"Holding it to the sky" or "stepping on it": what role platforms and capital play

Recently, the much-watched new drama "Wind Rises Luoyang" was launched on the online platform, but the launch time was delayed by one hour than scheduled. Ironically, within an hour before it started, Douban poured into a large number of water troops to give the show a five-star or one-star rating. Before the episode was broadcast, these sailors had the ability to "predict the prophet", which was really "amazing".

Of course, in fact, these water troops did not perceive the change in the time of launch and completed the "work" as originally planned. I am curious, if the show is not postponed, will the evaluation of the water army brush become a "opening score"?

As we all know, the Douban score is an important reference standard for the reputation of film and television dramas, and the Douban "opening score" also affects the publicity and trend of the current period of the drama to a certain extent. Therefore, many capital parties have tried to make a fuss about the Douban score, and the producers of the repertoire, the participating artists and their fans, and even the video platform have the "interest impulse" to brush the score. After all, who wouldn't want a high-profile, high-aired "blockbuster of the year"?

According to the survey results released by Douban, one hour before the start of "Wind Rises Luoyang", there were 6752 five-star ratings and 649 one-star ratings; and one hour after the start of the broadcast, there were 1687 five-star ratings and 1991 one-star ratings. It can be seen that the number of one-star bad reviews after the broadcast has overshadowed the five-star praise. This is the work of competitive capital, or whether netizens have made bad comments because they are dissatisfied with the behavior of the water army, I think it may be both.

A worrying phenomenon exposed from this is that the "polarization" trend of film and television drama ratings and online public opinion is becoming more and more serious, whether it is the manipulation and guidance of the water army or the emotional scoring of netizens, either "holding it to the sky" or "stepping on the feet", squeezing the space for neutral ratings. Taking sides based on identity and fan groups replaces rational and neutral evaluation.

No matter what type of product, network marketing is an indispensable and important part, network marketing will affect the performance of the play and product. Internet companies have set up special marketing and public relations departments for this purpose. Then, how to balance between rational marketing and provoking public opinion is a must-answer question in front of capital.

From the perspective of practical effects, provoking public opinion confrontation and causing controversy and speculation can indeed achieve certain results at certain times. Previously, some variety show producers admitted that inviting some judges and guests who are both virtuous and artistic, steady and low-key may be tepid, but inviting "topic controversial figures" can trigger a "scolding war", which in turn boosts the exposure of the program. Some people may watch it out of the psychology of "I want to see how bad this show is" and "scolding the guests", or argue with the own fans of these controversial guests, "scolding the hot search". Although this method can achieve the purpose of exposure, it creates confrontation and tearing in social opinion, and the seemingly moderate crowd on weekdays has become fierce on the Internet. This antagonistic mentality, in turn, can be projected onto reality, causing group division and even hatred.

Gender issues are a sensitive topic on the Internet, originally the pursuit of gender equality, the elimination of gender antagonism is the consensus goal of people, but in the network public opinion, some people use gender issues to obtain exposure and grab traffic by amplifying the contradictions between men and women and provoking gender antagonisms. Previously, female artists made controversial remarks such as "men are ordinary and confident" on talk shows. Although some exaggerated satire is allowed on the stand-up comedy stage, it is difficult for us to judge whether it is deliberate or the effect of the program, but these remarks are regarded as a guideline by a small number of women after "going out of the circle", and they often use the label of "Puxin Man" to attack and belittle men. Previously, a male teacher graduated from Tsinghua University and earned 50,000 yuan per month because of his mediocre appearance, he was ridiculed by women in Douban, and it was inferred from a photo that he was "mentally poor" and "not good at management", as if those who did not look good were deprived of the right to make friends online.

When various antagonistic emotions spread on the network platform, these "topic controversy figures" enjoy traffic dividends and become group label figures, and the programs and capital parties behind them also benefit from this. If these antagonistic emotions are allowed to run rampant, they will only exacerbate the rift and estrangement of society.

So, has the platform fulfilled its regulatory responsibility for these extreme remarks that incite confrontation? Judging from my feelings, some platforms are difficult to deal with such remarks in a timely and decisive manner. On December 2, Douban was again interviewed for rectification, fined 1.5 million yuan and suspended from using the "group" reply function. In some of the "groups" of Douban, it was once filled with a large number of gossip and provocative posts in the rice circle, and such posts often had large traffic.

On the one hand, Douban's film and television sector has been commented on by a large number of water troops, and there has been a polarization of the team; on the other hand, the group discussion plate of Douban has pickpocketing anger and inciting confrontation. With the existing volume of Douban and technology and manpower, how to deal with the impact of these water army capitals? Can we develop more efficient and accurate identification techniques for trolls? Is there enough manpower to censor extreme speech? How can these technical and human inputs break even? As a veteran Internet platform with a history of more than ten years, the problems faced by Douban are also problems that many Internet platforms need to solve.

Many old users sighed, where did our previous pure land of literature and art go? There are more netizens sighing, can we still speak and discuss well? At a time when it is becoming more and more serious to stand in line by identity, buckle the hat, and follow the trend of the group, how can the capital side, the platform side and the user form a benign interaction and build a rational and peaceful network ecology? We need to think together.

Source: China Youth Daily client