Wen | Zhang Shule (Columnist of People's Daily And People's Post and Telegraph, Observer of Internet and Game Industry)
Handsome only 2 days, very sad!
On the evening of February 13, the Gel App team, which has been on the shelves for less than a month, released an open letter saying that it will be removed from the app store from now on and suspend the entry of new users.
On February 14, the media found that it was no longer possible to register new users on the app.
Recently, it is regarded as a meta-universe social app, which was launched on January 19, and the official website introduction shows that it is a "close friend social APP that lives with good friends in a new space through the tide play image".
On February 11, it topped the AppStore China free list, surpassing the weChat that has been dominating the list for many years.
Young people who are active on social platforms such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat groups are busy wearing, showing status, and leaving IDs, just to add more gel friends.
Because it has 3D avatars, online space and social functions, it is also regarded as a metaverse social concept APP.
But at the same time, the app is caught in a storm of leaking user privacy.
In addition, there is a plagiarism storm, a number of users and brands have posted articles accusing that the avatars in the APP are suspected of plagiarism, and the self-proclaimed "hacked" gel is busy coping.
How far is it to be red overnight to be taken off the shelves overnight?
In this regard, Wang Ting of Times Finance and Shule had an exchange, and poor Dao thought:
Disguised as a metacosm, it will not last long.
Social apps are popular and explosive, but often handsome for less than three seconds.
Earlier, Luo Yonghao used dense social applications to raid the past of the Internet, which is exactly the same as today's gel.
Gel positioning is "online apartment with close friends", in today's meta-universe concept is hot, gel in the field of acquaintance social networking actually has no room for development.
Acquaintance Social essentially has Tencent products in the control field, there are also preconceived forces in the job search, office and other subdivisions, just rely on the concept but no particularly novel social experience (plug-in-level gameplay is not counted) is not enough to gain market share, freshness is a bitter winter.
The reason for the overnight popularity is not complicated, and The Z generation, who have social needs and are seeking innovation and change, will try to be early.
However, after tasting the early, it is often decisive to "throw" if the experience is not up to standard.
In fact, many users said that at first they thought that gel's 3D dressup and face pinching function was relatively fresh, and then they lost interest.
The reason may be that these features are essentially available in various applications, but there are fewer focused social applications.
But in terms of social, what is the difference between such functions and somewhat outdated social play such as QQ shows and QQ avatars!
It can be asserted that before the carrier is not subverted, it is difficult for acquaintance social to surpass Tencent at the pan-social level.
WeChat cut down QQ that year, precisely because the PC side evolved to the mobile end, and qq born for the PC is difficult to compete with the experience and WeChat born for mobile.
Therefore, the carrier does not change money, and the direction of social applications must only be vertical tracks.
To really open the vertical track, there must be a functional experience, or utilitarian needs such as job hunting and office to achieve user stickiness, and there is room for further development.
Of course, the metaverse may be an opportunity to change the carrier, and what the metaverse will do with society is still unknown.
It's just that it's safe to be sure that rubbing hot spots is priceless (valued), and the soul social metaverse Soul folded here before, and the gel is not exempt from vulgarity.
The reason is that the essence of the metaverse is the online community under the VR/AR experience, and if it does not enter through similar tools, it is just another sandbox or open world game.
None of the gains generated by entering the metaverse world directly from the state of VR or AR technology should be considered consumption in the metacosm, nor can it be counted as a true metacosmonic concept.