It is difficult for the second dimension to have a "peach blossom source"
"What is Island A?" Is it a small island in Ukraine? After the topic #A Island # appeared on Weibo's hot search, some netizens issued such a question. This two-dimensional anonymous forum originated from AcFun, which has given birth to content such as "zoo weird talk", and there are also many "fat" who share paragraphs and life fun in sections such as "happy spoof". In the hearts of many islanders, this is the "two-dimensional peach blossom source".
Limited by its own attributes, although A Island has not been able to have too many users, it has also had a group of die-hard users in its long-term operation. But the dispute between the administrators has plunged this small forum into crisis again. The origin of the dispute is the hidden concern of "generating electricity with love", which is inconsistent with the opinions of several managers on the future direction of Island A. The dispute is still not over, and the original site of Island A has been banned from being visited. Founded in September 2011 and drifting for more than a decade, the island could sink into the ocean of the Internet.
Step onto this island
The original name of the anonymous version of A Island was called "Strange Place". For new users who are "landing on the island" for the first time, it is indeed weird, and there is even a wonderful sense of time stagnation - simple or even slightly rough UI design, users who use emoji to communicate, a large number of categories and stacks of sections filled with discussion posts called "strings"... In an era of constant changes in the Internet community, Island A still stubbornly uses the forum model of a decade ago. This is consistent with Island A's positioning of itself: a free and neutral, anonymous forum for weak social and strong discussion.
"On Island A, no one has a name." Xiao Xia, an old user of Island A, shows Poison Eye (ID: Domore Dumou) his entire "identity" on Island A: five seven-digit random characters. These strings are referred to by Island A users as "cookies" and are the only identifiers that can distinguish the speaker. Cookies can't go directly to the homepage and can't be tracked. Users can always destroy their own used "cookies" in the background and receive a new string of characters, and even users will take advantage of this feature to use multiple cookies in a "string" to create a dramatic reading effect.
Island A users, who hide their personal identities under random characters, have a unified title: "Fat Fat", an almost playful self-deprecation. Wearing a pain T, love to eat McDonald's Mc Fun Chicken Box, always chanting anime characters in his mouth... The stereotype of "otaku" in the outside world has become the common image of all "fat".
Island A is small but well-equipped. More than half of the sections here are related to ACG culture, and its classification is also numerous and detailed, including Steam, Nintendo, Self-Propelled Chess, Comics, Light Novels, Oriental Projects, etc. The more niche trpg game "Running Group" in China has also become one of the most popular plates on Island A.
List of A Island plates
Thanks to the anonymous speaking mechanism, A Island has also become a favorite platform for many creators. Whether it is the "Zoo Strange Talk" series or the "Strange Talk Version" and "Novel Version" that have been out of the circle, the author is "invisible" behind the text, making the quality of the work the only criterion for evaluation, and also giving each creator the possibility of being read and praised. Readers' interpretations, continuations and second creations of their favorite works also make these works continue to be enriched.
"But my favorite section is The Synthesis One, which is more informative, like visiting a wet market." Xiao Xia said that the "synthesis one" without a special theme is the most in line with the characteristics of island A in his mind, and there is also the biggest difference with other platforms: there is no personalized push of big data, all content is equally displayed in front of the user's eyes; there is no pursuit of "big V" or KOL, and everyone is an equal sharer.
"Synthesis 1" is very popular "convenience store work string"
"What impressed me the most was that a fat man in Japan shared his camping trip, and over a three-day period, we followed his words and pictures over the mountains, passed by hot springs, and took the same camping route as Shima Rin in "Swaying Camping". After pitching a tent and burning firewood in a flat campground, he photographed the starry night sky, and at the end of the string he showed us the sunrise. ”
Xiao Xia said that as a "fat man" who has never had camping experience, under the judgment of big data on platforms such as Weibo, he has not been able to be pushed with relevant content, "but on A Island, you always have the opportunity to see things that you have never accepted." Even if they're not all to your liking, it's still a way of communicating with more "possibilities."
There are poetry lovers who record their creations in their own strings for several years; a white wall with peeling off the skin of the wall will attract countless fat to paint on this basis; when someone says that they have a birthday today, there will be countless fat people coming to "lift high". Xiao Xia enjoys browsing island A, and he says that this is the place that best gives him a sense of identity and belonging.
"Although Island A also has shortcomings, this is my peach blossom source."
The tide is coming
"Open and inclusive, rational and objective, saying things and discussing things."
This is the core spirit of the anonymous version of Island A – to share and discuss everything you care about equally and freely to the extent permitted by the island rules. But even on Island A, where identity differences are abandoned as much as possible, there are privileged people.
