming on a
major social media platform helps the broadcasters to reach out to more viewers. In addition to
individual users who want to share what they see in their world, this live streaming platform is
also attractive to companies as a branding tool. Through live streaming, companies are not only
promoting themselves to viewers, they are building a face-to-face communication with them, and
this can be more effective than traditional marketing methods. This motivation is external, as the
companies intend to transfer the attention they receive during live stream to material gains.
How - Process
The process to start a live stream on Periscope is very straightforward and clear. The
settings before one can launch the live stream are very simple so that users can start within a few
minutes. For broadcasters, they are first guided to write a broadcast title with a few description
words for their upcoming broadcast. Then they can choose whether they want to share their
location, whether their live stream allows comments from others, and whether to synchronize
their live stream on Twitter (see fig. 14). In addition to public broadcasts, which everyone can
search and watch, broadcasters can also select the private mode so that the upcoming broadcast
will only be available to those who have been selected. (see fig. 15).
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Figure. 14. Periscope - Start Broadcast Screenshot. Figure. 15. Periscope - Private Broadcast.
4.1.3 Comparison and contrast
By looking at Inke and Periscope from the four aspects — who, what, why, and how —
both similarities and differences can be observed. In general, the two APPs are similar in their
target users, user generated content in the APPs and the basic functions including external
connections, interactive design, and incentives measures to users.
In terms of differences, mainly three can be observed. A very distinctive feature of the
Chinese app, Inke, is its complicated profiting system, which allows broadcasters to profit from
their viewers through this platform. How this profiting system works can be reflected by the acts
of users, the content of live streams, and other designs of the APP. Another difference lies in the
broadcasters of these two platforms. They are developed to meet different live streaming needs
from the users, so they have their own purposes and intention.
The users, design and functions of the APPs can also reveal part of the business model of
these two APPs. Although these live streaming APPs are built upon the same technology, and are
published around the same time period. They are imprinted with distinctive characters due to the
differences of the social environment where they are developed. The following paragraphs will
discuss these similarities and difference in detail with reference of the findings above about each
APP in terms of the four questions: who, what, why, and how.
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There are mainly three similarities between Inke and Periscope based on the previous
analysis about their users, content, and APP designs.
The first one is that the users of the APPs are mainly the young generation, the most
energetic and creative population. On the one hand, they have strong ability to accept new things
and are quick learners of the new technology. Thus, they are able to understand the operation of
the APPs and discover all the functions provided. On the other hand, they are more eager to
show themselves on a wider stage and connect themselves to the world. Not everyone has the
chance to step on a real stage to show himself. These live streaming APPs provide them with free
and flexible stages to show him or herself, or what they are seeing to the outer world almost at
anytime and at any location.
Secondly, both of the APPs rely heavily on UGC that is solely created by the users of the
APPs (whether individuals or companies), rather than on the content created or owned by the
APPs. Since live streaming requires real-time interactions, it is difficult to publish professionally
generated content which is programmed in advance. It is worth mentioning that although many
companies use these platforms to serve the purpose of branding and marketing, the content they
create is still counted as UGC rather than professionally made because the APPs are just a
channel connecting them to a larger audience, rather than the co-producers of the content.
The third similarity is the basic functions of the two APPs. They can both be connected to
other social media platforms and there is not much difference in the functions they provide
during after a live stream is created. As live streaming APPs are part of social networking, they
do not present themselves as isolated APPs. Live streams on Periscope can be synchronized on
Twitter, which means they can be part of the interaction in the users’ Twitter networks. Although
live streams on Inke can only be watched on Inke, the URLs of the live streams can be shared to
multiple social media platforms and people will be redirected to the web version to watch the
live stream. These two live streaming APPs also encourage the connection between broadcasters
and viewers. Viewers can make comments or ask questions by commenting under the live stream,
and broadcasters can either reply to them by words or verbally. Not only can they communicate
and interact with each other during the live stream, they are encouraged to develop personal ties
through subscription. Moreover, both APPs are aware of the importance of the users’ loyalty.
They both give incentives to their users. Periscope’s VIP program provides its popular
broadcasters several privileges over regular users that will help them attract more viewers, and
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Inke combines elements of “gamification” into its user management system, encouraging them to
unlock badges by more engagement within the APP.
The basic designs, the target users, and the content type of these two APPs are very
similar; however, how people use them and what the developers’ intent to do with the APPs are
very different.
The first difference is that Inke has a very complicated in-app profiting system that allows
broadcasters to profit directly from the viewers, while Periscope is purely designed for sharing
and networking. The developer of Inke tried very hard to create an environment where viewers
show their affection to the live stream through gifting. In the individual user profile, there are
two accounts, one allows the user to purchase diamonds that can be exchanged into gifts, and
another that calculates profits and exchanges the amount into money. In addition, Inke itself can
directly profit from in-app gift purchases and the exchange rate differences of virtual currency
and RMB. Although Periscope can profit from putting sponsored content in the front, it does not
earn money from its mass users.
