Problem
In 2005, the performance of many computers was not very high, and there were few talents proficient in computer technology. This reality gave rise to centralized platforms for news, forums, and blogs (which gradually evolved into platforms). Now, in 2023, the performance of computers is comparable to that of servers from the past. However, technology has not been widely accessible to the majority; instead, it has become increasingly concentrated and complex. Various platforms have evolved into mega-platforms, monopolizing their respective fields and dominating everything within them. And that's not enough—they continue to expand and encroach on each other. This evolutionary process closely resembles the evolution of human social organizational structures.
During this evolution, content has continuously increased across various platforms and continues to do so to this day. Platforms like Douyin and Tencent are constantly purchasing servers to expand capacity. I wonder: Is there a limit to this growth? Just like the current surplus in construction? We are now in the AI era, where content production capacity is tens or even hundreds of times greater than before. Can the increase in server storage keep up with the speed at which everyone uploads 4K videos?
Speculation
- Large companies, with nearly unlimited storage and bandwidth, encourage everyone to create more and upload high-quality content. They fully utilize their purchased servers, CDNs, and bandwidth to gain online traffic and sell advertisements. (This is currently the case with platforms like Bilibili and Douyin.)
- If most content creators master high-speed content production tools and produce original content daily, while the total daily consumption of traffic time across the country remains unchanged, the result would be a decrease in traffic allocation for everyone, even for those with high-quality content. Consequently, high-quality creators may start migrating. To reserve space for these creators, large companies might adopt a strategy of strict enforcement policies, banning violators outright to save space and bandwidth for eligible creators. This would reduce the company's operational costs. The idea is: you can come as you please, but I can kick you out at any time (by raising the standards of review algorithms and outcompeting you).
- Small creators who are kicked out migrate to other platforms, strengthening those platforms and making them competitive. This leads to platforms encroaching on each other.
- The scenario of platforms encroaching on each other persists, creating arbitrage opportunities in the process. Exploiting information asymmetry for arbitrage is a low-risk, high-reward model. When a platform reaches a certain scale, it may process this garbage or high-quality information because, by then, the platform already has enough original creators producing content daily. The "ant army" needs to step back. However, platforms like Bilibili, Douyin, WeChat, and Xiaohongshu are far from saturated, and the ant army is still insufficient. This evolutionary relationship closely resembles symbiosis in nature. The ant army, which repurposes and plagiarizes content, is like diligent bees constantly collecting pollen from one place and moving it to another, only to be swept away by the beekeeper (account suspension or permanent ban). They then move to another place, rebuild their nests, continue collecting, and complete cycle after cycle.
- Large content platforms have unique advantages. China's internet regulations have impacted the development of individual technical content. Most websites have disabled comments and blogs to avoid risks. Speaking out might lead to online harassment, legal trouble, job loss, etc. Therefore, producing garbage information, repurposing content, and selling useless knowledge have become uniquely high-quality projects. These have endured across various platforms, repeatedly banned but never eradicated, because they involve no risk, only rewards. As long as you work hard, you will reap benefits.
Follow-up
On August 30, 2023, TikTok Shop began restricting hosts to live streaming only on TikTok, discouraging simultaneous streaming on other platforms.
This indicates that TikTok has completed its computing power upgrade, enabling cross-platform simultaneous processing of data from multiple platforms. This enhances the platform's control over hosts, effectively creating a content monopoly. At the same time, it will also combat content repurposing.