Picture source @VisualChina
Text | Zinc Scale, author | Li Xuanqi, editor | Meng Huiyuan
On January 3, 2024, Douyin announced that the new version of "health points" penalties for live broadcasts will officially take effect. This "strictest new regulation" not only marks a new stage in Douyin's management of live broadcast content, but also seems to hint at new changes that will usher in the live broadcast industry.
Now that the new rule has been implemented for more than two weeks, many anchors have had to change, saying that they "cannot speak anymore", and some anchors posted the "highest score of 120 points" obtained by professional anchors. From the user side, most of the discussion forums related to the new regulations are in favor of this, and there are many comments such as "It should be rectified long ago" and "There are too many vulgar things, and they really should be regulated." However, many users believe that there are always loopholes in the rules and "have little practical significance."
No matter how effective the rules are, as industry supervision tightens, many live broadcast platforms have begun to update and improve platform rules, and conduct internal governance against violations such as false propaganda and vulgar hype. Against this background, the bubble in the live broadcast industry is gradually fading, and the track is about to usher in a new turning point, and anchors and mcn companies that cannot keep up with the speed of change will be eliminated.
Who is worried about their favorite anchor?
It is understood that on the day Douyin's "Health Points" officially came into effect, 303 anchors had their gift function turned off, nearly 5,000 anchors had their live broadcast recommendations reduced, restricted functions, and even their live broadcast rights permanently revoked that day. At the same time, 27,500 anchors passed professional or professional certification. Quality application.
In fact, after Douyin’s new regulations for came into effect, a lot of related discussions and video content appeared on Xiaohongshu, Weibo and Douyin. There were many comments in the comment area of the related video similar to "What will we do, Amei?" "It's over, Chen Ze is sweating" and "Qin Shiji really needs to write a sticker to remind himself this time", among which were Those mentioned are all game anchors.
"Game anchors often use some swear words during live broadcasts, and many fans are even attracted to this live broadcast style." Taozi often watches game live broadcasts, and she found that recently many game anchors pay more attention to their language during live broadcasts. There are even some anchors who "suddenly stop" when they are about to say bad words. "Many fans say that the anchors are almost exhausted. After all, health points are quite important. Many anchors forget to be careful with their words and actions when they are excited when playing games. Now, It can only be corrected by force."
In fact, in addition to game anchors who have been "nominated" many times, there are also many borderline and fake bloggers who have been @ repeatedly @ by netizens, and said "it is recommended that the points of such vulgar anchors be deducted at once." "Hurry up and block the live broadcast room selling fake goods" etc.
According to the official introduction of the Douyin platform, Douyin’s “health score” system will increase or decrease the account’s score by monitoring the anchor’s daily live broadcast behavior, and conduct hierarchical management of the account accordingly. Anchors with low scores will face serious consequences, such as turning off the gift function or even losing live broadcast permissions. The anchor's initial score is 100 points, and those with outstanding performance can receive an initial score of up to 120 points. Violations will result in point deductions, the magnitude of which depends on the degree of violation, anchor level and influence. For example, anchors with a higher number of fans or live broadcast room viewers will be deducted an additional 1-5 points if they violate the rules. This grading system means that the daily behavior of the anchor will directly affect the income and survival space of his account.
Specifically, will face strict restrictions once the anchor's "health score" falls below a certain threshold. For example, anchors whose scores are lower than 70 points will be reduced in recommendations and the number of PKs will be limited; anchors whose scores are lower than 40 points will be prohibited from using the PK function; if their scores are lower than 20 points, they will also lose the gift income function. The most serious case is that when the score drops to 0 points, the anchor will permanently lose the live broadcast permission.
Supervision has been repeatedly tightened, but there are always loopholes?
It is worth mentioning that the "health score" is dynamic. After deductions and penalties, anchors can also earn extra points by completing online learning or continuing to comply with live broadcasts. According to regulations, if an anchor broadcasts for more than 2 hours a day for 5 consecutive days without violating the rules, 5 points can be added.For low-scoring anchors who have repeatedly made mistakes, if they want to start from 10 points, increase to 20 points, and get rid of the "no gift" dilemma, they need to live broadcast without violation for more than 10 days and no less than 2 hours a day. If you want to return to the normal score, you need to accumulate 50 days of compliant live broadcasts.