It can be said that Inke is very profit-oriented so that many designs of the APP are to
encourage in-app purchases and gifting. During the live stream, Inke offers viewers 24 choices of
gifts. According to some users, once a live stream starts, Inke will automatically assign virtual
viewers to make the live stream more popular so that the actual viewers will stay. Some
broadcasters cheat by hiring somebody to send gifts in order to induce the actual viewers to give.
On Inke, there are several tabs indicating the categories of the live streaming content. By clicking
into the live streams in each category, a similar mode of live stream can be observed. Usually,
the broadcasters are young attractive females. They do some performance from time to time, and
constantly stop to welcome the VIP viewers that have just entered the room, thank somebody for
the expensive gifts, or urge viewers to subscribe to them. From both the design of the APP and
the acts of the broadcasters, an inclination towards profit is very obvious. In comparison,
Periscope has no functions related to profiting. How viewers like a live stream is measured by
hearts (which are free) received rather than the profit gained.
Secondly, there is great difference in the roles of broadcasters in both APPs. The
broadcasters on Periscope live stream because they want to show what they see in their life to a
larger audience. What they intend to show is the real life, for example, their opinions, the views
in front of them, or an event taking place. On Inke, their purpose is earning profit and becoming
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web celebrities, only letting viewers see the best of them. The first purpose of profit seeking can
be clearly seen from the discussions in its profiting system above. It can also be reflected by
broadcasters’ behaviors while live stream. The second one can be reflected also by the design of
the APP and by broadcasters themselves. There is a new term in China called “web celebrity
face,” which refers to the standard beauty look with big eyes, pale skin, pointing nose, and awl-
shaped face. Almost all the female broadcasters present themselves to the viewers with this
standard beautiful face. They usually wear heavy makeup. In order to satisfy this need, Inke has
auto beautification function, which further beautifies them into this standard. The APP helps to
present what the viewers want to see and what the broadcasters want to show. On Inke, beauty is
almost commercialized as personal capital to attract material gains.
Thirdly, what is unique about the Inke is part of its business model revealed by the recent
Sakura Muse competition and profiting system. For Periscope, its developer does not profit
directly from its users, but for Inke it not only benefits from the gifting system in the APP, it also
tries to benefit offline. In its in-APP profiting system, Inke draws profit from the difference in the
exchange rate between RMB and Inke diamonds when users purchase diamonds and exchange
them into RMB. They can also invest the money that has not been withdrawn by the users into
other profitable projects. The recent Sakura Muse competition aimed to bring its most popular
online broadcasters to offline activities and entertainment shows, which also attracted the loyal
viewers of those broadcasters offline and guaranteed the profit Inke earned offline. By doing this,
the APP is also trying to transfer its broadcasters into celebrities that can help them make more
profit in the longer run.
Live streaming is an online show of the reality. The functions, users, external connections,
and content of Inke and Periscope reflect the similarities and differences of the two APPs in
multiple aspects, including the intention of the developers, the mindset of the young users in a
certain society, and the features of user generated content in China and Western countries.
4.2 Short Video Mobile Applications
The second pair of APPs to be analyzed is short video APPs Meipai and Instagram.
These two APPs are not simply tools for users to make better short videos, but are social
networking APPs that aim to make videos part of people’s social life. Although Meipai started as
mainly a video editing tool and Instagram was originally a platform for photo sharing, they have
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now evolved into major short video platforms in China and the Western countries. The following
analysis will discuss these APPs from the following criteria: who, what, why, and how.
4.2.1 MeiPai (China)
Meipai is a mobile APP developed in May 2014 (Talking Data 2014) by Meitu Company,
which started with another leading selfie/photo editing APP. Just like other video APPs, it also
has a web version that allows users to watch and search for videos. The name “Meipai” in
Chinese means to make beautiful videos, which is a vivid description of what it does. What it
intends to do is to provide as many alternatives as possible to make users look better in their
videos. In its APP description, it says, “You are the next super web celebrity we are looking for”
(Myapp_Meipai 2017).
Meipai won a huge success in attracting users in China. Within nine months after it went
online, its user amount broke the 100 million mark, which took Instagram 2.5 years to reach
(Woshipm 2017). Originally, it was an APP that allowed users to make short videos, but in
January 2016 it also developed live streaming functions. Now, Meipai promotes itself as the
most popular short video community that provides live streaming services to make users look
gorgeous and super trending original short videos (Meipai 2017). Compared to other short video
applications in the Chinese market, what is special about Meipai is its strong editing functions
since the company started in the field of photo editing in the first place. When it was first
launched, its slogan “a ten-second video can be a blockbuster (Jacky 2016)” caught people’s
great attention. It provides video editing tools like auto beautification, smart rendering, best
filters, auto background music matching, and themed animation effects (Meipai_about 2017),
which are easy to understand and simple to use even for the elder generation.
