That was what a bullet-point website was.
However, one could not say bullet comments had only benefits and no drawbacks. Even the seemingly least persuasive criticism, "bullet comments block the video content," was indeed one of their minor flaws.
Then there were all kinds of meaningless comments, vulgar language, flame wars, and other bullet comments that could even lower the quality of the video itself. To prevent bullet comments from declining in quality, one inevitably had to invest a great deal of manpower and resources, fundamentally changing the users themselves and shaping a good atmosphere for a bullet-comment video website.
'BILIBILI' was a successful example.
As the website's popularity rose, large numbers of uncivilized users and "elementary schoolers" flooded in, causing bullet-comment quality to decline. Meaningless meme spam, profanity, and comments blocking subtitles appeared from time to time.
'BILIBILI', which already had rich experience managing bullet comments, tackled the issue from three angles.
First was barely acceptable site management. Second was user tools, such as blocking functions. Third was repeatedly emphasizing bullet-comment culture.
Over time, its bullet-comment quality remained a level higher than that of other large video websites.
To maintain the bullet-comment quality of 'BIUBIUBIU' during its early launch period, Kamiyā Yuu simply extracted historical data and program management from 'BILIBILI' in his previous world.
He adopted a one-size-fits-all approach by directly blocking comments suspected of containing profanity, comments covering subtitles at the bottom, and comments reported more than three times by different users.
After that, it would depend on whether Lin Ye's manpower management was excellent enough.
Users who liked bullet comments would like them very much.
After getting used to bullet comments, whenever they watched some videos without them, they would always feel as though something fun was missing.
When following an anime they were interested in, even after watching a version without bullet comments, they might watch the bullet-comment version again.
As long as loyal bullet-comment users existed, even if viewers who disliked bullet comments remained the mainstream, the number of potential users 'BIUBIUBIU' that could be obtained was still astonishing.
If there were one hundred million users who liked watching videos online, and thirty percent of them could accept bullet comments, that meant 'BIUBIUBIU' could compete for as many as thirty million potential users.
'BIUBIUBIU' was the first to eat crab.
Before other websites imitated it, it was the only choice for users who liked bullet comments.
What China lacked least was user numbers.
After two months of promotion, 'BIUBIUBIU' broke one million IP visits on its first day after launch, with an average of two hundred thousand users browsing online.
This terrifying popularity data was enough to rival Japan's long-established large video websites.
The freshness brought by bullet comments made these users enjoy themselves tirelessly.
A large group of uploaders saw hope in the website. Whether for popularity, pure interest, or making money, uploaders were happy to follow the audience into 'BIUBIUBIU' and develop there.
Kamiyā Yuu deeply understood that only videos were the true foundation of a video website. They were the most basic principles for maintaining site popularity.
'BIUBIUBIU's management measures for uploaders were extremely advanced.
Unlike the unpaid service model currently mainstream in China, Kamiyā Yuu introduced a series of development measures, including commercial systems and contract cooperation.
Videos without copyright could increase an uploader's popularity. Self-created videos that gained high popularity could receive free recommendations from the website, as well as user tips and site reward mechanisms.
On its first day after launch, 'BIUBIUBIU' received more than three thousand video submissions, equivalent to one-fifth of the site's original total video archive.
The recommended video positions on the homepage kept changing back and forth due to popularity shifts, making the site extremely lively.
The launch of 'Warship Girls Collection' and the opening of 'BIUBIUBIU' affected each other's popularity, and they were also connected through the 'Settlement' function.
In reality, 'Warship Girls Collection' was equally astonishing in popularity.
Its first-day launch data was enough to rival the accumulated results of the Japanese server after three months of operation.
Barring accidents, it would become Snowstorm Network Technology Company's most important source of revenue, used to make up for 'BIUBIUBIU's initial deficit.
The administrator of 'BILIBILI', ⑨bishi, had once said something very interesting as the website's popularity continued to rise:
"B Site loses over seven figures a year."
Operating a video website was indeed extremely difficult. With an ad-free operating model, losing money was basically nailed to the board.
Although Kamiyā Yuu did not believe that 'BILIBILI' had really been losing seven figures annually at the time, there was no doubt that it was not profitable either.
...
It succeeded!
Lin Ye stared at the backend statistics for 'BIUBIUBIU', clenching his fists in disbelief.
His excitement made him want to stand up right now, raise both hands, and roar several times.
The exaggerated data fluctuations were several times higher than the limit of his expectations.
Compared to the small video website he had struggled to run before, the popularity had risen by more than a hundredfold.
Those users were also active participants.
They posted bullet comments in videos, left reviews, interacted with the site, and offered suggestions for improvement.
Through the conference room's glass window, he could see Snowstorm Network Technology Company's employees bustling outside.
The phones in the customer service department had not stopped ringing since the site launched.
This liveliness was exactly what he had longed to see when he had previously operated a stagnant video site that felt like a dead pond.
From these statistics, what Lin Ye saw was no longer a dim industry future, but a broad and radiant road.
"Success? Not yet. This is only the beginning!"
Lin Ye roared inwardly with excitement.
The frustrations he had accumulated in the past and the sweat he had shed during this period almost made him want to cry at this moment.
...
Closing his laptop, Kamiyā Yuu smiled knowingly and thought, Now I can browse 'B Site' when I'm bored again, although this B Site isn't that B Site.
Japanese bullet-comment culture and Chinese bullet-comment culture were completely different.
Its level of civility was indeed much better, perhaps because the Japanese only had a handful of curse words going back and forth.
The most interesting part of Japanese bullet-comment videos was probably all kinds of vivid kaomoji.
By comparison, Kamiyā Yuu preferred Chinese "dictionary tearing," "misheard lyrics," and "divine roasts." T/N:😏
Chinese bullet comments felt more familiar to Kamiyā Yuu than Japanese ones.
Bullet-comment culture could be considered one of Asia's distinctive subcultures.
There were very few bullet-point videos in Europe and America. Even livestream comments only scrolled along the side of the video.
Kamiyā Yuu believed this was probably due to differences in language.
Japanese and Chinese were fine, but English consisted of piles of letters squeezed together, which would really block the video content.
With too many bullet comments, countless letters would overlap, and who would even know what word they formed?
"Murasaki, I'll head back first to deal with the storyboard drafts."
Kamiyā Yuu gave a greeting and left the lounge, very satisfied with B Site's launch results.