Wen 丨 Phoenix Network Technology, author 丨 Jiang Lu, editor 丨 Yu Hao
Core Tips:
1. The close friend image social APP "Gel" burst out of the circle and became the new darling of young people. Just over 20 days after its launch, gel downloads soared at an alarming rate, and on February 11, it landed first in the AppStore and became the first social app to surpass WeChat since 2019.
2. Before the gel was launched, there were many virtual social products on the market, such as SOUL, ZEPETO, ZAO, etc. However, social applications with the characteristics of "acquaintance social + virtual 3D image" are relatively rare in the Chinese Internet field. Unlike other social products, Gel emphasizes "reconstructing the most intimate online space."
3. A product manager told Phoenix New Vision that the reason why gel can become popular is because it has found the pain points of users when using WeChat. At present, the WeChat user relationship chain has been generalized, and the friend list is no longer just a close friend, but a "friend of likes" such as colleagues and customers.
"Give me a gel ID and come and be my internet neighbor."
The phrase has replaced "Do you have an ice pier" in recent days and has become another popular code for young people.
What is Gel? At present, Gel is only allowed to add 50 friends and locate acquaintances socially, but this does not prevent it from becoming the new darling of young people.
Since the launch of the first new version on January 19, the number of downloads of Gel has soared at an alarming rate, and in only half a month it has climbed to the top of the AppStore (February 11 data), and it has become the first social app to surpass WeChat since 2019. A gel insider told Phoenix New Horizon that the current daily active life of the gel has approached one million, and the server is crowded. The team was in a hurry and was also looking for technical assistance.
The redness of the gel not only makes acquaintances socialize again, but also makes people see the potential to be released in the social field. The industry believes that with the advent of the 5G era, AI, VR and other technologies are widely used, and people's social networking may be subverted and reconstructed.
Why can the gel APP of "creating a close friend avatar social" burst into flames? How is it different from previous acquaintance social products? "The above issues are being discussed by more and more people in the industry.
Ranks ahead of WeChat's virtual social products
"Here, no grouping, no blocking, no three days visible, just a friendly apartment for you and your best friend."
Judging from the application introduction of Gel, this is a social product for acquaintances. Although this one has only been online for 20 days, it cannot stop it from exploding on platforms such as Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Instant.
Invite friends to participate in the "Friendship Apartment" setting, so that young people frantically shout at the family in various group chats: "Hand over your gel ID, want neighbors!" ”
The author of Phoenix New Horizon found that many people in his circle of friends had changed into the virtual avatar of the Gel APP. For a time, it seems that if you don't play gel, you can't call it a fashionable Internet trend.
The out-of-the-loop of the gel makes many people feel incredible. Such surprise is not without reason, since WeChat reached the top, the subsequent launch of acquaintance social products have not set off a splash. There are even some technology bloggers who believe that there is no longer a chance in the social field of acquaintances, and there is no way out for such products.
But the advent of gel broke that.
(Pictured: February 11 AppStore rankings, gel more than WeChat, QQ, Douyin)
Its specific gameplay is not complicated.
First of all, users must create a virtual 3D image for themselves in the form of "pinching their faces" before joining. After the avatar is set up, the gel will generate a personal virtual poster, which users can share to the circle of friends or community to invite friends to join, and the system will also be accompanied by promotional copy for only 50 people.
After the above steps are completed, you can enter the virtual space built by gel, and the front page is the lobby. Users can express their state with expressions and actions here, such as "touching fish and moving bricks", vividly showing their interests and life status. Because it is a virtual image, social fears can also let down their guard and take the initiative to communicate with people.
In addition, gel's LBS function also allows users to choose to share real-time location with friends, and effectively protect user privacy through technical means.
A product manager who did not want to be named told Phoenix New Vision that the reason why gel was popular was because it found the pain points of users when using WeChat. At present, the WeChat user relationship chain has been generalized, and the friend list is no longer just a close friend, but a "friend of likes" such as colleagues and customers.
Reflected in the product change, "grouping, various shields, only three days visible", some users even simply do not send, the desire to share can not be satisfied. The gel only allows 50 close friends to be invited, encouraging real-time sharing, which undoubtedly establishes a new social place for users.