APPs are always developing new functions so that they can keep their users’ attention.
Meipai extended itself to live streaming services. Since live stream is a just a new function added
to Meipai based on its large user community and an extension of its original business to keep up
with the trend in the video industry, its live streaming functions will not be discussed in this
thesis. Therefore, the next paragraphs will analyze this APP as only a short video application.
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Who - Users
According to Ebrun news, until 31 December 2016, Meipai had 114 million monthly
active users. In the first month of 2017, that number rose to 160 million. The average time users
spent on Meipai was 28 to 36 minutes every day, an increase from 15 to 27 minutes in 2015.
Until the end of 2016, users uploaded videos of various kinds for more than 510 million times.
In October 2016, videos on Meipai were viewed for more than 7.9 billion times, with 4.6
billion likes and 150 million interactions. More than 10,000 web celebrities, 750 celebrities, and
1,000 public organizations interact with subscribers and public through Meipai videos (Ebrun
2017).
For new users, Meipai would invite then to login with their mobile phone or other social
media accounts such as WeChat, QQ, and Weibo. It is surprising that users can also login with
Facebook, a platform that is inaccessible in China (see fig. 16). Clearly, the purpose is to attract
overseas users outside of China. Meipai not only has a large user community domestically, it is
also actively expanding the oversea market.
In the APP, every user has a profile page to record his/her activities, including posting,
reposting, subscription, likes, mentions, comments, and IMs (see fig. 17). In this page, users are
also allowed to manage the unpublished video drafts for future use, finds friends who are also
using Meipai, and review liked videos. “My Wallet” is a new function that appeared together
with Meipai live stream. For now, users are unable to profit with short videos. If a user clicks the
top column of the profile, there is also a personal page where users can edit in their own styles
and where other users can see past Meipai videos and reposts. In addition to profiling, Meipai
also provides users guidance to make better videos. “Meipai University” provides manuals for
newcomers to learn how to use it, suggestions for regular users on how to make a popular short
video, experience sharing from senior users, etc. It also recommends other video editing tools
that can be used together with Meipai to make the video more fun. We can see both from the
statistics and the settings in the APP that Meipai is not only a video editing tool for individuals,
but also a community that ties users closely together in the APP.
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Figure. 16. Meipai Login Screenshot. Figure. 17. Meipai Profile Page Screenshot.
What - Content
According to the 2016-2017 China Short Video Market Research Report issued by
iiMedia Research, 2016 is the year in which short videos break out. In the current state, the
content of short videos published is focused on low threshold fields such as amusement, gourmet,
and makeup (iiMedia Research 2017). Although there is not much statistics about the content of
short videos being published on Meipai, we can look into the categories provided in the APP to
see what content users have uploaded. On the channel page of Meipai, users can search short
videos of their own interests. Except for the category “live”, all the other 15 categories are for
short videos (see fig. 18). There are ChiShow (eating show), Funny, Cosmetic, Gourmet, Music,
Dance, Stunner, Baby, Pet, DIY, Celebrity, Dressing, Game, and Sports. In these categories, two
are about food (ChiShow and Gourmet), two are about fashion (Cosmetic and Dressing), and
another two are about beauty (Stunner and Celebrity). If one scrolls down, there will be an
endless list of videos organized and gathered by trending themes, keywords, or specific events
currently taking place, for example, “how my mother used to look”, “Amazing Dance
Competition”, and “ever changing backgrounds.”
Just like what iiMedia said in its report, we can see from these categories that short
videos on Meipai are mainly focused on UGC that can be easily created by mass users. In
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addition to content related to daily life, there are also categories such as music, dance, gaming,
and sports that require certain skills or talents, adding to the diversity of short videos. The list of
recommended videos below is also a complement to standardized categories. Content on Meipai
is expanding in terms of both the amount, and diversity and depth, and is a combination of
entertainment, social networking, interests, and public opinions.
Figure. 18. Meipai Content Categories Screenshots.
Why - Motivation
People use Meipai not only because it is an effective tool to make fancy short videos and
share, but more importantly, it can create a community where people with the same interests
gather together and communicate with each other. Users’ motivation to use Meipai are mainly
internal. They want to show their best side to their friends. In Meipai, users can easily share the
videos with one click to multiple social media platforms, including WeChat, Weibo, and
Facebook. They can even save the edited videos to their phones and directly post them onto the
other platforms. In this way, those short videos have become part of the content of their social
media posts.
