Is Sina Weibo still saved?

A somewhat frustrated fact is that Sina Weibo is speeding away from the lives of ordinary users, or that she has never really walked into the lives of ordinary users.

Even if Twitter, the same kind of products, created the most exciting IPO in the scientific community this year, even if Ali acquired a 18% per cent stake, the in-house staff joked "finally found the Godfather" ... Still can not block Sina Weibo popularity and real active degree of rapid decline in the downturn, nearly six months of concern and discussion is not even better to follow the micro-letter Halo Competition Products-easy letter and contacts.

In contrast, the continuous line of brain function (such as letters) and the introduction of Taobao ads, are to illustrate the fact that Sina Weibo not only lost the future, but also forget why to start.

Apply Liang Shuming's old man's "will the world be okay?" and asked: Sina Weibo still have a chance to change? I try to talk about it from a regular user's point of view.

First, can you stand to help users solve the practical problem of the angle, rethink Sina Weibo?

I checked Baidu, Wikipedia's definition of Sina Weibo, also looked at Sina Weibo official profile, Baidu said, Sina Weibo is a launch by Sina, providing micro-blogging services class Twitter site; Wikipedia, Sina Weibo is a platform for information sharing, communication and access based on user relationships; Sina Weibo says Sina Weibo, the most influential social media platform in China, is a platform for information sharing, communication and acquisition based on user relationship. Users through the Web, WAP and a variety of clients, with no more than 140 words of text update information to achieve instant sharing.

Repeatedly understanding the above three definitions, I can not accurately describe how Sina Weibo to help users solve what problems. It revealed three different scenarios: information sharing, information dissemination, access to information, and a prerequisite: based on user relationships. Then, information sharing, information dissemination, information acquisition, which is the three scenarios, which is the first? What is the user relationship? are acquaintances, like-minded people, concerns and concerns, or? There is no clear articulation.

Let's go back to the definition of Twitter. In contrast, Wikipedia shows that Twitter is a social network and a microblogging service that allows users to update messages that are no more than 140 characters long, and these messages are also called tweets. It is clear from the above definition that Twitter is primarily about encouraging users to update information and publishing micro-blogs, and that, in nature, Twitter also makes it clear that first is a social network. This differs greatly from the "social media platform" that Sina Weibo has defined, and also avoids the trade-off between product operation and design for the three different scenarios where users "share information, disseminate information and get information". Never underestimate the difference and sequencing of these three scenarios, because each sort will fundamentally change the operations strategy, product structure, and user experience.

Six months ago, a friend who had worked on Sina Weibo, asked me at the wine table: "Do you think Sina Weibo's microblog and Weibo are more important?" The answer I subconsciously thought was: it's more important to look at Twitter (but my answer is that Twitter is the most important thing), he nodded and told me, This issue has been in Sina Weibo has caused a great deal of discussion, and finally the major V-oriented operating strategy, explained that "see the micro-blog more important" within the Sina Weibo won greater recognition. Or, to win the recognition of the officer's consciousness.

Ok, say so much, we return to the point: Can you stand to help users solve the problem of the perspective of redefining Sina Weibo? In combination with Sina's traditional advantages and Sina Weibo several years down the operation effect, I think, Sina Weibo's focus should also fall on "help more ordinary users better share information", Whether the user's original intention is to brush the sense of existence, send help information or promote personal awareness, etc., with this premise, and then to help users to disseminate information, and let each other have the needs of users, through specific information, come together real, now information sharing, dissemination and access to the closed loop. It's also the two big weapons of Twitter's success: Information that makes users obsessed and communities of like-minded people.

I can understand that the background of Sina Weibo and Twitter is very different from the operating background, but the two products are so similar because of the logic behind the requirements. Sina must not use its own "media platform" positioning, retrograde change a real social gene of the mass products.

Over the past few years, Sina Weibo on the web side of the publishing box, has been writing "What's new to tell everyone," this sentence, but what the result? The result is that Sina Weibo rarely strengthens the product gene and enhances the user experience in the fundamental need of "releasing new things". The "new" source is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a handful of Big V and media Weibo, and even more frightening is that Sina Weibo has been behind the scenes, strengthening the star effect.

The result is a growing number of ordinary users, only look at the hair, and even do not see hair, there is no incentive to participate. Gradually shifted to a circle of micro-trust friends with more interaction and more real social relationships. Finally, even Big V and media platform have left.

How does a micro-letter work? Although the public platform is becoming more and more popular, but the micro-letter is really concerned about the common user's sense of participation and value. Just concluded the micro-trust public platform Development Conference, claiming to have been admitted 2 million + micro-trust public, next year can reach 3 million +. How many users are authenticated by Weibo? Public information reality is only 3 million, the real access to micro-blogging operating system of the V users, may also be a mere tens of thousands of. Can you really expect them to pry the Earth?

