Wechat emoji 小鱼
WeChat and QQ can’t block users from sending photos, and this is an approach used in many referral programs. The transfer of users from Douyin is within Bytedance’s remit of control: for other platforms, users are able to generate unique cards with QR codes that direct friends to their respective profiles (if you go to the trouble of creating a custom avatar, it is included in the centre of the QR – fun! ). The transference of an existing network to a new platform is called carryover, and it’s exactly the same strategic lever WeChat employed when launching – QQ users were able to easily migrate their networks to the new platform. The no-brainer and most significant strategic move is to ensure that Duoshan users take their Douyin connections with them. The complementarity of the two platforms can be seen across key elements of the app experience, notably the onboarding flow and cross-app content push. Significantly, Bytedance has woven Duoshan into the Douyin experience. On Duoshan you can still create and share micro videos as well as still images - in fact it is complementary to Douyin - however there is a much stronger emphasis on social networking. The company built something new, and that new thing is Duoshan, a messaging app which has been described as a Snapchat clone. Given the need to create a social graph of its own, Bytedance effectively had two choices: shoehorn social features into Douyin, or build something new. Each user has a data profile that is stored in a graph database – this database is fundamental for powering such things as recommender systems which tell you who you are likely to know, who you are likely to match with, what you are likely to buy, what you are likely to watch etc. Graph Databases Make Sense of Data-Encoded RelationsĪ social graph is the network of relations that exists between users of a platform (you could see each user as a node of a network). This is a significant limitation for the app as social graphs are the secret sauce for social apps, enabling all sorts of service diversification.
Users are able to generate videos, share them to the user base and receive feedback and comments, but the focus on content creation and sharing as opposed to social networking limits the platform’s ability to build out a social graph. While Douyin is the champion of micro video, it has limited social features. According to Questmobile, as of December 2018 Douyin monthly active users stood at 426m with runner up Kuaishou (快手) drawing 285m.
Despite these initiatives Douyin remains a staple app among young Chinese Internet users alongside WeChat, with an active user base that dwarfs that of similar platforms. It later followed-up with the introduction of its own stories feature, though this is viewed more as a way to alleviate the decline in sharing on the moments feed by making content more transient and therefore less consequential, rather than outright turning WeChat into a micro video app. WeChat responded to the threat of Douyin firstly with its own micro video play called Weishi (微视).
There is a slight parallel here with Snapchat’s position relative to Facebook and Instagram before the latter copycatted the majority of Snapchat’s killer features. The dominant messaging app-turned lifestyle services platform WeChat is being challenged by the cool kid on the block, Bytedance, who’s runaway success with micro video app Douyin has turned it into cradle of attention for China’s youth.