Another motivation of users is the sense of belonging given by its complete community
building in the APP. Once users are logged in, they can find friends in their connections on other
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social media platforms that are also using Meipai, or directly invite them if they have not used it
before (see fig. 19). In this way, users are allowed to create their own Meipai friend community.
In addition, we can see that Meipai has merged a lot of social media functions into its
APP. It shows users how many likes they have received, and encourage users to like others’
video in order to get more likes themselves. It also shows how you are mentioned by other users,
for example friend requests. Users can even unlock the function to send instant messages to other
users after completing three assigned tasks (see fig. 20).
What makes Meipai community more united is the manuals provided by the APP.
“Meipai University” provides users with guidelines on how to start, how to make a popular short
video, how to live stream, how to get Meipai verification, frequently asked questions and etc.
Meipai puts an emphasis in creating and maintaining it user community, encouraging them to
expand their connections within the APP and also providing them necessary support in making
short videos of better quality, which in return can increase the loyalty of users.
Figure. 19. Meipai Friend Invitation Screenshot. Figure. 20. Meipai Instant Message Screenshot.
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How - Process
There are a total of four kinds of content that users can create and upload on Meipai: live
stream, short video, 10-second poster, and photo. Live streams and photos will not be analyzed
since they do not belong to short video.
There is time mode settings to short videos on Meipai, which are “10 second mobile
video (MV)” and “5 minute” (see fig. 21 and fig. 22). When designing short videos, users can
either import videos from local files and crop them into the proper length, or start recording in
the APP directly. Before recording, users can insert facial recognition stickers, select the
background music for the video, and turn off the default auto beautification. After recording,
users will be led to the editing page. For 10-second MV, users can select filters to adjust the tone
of the video and add special effects to enhance the style (see fig.23). For 5-minute videos, users
are unable to add special effects, but can add subtitles and speed up the video. After editing, the
last step is to publish and share the short video. Users can set the cover for their short video,
which is similar to the album cover page. In addition to caption, users are encouraged to tag their
video so that more people can see the video. Locations, emojis, mentions, and links can also be
inserted just like other social media platforms. The 10-second poster is a new variation of the
basic short video function, which provides users several animation poster templates with filters
and effects (see fig. 24).
In addition to the current functions, Meipai constantly develops new features to provide
users with a changing experience. In April, Meipai put its “ever changing background” function
to beta test. With this new function, users can insert moving background and animation emojis
while recording. Meipai has also claimed to be the first APP in China to realize real time
accurate cutouts (Bobofu 2017). It indeed offers many choices for its users to create various
kinds of short videos. The creating process on Meipai is not only individual, but can be
collaborative when people make videos as a response to hash tag campaigns.
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Figure. 21. Meipai 10-second MV Screenshot. Figure. 22. Meipai 5-minute Video Screenshot.
Figure. 23. Meipai Editing Screenshot. Figure. 24. Meipai 10-Second Poster Screenshot.
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4.2.2 Instagram (West)
Instagram is also a mobile APP that allows user to share photos and videos. It was
purchased by Facebook in 2012. When first launched in 2010, it was developed only for iOS
systems, and the Android version came out two years later. The APP attracted one million users
within two months after its official launch. Originally, it was an APP for users to share photos
only. Instagram video was introduced in 2013, which immediately attracted a huge amount of
new users (Desreumaux 2014). In its own description, it describes itself as “a simple, fun &
creative way to capture, edit & share photos, videos & messages with friends & family”
(Instagram 2017).
However, it is not only a creative way to share things with people who are already in
one’s daily connections, users can also “discover accounts from all over the world that are
sharing things you love” (Google Play_Instagram 2017).
Instagram also has a web version, allowing users to view others photo or video posts and
manage their own accounts. Since Facebook now owns Instagram, it is closely connected with
one’s Facebook account. Users are encouraged to follow more people in their contact lists so that
more people can see their posts. What makes Instagram more popular is Instagram introduced
“story” 2016 to solve the problem of over posting. Users can post photos or videos anytime in a
day as many as they want without flooding the feeds. The stories one posts will not appear in the
profile grid or in the feed, but can only be seen when friends click on one’s profile photo. The
likes and comments on those stories are directly sent to users as private messages rather than
public ones (Instagram 2016). Despite of the fact that Instagram was first and foremost a photo
sharing platform and then a video sharing platform, short videos have obviously become a very
essential part of content in the APP. In the following paragraphs, I will mainly look at the
functions related to videos on Instagram.
Who - Users
Instagram’s number of users has undergone exponential growth since it was launched.
Fueled greatly by Instagram story, it now has 700 million active users per month. It took only
four months for this number to jump from 600 million to 700 million. The United States has the
most Instagram users, followed by Brazil, United Kingdom, and Japan, with 80 percent of its
users now outside of the U.S.
