“EversinceAdamandEvewereexiledfromtheGardenofEdenaftertastingtheforbiddenfruit,sexhasalwaysbeenthemainsourceofhumanity’sdesires,”SigmundFreudoncesaid.“Everythingwedo,wedoitforsexandvanity.”Asthesocialscenesinhumansocietyevolveandtransform,manyso-called"hook-up"appsaredevelopedandlaunchedintothemarketaccordingly.Andofcourse,hook-upappsdesignedforgaypeoplealsoflourishonthemobileplatform.
Attheendof2014,socialnetworkingappMomo,whichfocusesonthenetworkingbetweenstrangers,successfullylisteditsIPOonNASDAQ,becomingthedominatingpowerinitsareaasaresult.Interestingly,itwasalsoin2014thatventurecapitalcompaniessuddenlybecameextremelyinterestedinsocialnetworkingproductsdesignedforgaymen.BluedandZankwerethebrighteststarsamongChinesegaydatingappsandtheyhavebeenreceivingthemostattentioninthegaycommunity.InFebruary,2014,BluedreceiveditsSeriesAroundinvestmentofover10milliondollarsfromCrystalStream.LaterinJuly,Zankgot20millionRMBasitsSeriesAroundinvestment.Fourmonthslater,Apple’scurrentCEOTimCookcameoutpublicly.Andtheverynextday,BluedreceivedanotherUS$30millioninfundingfromUSventurecapitalcompanyDCMVentures.
It’ssaidthatbothapps’userbaseshavehitover10millionandnowaremarchingto20million.Besidesgaydatingapps,socialnetworkingappsdesignedforlesbianssuchasLeDo,LesPark,andTheLetchavealsofloodedthemarket.
BluedandZankarethetwomostpopulargaydatingappsinChina,generallyusedashook-upplatformsbytheirusers.Obviously,theircorefunctionisdecidedbytheuserproperty.
Atfirst,Zankhadasloganthatwent“It’smorethanjusthookingup!”Okay,thenherecomesthequestion:didZankextendusers’needsbasedonthehook-upfunctionZank’sfounder,LingJuedingwasveryhonestaboutthismatter:“Iftwopeoplereallylikedeachother,thentheywouldsurelyhookup.”
“Straightpeoplearedifferentfromgaymen.Theyaregenerallymoreuptight,sobeforeMomowaslaunched,moststraightpeopledidn’tknowthere’sasocialappforhookingup,”Lingadded,“Gaypeoplearequitetheopposite.Sexalwayscomesfirstbeforebuildingarelationship.However,gaymenaregettingseriousabouttheirlovelife.Theywantsomethingrealandsubstantial,especiallythoselivinginbigcities.Theycraveforgenuineemotionalattachments.”
Whenaskedabouthisopinionsonhookingup,GengLethoughtthatsexwssaprimitiveimpulseanddesireofhumanity.Simplyput,heregardeditasapartofthehumannature.However,healsomentionedthatifaproduct’scorefunctionwastohelppeoplegetlaid,thenthisproducthadsomeseriousproblemsthatneedfixing.
Geng’swayofthinkingexplainswhyBluednowisundertakingmajorchangestoattractnewusersanddominatethemobileplatform.Toachieveitsambitions,Bluedneedstoguideitsuserstoformthehabitofloggingonandgraduallyleadthemfrommerelyjusthookinguptocontentsharingandsocialnetworkingbasedoninterests.Additionally,Bluedwillhavetoprovidemorelocalservicesaswell.
WhentalkingabouthisfutureplansforZank,LingJuedingstatedthathewantedZanktobeatemporaryproductandsomethingnewwouldcomealong.Inhisopinions,Chinesesocietyhasbeenmakinggreatprogressinrecentyearsintermsoftheacceptanceofhomosexuality.Fromwherehe’sstanding,gaypeople’sconsumingneedswouldbeintegratedintodifferentservicesandtherewouldn’tbeanindependentappdesignedspeciallyforthem.LingJuedingalsoannouncedthatZankwouldtakeinitiativestohelppushsuchtendencyandbuildabetterenvironmentforthegaycommunityinthenextdecade.
Asamatteroffact,ZankandBluedhavebeenfightingconstantlyforgayrights,makinggreatcontributionstothegaycommunity.Forinstance,besidesitsmainbusinesses,Zankalsomadeasit-comshownamedRainbowFamily,andamovieseries,NineGays,andavideoshowcalledMe&Mr.Xaswell.Recently,ZankalsoteamedupwithAlibabaandBeijingLGBTCentertohelptengaycouplestogetmarriedinLosAngeles,creatingagreatstirwithintheLGBTcommunity.
