An introduction to Bilibili

While videos are free to view on the platform, the registration process to be a commentator for Bilibili is perhaps the most demanding one for any social media platform today. It involves passing a 100 multi-choice questions test with at least 60 correct answers within an hour. Topics covered in the test include copyrights, commentary etiquette, pl... See more

Grossly simplified, it's the Chinese equivalent of Youtube. Except it's not. It's like if Youtube, Twitch, Steam, Patreon, TokyoPop and Netflix had a CRISPR-baby, and that baby was a weeb, but that weeb is also super down with Chinese Gen Z and is listed on the Nasdaq with a market cap of $15bn.

What is Bilibili?

But is it interesting?

Relative to western consumer tech companies, who tend to focus on “serving a function” as their core mission, Chinese companies tend to focus on “owning the user” as their core mission

Oh it's interesting - you need to pass a 100 questions entrance exam to be a member, it's a user-generated platform not dependent on ad revenue,

The other influential stakeholders for Bilibili on the platform we haven’t mentioned yet are the content creators (or Up group in Bilibili slang, short for uploaders). Without large volumes of advertising revenue, something that Bilibili lacks is how to compensate content creators adequately. New features that they have introduced to entice and ret... See more

Every single social platform in the west that I can think of focuses on reducing the registration friction, it seems like a no-brainer esp if your priority is the growth of the platform. Bilibili’s process seems counter-intuitive until you factor in that its aim is sustainable growth. Sustainable growth means that they want to let in dedicated memb... See more