In addition to regular users, Instagram has attracted over one million active advertisers
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from top brands (Constine 2017). According to the statistics provided by Omnicore, 68 percent
of Instagram users are female. Of all Internet users aged between 18 and 29, 28 percent use
Instagram, while 4 percent between 30 and 49 use it. For corporate users, 49 percent brands are
using Instagram to advertise (Aslam 2017). In general, there are more female users than male
users, and users on Instagram are global.
In the APP, its close ties with Facebook can be observed. There are two ways users can
login on Instagram, with email or phone number and with their Facebook account. After logging
in, users will go through a series of settings to find and connect to their Facebook friends. In the
profile page (see fig. 25), users can discover other users in their contacts at anytime, and they
will be reminded if one of their friends joined on Instagram. Users can see the past posts, saved
photos or videos, their followers and followings. There are also privacy settings to hide a
Instagram story from selected people, or to not allow others to reply (see fig. 26). What is special
for regular users is the option to switch to Business Profile (see fig. 27), which is designed for
advertisers. If the user’s Instagram account is connected to his/her Facebook page, he/she can
monitor the performance of his/her posts and how they are received by the followers. From what
users are allowed to do to manage their accounts, the users not only take Instagram as a platform
where friends share and connect, but also a channel through business communicates with
potential customers. Individual users are given full chance to be connected to their original
networks and explore more interesting people.
Figure. 25. Instagram Profile Page Screenshot. Figure. 26. Instagram Story Settings Screenshot.
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Figure. 27. Instagram Business Tools Screenshot.
What - Content
The content on Instagram is mainly photos and videos, whether in the feed or in users’
Instagram stories. Not all photos and videos created on Instagram are generated by common
users, some are also sponsored photos and videos aiming for advertising. Although there are
more photo posts than video posts, video is still important. According to Omnicore statistics, five
million videos were uploaded on Instagram within 24 hours after the introduction of video
function (Omnicore 2017). The following will only look at the video contents in this APP.
In the search page of the APP, popular posts and popular Instagram accounts will be
recommended to users, but the photos posts and video posts are mixed together (see fig. 28).
Although users can search people, tagged posts, or posts at a certain location that are most
related to that search words, there are explicit categories of videos where users can directly select
(see fig. 29).
It can be observed from Instagram that the posts are not arranged according to the
content type, but mainly based on the users who create the content and their connections. No
statistics about what kind of content Instagram provides can be found, but the blog posts about
the types of content that can better drive engagement on Instagram indicates the popular types of
posts.
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In the blog post Instagram Post Ideas: 6 Types of Content That Work , the author
mentions that behind-the-scenes content, product features, lifestyle shots, quotes and text-based
content, daily hash tags, and other UGC are the content most likely to get attention. This
indicates that the content on Instagram is mainly about low threshold, non-professional fields
including entertainment, and social networking. From the analysis about the content on
Instagram and how the APP presents videos to users, it can be inferred that videos are not seen
as a separate part of Instagram, rather they are merged within the social networks. The spreading
of video not only relies on the content of the video, but also on the networks of people who post
it.
Figure. 28. Instagram Search Page Screenshot. Figure. 29. Instagram Search Screenshot.
Why - Motivation
The greatest motivation for users to use Instagram is its connection to Facebook, and also
the community built upon Instagram connections. To some extent, Instagram can be seen as an
extension of the network of Facebook. Users are recommended to follow their Facebook friends
once logged in. The first options for inviting friends and following people are from Facebook.
And only when one’s account is connected to Facebook can he/she have access to Instagram
business tools. In this way, users can instantly connect themselves to the networks they already
have on Facebook and their posts on Instagram can receive more responds.
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However, as an APP that is popular globally, it is connected to other major social media
platforms, which provides alternative sharing choices for users on different platforms. In addition
to globally popular platforms like Twitter and Tumblr, Instagram accounts can also be linked to
some country specific platforms such as Ameba in Japan, and VKontakte and OK.ru in Russia
(see fig. 30). We can see that Instagram is trying to build a universal photo and video community
that can at the same time be merged into the social connections users already have. In this large
user community, Instagram story provides the option to develop more intimate relations. Stories
of someone can only be seen when one clicks on the profile photo instead of appearing
automatically in the feed in time order. And users can also decide who they want to hide their
story from. In doing so, users can have a more exclusive community within the large user
community. Therefore, connection and community are the two reasons why users use Instagram
and why Instagram can attract larger numbers of users within short periods of time.
Figure. 30. Instagram Linked Accounts Screenshot.