Notlongago,Irelandvotedtoallowgaymarriageinareferendum,whichsignaledamajorchangeinpeople'sattitudesinawhatwasonceastronglyCatholicandsociallyconservativesociety.ThisdevelopmentalsoindicatesthatthegaycommunityinIrelandhadfinisheditsfightforgayrightsandnowisacceptedbythemass.Butduetothedifferentpoliciesonsuchmatteraroundtheworld,it’sstillhardtoeliminatediscriminationagainstgaypeopleeverywhere.Legalizinggaymarriagegloballyisaconstantbattlethatmighttakeforevertoend,andthereforeitneedseveryone’seffortandsupporttoputanendtoit.
Accordingtostatistics,theproportionofgaypeopleinthetotalpopulationisrelativelyconstant,whichmeansit’sjustamatteroftimethatgaydatingappswouldexhaustthetargetedusergroup,andthereforetheywouldhavenochoicebutexpandtooverseasmarketstoattractnewusersandfindbusinessopportunities.
InNovember,2014,Bluedmadeofficialannouncementthatithadalreadyamassedover15millionusersandBluedismovingforwardtotheglobalmarket.ThisyearinFebruary,GengLeandhisteamlaunchedtheinternationalversionofBluedinNetherlandandsofarithasaccumulated5millionusersoverseas.
IncomparisontoBluedfoundedin2012,Zankisconsideredasanewcomerinthisparticulararea.Butsurprisingly,itonlytookZanktwoyearstoaccumulateauserbaseofovertenmillionafterlaunching.Zank’sfounder,LingJueding,alsorevealedthecompany’splantoenteroverseasmarketsandthatZankwouldsoonhavedifferentlanguagepacksinstalled.“Weaimtogetahundredmillionusers,andoverseasexpansionisourbestbettoachievethat,”LingJuedingtoldTMTpost,“Butstill,wewillfocusonthemarketsinAsiafirst.”
However,GengandLingactuallyhavedifferentreasonsformarchingtooverseasmarkets.FromGengLe’sview,therapidusergrowthperiodisoverforBlued.Atpresent,Bluedneedstoexpanditsuserbasebyenteringoverseasmarkets.ThesmalluserbaseisholdingbackthefunctiondevelopmentofBlued,andonlywhenBluedcanaccumulateanenoughamountofuserswillithavethepowertochangethegame.GengalsotoldTMTpostthatgoinginternationalwouldbethemaintaskforBlued’steamandtheirfundamentalgoalistogetmoreusers.
GengLe’sright.Statisticallyspeaking,thereare70millionhomosexualsinChinesemainland,amongwhichgaymentakeup40million.Thecurrentobstacleforgaydatingappsistheslowingdownofusergrowthafterrapidexpanding.Iftheycouldgatheranother30millionChineseusersinthefuture,itwouldbeagreatvictory.
ImyselfhavetriedtousesomemainstreamgaydatingappssuchasBlued,Zank,andGayparketctohaveadeeperunderstandingofsuchproducts,butIfoundthey’reallsosimilar.Mostappshavesimilarfeaturessuchasfindingpeoplenearby,buzz,groupsandcircles.Besidestheoverlapoffeatures,Ialsofoundsomeobviousdrawbacksontheseapps,suchasobscenecontentsandirritatingsmallads.
ItseemsthattheseLBSproductstendtosharesimilarfeaturesanduserexperience,whichleadstotheoverlapofusers.Afterobservation,italsooccurredtomethatuserscouldbeamazinglypickywhenchoosingaparticularproduct.Usuallytheywouldinstalltwoapps,tops.Butultimatelytheywouldonlyuseoneappveryoften.
Giventhesecircumstances,GengLebelievedthatoneparticularappwoulddominatetheverticalsocialnetworkingsectorinthefuture.“Thisisespeciallytrueinthegaydatingappssector.Asthepioneerofsuchproducts,Bluedenjoysmanylocaladvantagesandhasbettercommunityfoundation,whichmakesitalmostimpossibleforitsrivalstocompetewithBlued,letalonesurpassit.”Additionally,thegaycommunityisratherspecialinawayforthefactthatithashighersenseofloyalty,meaningit’snoteasytoloseusersfromthisparticulargroup.Allinall,theoutcomeofthiswarisquiteobvious.