Gel is not just playing the remaining "QQ show"
Before the gel went online, there were many virtual social products on the market, such as SOUL, ZEPETO, ZAO, etc. However, social applications with the characteristics of "acquaintance social + virtual 3D image" are still relatively rare in the Chinese Internet field.
Therefore, some people have been named the "digital world version of WeChat" title. Some users also told Phoenix New Horizons after experiencing the gel that when they first entered the gel, AI face pinching, DIY virtual personal image, and supporting dress up and other functions made people see the shadow of the super QQ show in a trance.
(Photo: Gel avatar function)
But unlike other social products, Gel emphasizes "reconstructing the most intimate online space." The gel does not have the function of generalizing social, nor is it more than just the creation of cool avatars, which can be seen from the design of the product.
At present, gel has 5 first-level menus, including home page, information flow, release, message and personal home page. At first glance, there is not much difference from the previous social product settings, but after the in-depth experience of Phoenix New Horizon, it is found that each design has been innovative and corresponds to different user needs.
The gel official compares the homepage hall to an apartment, where the friends added by users and their virtual puppet images will appear here. Some props will appear near the virtual puppet image to show the state set by the user.
For example, you can set the status to "touch the fish", and the doll sits at the table to touch the fish.
There are a total of 28 states to choose from, such as health,, addiction to learning, etc. In addition, users can also edit the words to express the mood at the moment, in the hall "mood" will float on the top of the doll's head in the form of a small bubble, use the mobile phone to enlarge the bubble, "mood" can be displayed.
(Pictured: Friend dynamic display in the gel hall)
These interesting designs, in addition to expressing their own dynamics and moods, can also see at a glance what friends are doing, friends are no longer in the form of "card business cards", but vivid and specific people, making people more eager to communicate and talk.
When bored, "poking" a friend has also become a new interaction habit.
In addition, the GEL LBS function locates user addresses in real time. If users want to interact intimately with friends and partners, they can choose to share the location.
During the Spring Festival, many couples who were forced to leave the New Year said that they could interact with the object instantly on the gel, and the setting of the online friendship apartment made them feel that they were in the same space.
Some users also said that after choosing to open positioning, they can see where their good friends are, which largely avoids the tragic situation of "almost arriving, not going out yet".
If you say, the interesting and trendy product design circle fans a large number of young users who love to play. That deep level of need satisfaction is what makes them really stay.
Today's young people are often in a state of division. On the one hand, they do not want to be paid too much attention, so they are often known for social fear; on the other hand, they are very eager for intimate interaction and company.
The construction of avatars and scenes, and the functional design of instant interaction, make Gel have the characteristics of group gathering, immersion, interaction and companionship, which just fits the contradictory needs of young people.
When using gels, they don't have to worry about the social pressure of active sharing and the feeling of intimate companionship.
A runner on a social track?
With the gradual maturity of 5G, AI and other technologies, the metaverse boom is surging and social, as an important drop in the layout of this field, will inevitably reconstruct itself and even redefine the social form of human beings.
Therefore, with the prototype of the social meta-universe, the development prospects after becoming popular are also optimistic about many people.
But it's still too early for a product that's only been online for 20 days.
For now, there is still room for optimization. For example, in addition to the above main functions, other functional modules are more traditional, sharing Plog is similar to the circle of friends, and can only share the photos of the day, and the chat interface is more conventional. But these are all important parts that affect the retention of subsequent users, which also makes people look forward to what new ways to play gel in the future.
At the same time, from the recruitment information released by the gel official, it can be seen that in the future, their business will focus on avatars, UI, security and other aspects.
For the security of social products that the outside world is concerned about, gel insiders told Phoenix New Horizon that from the beginning of its establishment, the gel will strictly abide by the "Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China" from the perspective of user interests and protect the rights and interests of users.
"It's been a long time since there has been such an interesting, socially-based product based on acquaintances, and the gel gives people a new feeling. But at the same time as rapid growth, we also need to be careful about the loss of user freshness. Some Internet technology bloggers said that the core of social products lies in the precipitation of social relationships, and it is necessary to continue to optimize communication methods and improve user experience.
Obviously, there are still many parts of the gel that need to be perfected. But it is worth affirming that its innovative attempts have made people see more possibilities for social products.