How - Process
There are two ways in which users can upload videos to Instagram, one is regular video
post and the other one is Instagram story. For regular video posts in the feeds, users can record
for up to one minute. After recording, they will be led to the editing page to apply filter and add
cover for a video post (see fig. 31). No special effects or emoticons can be inserted to the video.
After that, users can either share the post to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, or share it directly to
friends exclusively (see fig. 32).
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There are more options for users to make videos in Instagram story (see fig. 33). In
Instagram story, “rewind” and “hands-free” are two options for making videos that can last for
15 seconds. The only difference between these two is that rewind will present the videos
recorded in reverse order. Before recording, users can choose stickers that can automatically
recognize faces and move in accordance with the faces (see fig. 34). After recording, users can
insert characters into the video including timers, location tags, temperatures, hash tags, and other
graphics. Some of the characters are real-time according to the settings of user’s phone. Subtitles
and drawings can also be added to the video (see fig. 35). However, these characters inserted will
not recognize the objects and move.
In general, Instagram only provides users with some simple tools to edit their videos,
which in return allow users to upload more instantly. In addition to individual content creating
process, collective, competitive, and collaborative creating also exist in the interactions of users.
The content one user posted can influence and inspire the content creation of others.
Figure. 31. Instagram Video Editing Page Screenshot. Figure. 32. Instagram Sharing Page.
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Figure. 33. Instagram Story Videos. Figure. 34. Instagram Facial Recognition Stickers.
Figure. 35. Instagram Story Stickers Screenshots.
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4.2.3 Comparison and Contrast
Meipai and Instagram are two most used APPs for video making and sharing in China
and in Western countries. They both aim to enrich users’ social life by providing new ways of
content creation. However, although they are similar in basic functions and design, they have
different focuses to meet the needs of their users. Instagram intends to merge itself into the
current social network by providing new options in creating contents. And Meipai aims to attract
users who want to appear more beautiful in stylish videos. The following paragraphs will discuss
the similarities and differences between these two APPs from the Chinese point of view.
The two APPs are similar in how they connect themselves to current popular platforms,
targeting customers, content types, combination of users, and basic functions provided to make
videos.
Firstly, both APPs are not simply platforms that provide users with tools to edit videos,
but also position themselves as an extension of the original social networks of users. And they all
try to create their own active user communities on this basis. They can be logged in with users’
other social media accounts and linked to that account so that users can be well connected to
whom they are already familiar with in this new platform. And users will be constantly reminded
to invite more friends to join them in the APPs. For users, these two APPs are not a completely
new place where they need to start and built their own interpersonal circle from the ground.
Instead, they are tools enriching users’ social life without distorting the connections they already
have. They merge naturally into users’ social life.
Meipai and Instagram are also similar in their marketing strategy. Unlike other APPs in
China that focus mainly on attracting domestic users, Meipai also paid attention to its overseas
markets. Facebook is the choice appears on the top when logging into the APP. For Instagram, n
addition to connecting User’s Instagram account to Facebook, it also provides alternatives for
users in countries such as Russia and Japan to connect their accounts to major social media
platforms.
In terms of the content users post in both APPs, most of them are about topics that are
close to one’s daily life and it is not professionally made. It can be said that the content is mainly
focused on low threshold fields: food, funny videos, beauty and dressing, sightseeing views, etc.
And almost all videos are random snapshots from their users rather than well designed scenes.
However, on Meipai, there is a trend that content has started to shift towards more professional
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fields such as games and sports.
The user communities of Meipai and Instagram are also similar, containing mass regular
users and VIP celebrities. Most of the users are regular users connected with each other by their
own social networks and intimate friend circles. There are also VIP accounts for senior users
who are often celebrities with large numbers of loyal followers. They post videos on a regular
basis, and their videos are often very well designed. On Instagram, there are also brands posting
sponsored photos or videos for advertising. In this way, the brands can avoid the traditional hard
sale and achieve better marketing results by building a better brand image and through sharing
buyer experiences.
Lastly, the two APPs share some of the functions for videos users. Not only do they allow
users to record videos in the APP real time, they also provide editing tools that can make the
videos more attractive and stylish within a few simple clicks. Hash tags can be inserted in the
video, or in the video caption to grab attention and possibly make the videos more spreadable.
And both APPs present the videos users create as a personal album, as it requires users to select
cover pages for their videos to better represent the content. It can be inferred that as social
networking video APPs, they have a number of similarities in their basic function design,
targeting users, and product positioning.
Although both Meipai and Instagram are similar in many aspects since they aim to enrich
people’s social life with videos, they are very different in what they provide to the users, what
they emphasize, and what extras are available.