ThatiswhyZank’smakinggreateffortstoenteroverseasmarkets.Torisefromacrowdofsimilarproducts,thebestmoveistoexploreoverseasmarketstoaccumulatemoreusers.It’sapparentthatunderthepressureofcommercializationandtheshrinkinguserbase,overseasexpansionistheironlywayout.
However,GengLe’sprettypositiveaboutBlued’sexpansion.Fromhisperspective,eventhoughoverseasproductssuchasGrindrandJack’dhavealreadybeenthrivinginthemarketlongbeforethelaunchingofChinesegaydatingapps,theyhaven’tchangedmuchfundamentallyandlackinnovationsandimprovements.Theirprofitmodelsarebasedonmembershipsystemandadvertising.“Theyfeelcomfortableaslongastheyaremakingmoney.Grindrhasbeeninthemarketfor6yearsandithasonly5millionusersfrom192countries.Asforus,wegraspeveryopportunitytomakeprogressandimprovements.Wewillneverbesatisfied,”GengLetoldTMTpost.“Besidesthat,statisticshaveshownsocialnetworkingproductsgearedtowardsgaypeoplegrowfasterthanthoseforstraightpeoplewhenenteringtheinternationalmarket.”
Whentheplatformisbuiltanduserbaseisformed,thenit’stimetomakeprofits.It’susuallyhardforgaydatingappstomakemoneysincethere’snoclearprofitmodelforthem.Zankisalmostextremewhenexploringsuchmatter.Besidesteamingupwithnon-gay-community-relatedcommercialbrandssuchasLefeng.com,Zanadu.cn,andMybestway.com,Zankalsolaunchedbusinessessuchase-commerce,tourismservice,andhouserentingservice.Currently,Zankisdevelopingitsowngamesthatwillbereleasedinthesecondhalfofthisyear.
GengLe’scommercializationstrategyforBluedissimple:“Growthcomesbeforeprofits.Inthefuture,Bluedwilltrytomakemoneybylaunchinge-commerceservice,games,sellingstickers,andprovidingO2Oservices.”Infact,whatsuchproductsshoulddorightnowisguideitsusersintocertainhabitsandimprovetheuserexperience.It’snotreallythatlatetotrytomakeprofitsafterbuildingamatureplatformthathasanenormoususerbase.
DuringtheinterviewwithTMTpost,GengLealsorespondedtosomecommonmisunderstandingsanddoubtsonhomosexuality:“Gaypeoplearenodifferentfromstraightpeople.Homosexualityissomethingyouarebornwith.Yousee,humanbeingsarereallycomplicated.Atonepointapersonmightfallinlovewithsomebody,thatcouldbeamanorawoman.Butifastraightpersonhadsexwithsomeoneofthesamesex,itdoesn’tnecessarilyhaveanythingtodowithhisorhersexualorientation.Somepeoplealsothinkthatsomemenwouldturngayafterexperiencingatraumatizingheterosexualrelationship,well,that’stotallycrazytalk.”
Asamatteroffact,beingaminoritygroupinsomewaymakesthegaycommunityrathermentallystronger.Gaypeoplepossessthefireofmenandthesubtletyofwomen.Theyaregenerallyinsecureandtheylongforacceptance.Theydon’tsitaroundandwaitforsuccess.Inordertobeatdiscriminationandprotectthemselves,theyareusuallymorepositiveandpassionatethanstraightpeoplewhenitcomestofightingfortheirownrights.Andit’sknowntoallthatthere’recountlessaccomplishedgaypeopleinhistorythathadmadeinvaluablecontributionstooursocietyindifferentareas.
Butofcourse,justlikestraightpeoplebutabitmoreextreme,thegaycommunityisdividedintotwogroups.Somegaypeopleareverypositiveandconfidentwhileothershavelowself-esteemandmakenoattemptstobecomebetter.Butstill,gaypeopleingeneralknowhowtoenjoylife,whichmakestheirconsumingabilityhigherthanthatofstraightpeople.
Additionally,ifyouwanttoknowacountry’sstageofdevelopment,studyingthegaycommunitytherewouldbeagreatapproach.Afterall,acceptingdiversityandshowingrespecttothosethataredifferentfromthemajorityarethesignsofmajorsocialprogressinthemodernsociety.
TranslatedbyGarrettLee(SeniortranslatoratEcho),workingforTMTpost.
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