This is also considered by many users as "a loophole." On Zhihu, "How do you view the phenomenon that anchors can only "live broadcast for free" due to insufficient health points? Is this system good or bad for the development of the live broadcast industry? Under the question, some netizens commented, "It's meaningless. Points can be deducted and added back." When it reaches a certain level of benefit, points will be deducted or not. Douyu always talks about deducting points for public welfare. As a result, our review supervisors receive emails guaranteeing extra points every day, and some anchors directly announce internally that you are not allowed to deduct points. "At the same time, many people question the original intention of the platform, thinking that this is because "the platform does not want to give out money, so it will deduct some health points." After all, health points are closely linked to the anchor's income.
Zinc Scale noticed that is in Xiaohongshu On other platforms, there have been notes such as "Guide to Points Rebate for Health" and "Don't worry if points are deducted during the live broadcast."
Image source: Zhihu
In fact, this is not the first time that Douyin has increased supervision of live broadcasts. According to public Information, Douyin's "Health Points" system has been in trial operation since September 2023, and the point deduction rules are not much different from the officially implemented "Health Points" system. Earlier, in April 2022, Douyin Live Broadcast A health sub-management system was launched, but at that time the health sub-system was mainly for trade unions. Regarding the public health score range, the platform’s punishment measures are as follows: if the trade union health score is ≤ 80 points, the platform will give the trade union a warning and conduct an interview. Rectification; if the guild health score ≤ 70 points, the platform will suspend the guild's settlement authority for one month and make a public announcement; if the guild health score ≤ 60 points, the platform will deduct 100% of the guild's income for the month and make a public announcement; if the guild health score ≤ 50 points, The platform will remove the guild and make a public announcement.
From “appearance” to “value,” the industry seeks changes
“Douyin has such strict requirements, will the anchors be lost to other platforms? "On many social media platforms, similar voices have appeared one after another. In fact, the management of live broadcasts may become the norm on more platforms.
In fact, Kuaishou has standardized live broadcast management many times before. As early as 2022, Kuaishou released "Announcement on Further Standardizing the Operation and Management Behavior of Live Broadcasting Organizations". Starting from June 7, 2022, Kuaishou Live will cancel the "pk penalty" function and advocate rational communication. From 20:00 to 22:00 every day, single account live broadcast rooms will be "connected." The number of "Mai pk" shall not exceed 2 times. Kuaishou Live Broadcast will further strengthen the management of interactive links, strictly rectify the vulgar problems in the Mai pk link, and strictly rectify the use of pk for malicious marketing.
It can be said that the implementation of Douyin's health classification system means that A new round of supervision is about to begin, and this also means that the live broadcast industry has once again reached the "crossroads" of change.
For a long time in the past, both show live broadcasts and e-commerce live broadcasts have faced chaos of mixed quality. According to "China Economic Net", the main profit model of "show live broadcast" is user rewards. The survey shows that the proportion of users who pay to reward when watching the live broadcast is 21.4%. In order to induce rewards, malicious hype frequently occurs in the live broadcast room , deliberately showing off wealth, vulgar performances and other chaos. There are many cases of fake sales and adulterated data.
And "e-commerce live broadcast" has also been widely criticized for "false orders" and "vulgar promotion of goods" and other consumption-inducing routines. Data released by the China Consumers Association shows that among the more than 600,000 complaints received in the first half of 2023, the live broadcast industry has become the hardest hit area. The complaints include "low-price diversion", "jewelry scams", "fictitious exaggeration of the original price of goods" and other behaviors.
Amid the frequent chaos, the state and local governments have successively issued a series of policies and regulations to regulate the development of the online live broadcast industry. As early as 2022, the State Administration of Radio and Television and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a notice on the "Code of Conduct for Online Anchors", in which It mentioned “establishing and improving internal systems and regulations for network anchors’ settlement, training, daily management, business rating files and “red and yellow card” management.Positive incentives should be provided to network anchors who are good-hearted and modelly abide by behavioral norms; warnings and restraints should be strengthened for network anchors who have violated regulations; network anchors whose problems are serious in nature, have appeared repeatedly and have not corrected despite repeated admonitions, should have their accounts banned. Relevant network anchors will be included in the "blacklist" or "warning list" and will not be allowed to broadcast again by changing accounts or changing platforms. "
What follows is the platform's response.
From policies and regulations to platform rules, the "curse" is getting tighter and tighter. Anchors and mcn organizations will inevitably face new changes. After the bubble dissipates, who can still The last laugh?