Firstly, Meipai aims to provide users various kinds of short videos and a tool to make
stylish videos, while Instagram aims to provide users with a new way of sharing within their
social networks. The latter puts more emphasis on the social connections of users instead of the
quality of their videos. This can be proved by the relation between Instagram and Facebook and
the fact that the content on Instagram is not sorted by category but is shown together with the
people who posted it. In comparison, Meipai is first a video editing tool, then part of users’ social
network. Meipai has a complete set of editing functions to make videos splendid, and the videos
on Meipai can be searched and viewed by category or by keywords. In this sense, Instagram
relies more on the connections and social networks of users, and Meipai relies more on the
abundant video content created by its users and the strong editing functions that has made that
possible.
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Secondly, Instagram is more a platform where users post videos to share their daily life
with their friends, while Meipai focuses more on young people who want to look good and
present a good image to others. Although Instagram also provides some stickers that can
automatically recognize the faces appearing in the camera, the choices are limited. In Meipai,
facial beautification is the default setting when faces are recognized, and users can choose from
more than 20 stickers. Its new function, 10-second poster, and other newer functions like “ever
changing backgrounds” further prove Meipai’s goal to make everyone look beautiful and to build
the next celebrity. The company is developing more functions that is enabled by its advanced
facial recognition technology. Compared to Instagram, Meipai is more powerful in terms of
editing and modifying faces in the recorded videos.
Lastly, Instagram is often used by brands to advertise, which is not the case on Meipai.
Corporate users can also register with Instagram, while almost all users on Meipai are individual
users. This can be explained by the fact that Instagram is applications based on the social
relations one already has rather than a new platform that encourages users to take good photos or
make videos. The connections on Instagram provide good public relations resources for brands
promotions. On Meipai, there are also users paid by small and local brands to recommend
products. They do not present themselves as one from the brand, but as buyers sharing user
experience with the audience, similar to word-of-mouth marketing.
5. Conclusion
The current explosion of user-generated content is inseparable with the popularity and
improved performances of smart phones and Internet data accessibility. This is especially true to
the development of videos APPs that rely heavily on content created by users such as short
videos and live streaming. Equipped with high resolution front and back cameras and 3G/4G
data connection, smart phones have made it possible for users to create and share video content
without any limitation of time and location (Sohu_cnscdc.com 2016). Under these conditions,
various kinds of video APPs have emerged and have become essential part of people’s social life.
The two pairs of UGC based video APPs being analyzed in this thesis are the
representatives of short video APPs and live streaming APPs from China and Western countries.
As they are emerging APPs, they have not been widely discussed by scholars in academic circles,
and there is still very few academic works that analyze these platforms in detail. On the one hand,
52
these APPs are lenses through which one can see the people and world around in a different way.
On the other hand, they are also mirrors reflecting the development of video APPs in different
societies.
Looking at the users (who), content (what), motivation (why), process (how) of Inke,
Periscope, Meipai and Instagram, we can observe great differences between these similarly
designed APPs. Since these APPs represent the emerging video APP industry, the general
development and features of the whole industry in China and in Western countries can also be
revealed. Speaking from the Chinese perspective, the Western videos APPs are far less powerful
than their Chinese counterparts in terms of editing and built-in modification functions. Also,
there is a lack of independence since they rely heavily on the already well-established giants,
Twitter and Facebook. Furthermore, they do not have a clear business model for profiting.
Although they can profit from the advertisements, users are not yet considered to be paying users.
In a broad sense, all four video APPs being researched in this thesis fit into John Doerr’s
prediction upon the Internet industry, which is “SoLoMo.” Online video, as an important part of
the Internet industry, has also followed this development path for the past years. Most video
applications nowadays can meet users’ social needs, allow location-based functions that allow
them to discover videos near them, and are indeed mobile, as they not only are widely available
in APP stores for mobile phones, but also allow for the free upload of UGC by individual users.
By looking at the analysis of Inke, Periscope, Meipai, and Instagram from who, what,
why, and how, they all fit well into the framework of “SoMoLo.” They are all social, mobile, and
local.
These video APPs are mobile in the first place because they are designed for mobile
applications, which allow their users to create content and interact with others at anytime,
anywhere. Social and mobile can be reflected in all of the four aspects of the APPs.
Firstly, from the user statistics and what users can do within the APPs, the features of
being social and local can be seen. All four of these APPs encourage their users to connect to
their friends, or invite their friends to join them. In the profile pages, there are detailed records of
interactions between the user and his/her friends. Also, the APPs all ask users for access to their
locations and provide the option for them to fill in locational information. By doing so, the APPs
can recommend users with videos or other users near them. Thus, it can be said that videos are
not only videos on the Internet; they are also local with locational identity. The content on these
53
video APPs and how the content is presented to the users is also a combination of social, local,
and mobile.