In my opinion, Sina Weibo has come to this day, a big reason is that the product operation is too utilitarian, or even completely beyond the product demand itself. This also reminds other to do the product's colleague, when the operation, has the good resources to be able to rely on, the product demand itself's attention degree is easy to reduce. For example, please chen a bottle of "and it is" repeated advertising, whether the goods are good or not, its market results can be expected in the short term. But in the long run there is no future. One is Chen is scarce irreplaceable, the second is Chen also have griping time. So, I always have a point of view in making products: a good product is definitely not dependent on a certain type of user, let alone a user.

We all know that the Internet is so fascinating, so to look forward to, the most important thing is that the Internet from the birth of the "everyone" gene, do not ask princely will phase, so that the world more and more flat, more and more flat, more and more information, more symmetrical, more and more transparent. Sina Weibo should not reverse the trend, and constantly compress the total number of users of the absolute subject of the value of ordinary users.

Second, Sina Weibo is the most should do?

As a product prospects are not clear, I feel quite good, but the heart is highly insecure front-line star products, hope through the "violent revolution" to reshape a Sina Weibo is not possible, and now only take the road to optimize the improvement. In this regard, I think of a two point: first, it is clear that Sina Weibo can provide users with the most core services, the second is to guide users to use the service for a long time.

First of all, Sina Weibo users can be divided into enterprise nature users (including Big V, Large), and ordinary individual users. For the former, Sina Weibo is a seemingly beautiful marketing platform, but for the latter, Sina Weibo is more like an occasional chance to step on the dog, was a big V forwarding, reply, comment Pro Fortunately, or simply be no reason to copy, plagiarism, reproduced not to mention the source of Vanity Fair.

So, in the past few years Sina Weibo, ordinary users are hard to get even the big V users one out of 10,000 of the return (of course, the real ecology is the case). Therefore, more and more ordinary users with the Big V after two or three years of reading books, weak and weak to escape back to the most reliable friend (circle) side. Left alone a few heads of public ao here. Is Sina Weibo really going to become China's biggest media platform? Only through specific content production groups to meet the continuing but not strong reading needs of the mass user? One-way without interaction, until the Sina Weibo into a source of no water, no wood of this?

Recently, the microblogging secretary repeatedly sent me letters, to promote a people cry "Orange V" plan.

The contents are as follows:

Orange V recommended plan for the day to start, add only 3 steps to recommend: 1, to their own marked by the industry label or interest tag, for example: Doctors, food, sports, 2, pay more attention to some people like you, such as your peers, and you have a common interest in the people, 3, more than the industry, interest-related micro-blog; okay, within 24 hours. , I'll let your fans find the door!

In fact, this is a no nutritional operation strategy, but I still follow the orders of the small secretary, the operation of three steps, it really gave me a few fans, but in the end, the plan is still targeted at "Orange V", and in fact, the most need fans, the most need to appease, the most need to be concerned about, is exactly what ordinary users, Because they are really not easy on Sina Weibo! But back to the original point of demand, users are not the fans, but the kind of attention, empathy, recognition, being found, being involved in the actual feelings.

Therefore, Sina Weibo is the most should be done is just to reactivate ordinary users, to strengthen the concept of Sina Weibo's core information sharing platform, to enhance the "release" of the core function of the experience, the current product, whether the Web side or the client, for ordinary users, are too heavy. Release is not enough attention, browsing information efficiency is not high, the chicken function is endless, countless.

Solve these problems at the same time, but also improve the release of data tracking and push, in this process, the protection of ordinary users of the first interest is copyright, the balance of large v users and ordinary users of the operation. Including the introduction of a similar "Orange v plan" for ordinary users of the promotional program, so that large V users to better find ordinary users, so that similar users to better come together, so that there is a clear intrinsic correlation between the information and users come together.

It is understood that Sina Weibo's current commercial path is better than expected, but I do not see any signs that ordinary users are willing or planning to stay on Sina Weibo for a long time. Real commercialization must be based on a sufficiently active user base. As for the so-called "to become the best media platform and content platform," It is also the case.

In the days before the Twitter IPO, the domestic media routinely focused on stock prices and total market capitalisation, but I have to Twitter to call the ordinary users of the decision to ring the clock, that a common but moving photos, the most powerful contrast to the current Sina Weibo's biggest problem is: no love.

Is there a chance for Sina Weibo to get better? There is, but the premise is first love, love your product, love your ordinary users. I'm not expecting Sina Weibo to do the same thing as Twitter. At least in the near future, the number of fans, the size of the title is no longer a natural barrier between the user communication and communication of a wall, so that focus on better realize the value of information sharing, dissemination, access to this virtuous circle, Let everyone who is willing to use Sina Weibo can find the right place through "information sharing, communication and access" and be happy to participate.

Author: Hochang, Weibo: @ Is and island Hochang