Secondly, once short videos are published and a broadcast is live in the APPs, it becomes
social in that other users can watch and interact with the content creator. In the four APPs, the
content can all be searched by location, and location is part of the algorithm of the videos being
recommended to a specific user. In live streams, broadcasters and viewers can bond and
communicate simultaneously through commenting and responding while the broadcasters are
delivering the content. The sending and receiving of gifts is also part of the social interaction.
Thirdly, the motivation of users to use these video APPs is social. Driven by either peer
pressure or sense of belonging, people are more likely to use an APP when they can be well
connected to their friends. These APPs all allow users to share videos and link their account to
major social media platforms in their own countries. There are often buttons for major social
media platforms so that users can share the video directly to their social connections. The videos
are compatible on the social media platforms so that people can watch them within that platform
on a redirected webpage. They do not need to go to the video APP to open the shared video. All
of the APPs do not simply aim at being a place where people can watch videos, but building a
virtual community.
Lastly, the process of video creation features social and local. It can be seen from the
previous analysis that the last step of video or live stream creation is sharing and descriptions.
Users can also choose whether to share their location so that their videos can be searched by
location, and be recommended to more potential viewers nearby. Being local connects the users
from a virtual community to a actual one around them.
Although the current development of video APP industry in China and in Western
countries both follow the trend of “SoLoMo,” the landscapes of emerging UGC-based video
APPs are still very distinctive in terms of the companies themselves, their users, and their
business models.
Generally speaking, these video APPs in western countries rely greatly on two major
social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook. Twitter purchased the live streaming APP
Periscope, and Facebook owns Instagram. The reason why these two video APPs can gain so
much popularity has a lot to do with their exclusive connection to those already well established
platforms. These APPs can be seen as the extension of the functions of Twitter and Facebook. In
54
other words, these two social networking platforms are too dominant, and it is very hard for a
new APP to form its own user community without any connection to the users’ original social
networks. And becoming part of the social media giants means that they do not have to struggle
too much about profiting directly from their users and develop its own user community.
For the Chinese APPs, a very obvious feature is that they are profit-oriented. Both APPs
have their own profiting system. Inke has a complicated profiting system exchanging the virtual
currency into RMB. Although the short videos on Meipai do not allow users to profit from the
popularity of their videos so far, live stream on Meipai allows earnings. In the earnings account
of a user’s profile, there are two kinds of possible earnings, one from Meipai short video and the
other from live stream. The former kind is not open yet, but its existence implies the potential to
make short videos profitable. Not only do these platforms attract users with possible earnings,
the APPs themselves also profit from those in-APP purchases and exchanges. In comparison,
neither of the two APPs being analyzed in from Western countries allows users to directly profit
from other users in the APPs. The fact that the developers of the Chinese APPs are less
dependent on the major social media companies in China is part of the reason why they are more
profit-oriented. They need to find their own way of profiting in order to survive in the market.
Also, closely involving their users in its profiting system is a very good way to maintain the
stickiness and loyalty of their users.
Another unique feature in the Chinese APPs is the facial beautification function. Whether
it is live stream or short video, facial beautification is the default setting. Aesthetic stereotype of
beauty can be clearly revealed. This default beauty makes everyone using the APPs look very
similar. Sometimes it even changes your faces too much that nobody can recognize you. Users
usually have the idea that they have to be beautiful so that they can present themselves to their
friends and the public. And this function is no doubt a virtual facial plastic surgery. Users can
perfectly hide themselves behind the filters and cameras. This kind of mentality prevents users to
show their true self and has to some extent made these APPs competing places of beauties, rather
than platforms of sharing and networking.
The meaning of this thesis lies in that it analyzes APPs from different countries from the
same perspective that is not often used by Western scholars when studying these APPs. Stepping
out the Western views and comparing similar APPs between different countries provide new
insights into the video APP industries. Rather than looking into the technical aspects of these
55
emerging video APPs, the analysis of this thesis can better reveal the social and cultural
implications of them within their own social contexts. By asking the questions of “who, what,
why, and how”, not only the unique features of the APPs can be observed, but also the
characteristics and mentality of their users can be reflected.
Although the UGC based video APP industries in both China and Western nations are
vigorously developing, there are still many problems or challenges in their ways forward. Thus
further questions can be raised on the basis of my findings in these APPs. For videos APPs in
both China and in the West, the content needs to be further studied. For now, the video content is
mainly concentrated on low threshold fields that is close to people’s regular daily life, but has the
tendency to develop in the more professional fields. It is also interesting to see how the content
on these video platforms shifts over time. Also, there are huge problems that are catching
people’s attention whether in making live streams and videos or in uploading, for example
privacy and legality issues and regulations in regard to these issues. In addition, it can be very
interesting to how in general the video media landscapes are different in China and in the West
and what factors contribute to the differences. The comparison in this thesis is a starting point for
more researches into the video media APPs in both spheres.
56
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