The administrator group of A island is called "red name" because it has a red logo name ID, and in the island rules, a bold text clearly states the power of "red name": "This site is an independent and self-operated private forum, the use of this site is a privilege granted to you by this site rather than your inherent rights, the administrator has the right to subjectively and unilaterally decide to delete or retain the content at any time, allow or prohibit users to publish content on this site." ”
A island rule
The tone of the rules is strong, and so is the reality: from the perspective of the "red name" administrator, this anonymous forum is a real-name system. The rule requiring back-office real-name registration originated in 2017 after Island A was shut down for improper content, which means that unlike purely anonymous forums such as 4chan, Island A's "anonymity" only stays on the surface. Several "red names", as defenders of Island A, have ensured the atmosphere of speech on the island by smashing "biscuits", banning ID, and prohibiting replies to "strings".
Among the many red names, the "island owner" Azuretimm (ATM) is undoubtedly the most well-known one, and his personal experience such as "Yanbi" has become one of the most popular "terriers" for A Island users.
On February 25 this year, an announcement issued by the red name "Sauce Sauce Sauce" (hereinafter referred to as "Three Sauces") broke the calm of Island A. Miso claimed to be the only technology development and operation and maintenance personnel of Island A in the past 10 years, and accused the island owner ATM and the red name Tatsuyin Nai Nai (MOMO) of using Island A to make profits to receive advertisements without authorization, not only did not get the dividends they deserved, but also owed a total of 260,000 server and salary expenses for 10 years.
Miso said in a statement that ATM and Tatsuin Nain had repeatedly deliberately forced him to hand over the server and leave Island A. Therefore, Miso shut down the speaking function of Island A and plans to stop maintaining the original url and client of Island A, hoping to use this as a chip to win their due rights and interests.
The debate quickly progressed to the two sides, and the island and the island owner ATM publicized the transfer records of the server fees paid to San sauce in recent years, and questioned the salary requirements of san sauce: if san sauce regarded itself as an "employee" who needed to pay wages, then there was no right to modify the domain name, revoke the authority, or even take away the server; and if it was a "partner", the other partners did not have the obligation to pay additional wages to the three sauce.
In the information released by ATM and Tatsuin Nai Nai, Island A is still in the stage of "generating electricity with love, self-financing, and equalizing interests", as a forum with a small volume, the only source of funding for Island A is Weibo advertising. But San Sauce also quickly responded that it had never received any advertising dividends, nor had it received the 260,000 withdrawal compensation that had been negotiated.
ATM and Tatsuin Nai Nai could not come up with evidence of "all dividends", and Sanso also did not respond to the server bill given by the other party, and the two sides quarreled and entered Rashomon. Although the content of the follow-up consultations was not made public, the original site of Island A was found to be inaccessible on March 1, which basically explained the reality that the two parties were not happy and dispersed.
When talking about the current situation of Island A, ATM once said: "Island A is operated by a team partnership, no company is established, profit and loss are at your own risk, power generation with love, cost sharing, and profit sharing... No investor is interested in a text forum. Although the authenticity of his remarks is still untestable, it also reflects the plight of Island A all along: the "red name" has limited power to generate electricity for love and voluntary payment, and after trying to commercialize, there is no guarantee of contract and equity distribution, which will also lead to the contradiction of interest distribution.
Although who is right and who is wrong has not yet been settled, the long-standing dissatisfaction of A Island users with the red name broke out in this incident. Tatsuin Nai nai was pointed out by the users of Island A for abusing their power, ruling unfairly, and repeatedly banning users who spoke unfavorably to themselves; while the island owner ATM was accused of enjoying his high sense of existence on the island, and he single-handedly promoted the commercialization of Island A, making foreign users pour into Island A.
As "island" means, Island A originally wanted to be a closed island isolated from the mainland and stuck to its own style. For a long time, Island A has had a tacit treaty not to divert new people to the island, and it is strictly forbidden for users who have just arrived on the island to expose their identity as "new people". But the emergence of an anonymous version of Weibo on Island A has broken everyone's tacit agreement.
The anonymous version of Weibo is now temporarily closed
The anonymous version of Weibo of Island A mainly carries excellent content on the island, and often interacts with accounts such as "Mentally Handicapped Bar Daily", attracting a large number of fans who did not know or did not understand Island A. The content after screening and editing presents a scene that is too ideal, existing in The A Island in Weibo, like a harmonious and interesting creator's paradise, but it does not show the overgrown side.
As an anonymous forum with loose censorship, Island A has a variety of unique "rules": all users default to men, and female users cannot expose their gender outside of the female section "Sister 1"; they cannot tell their own emotional stories, and it is forbidden to publish stories about their interactions with women of the same generation... "Surfing on Island A should always be prepared to see uncomfortable content", Xiao Xia said, this kind of content that may be banned on other platforms has a general name: "A Island Ethos".
At present, the anonymous version of A Island has more than one million weibo accounts, and the daily re-evaluation and like data has been maintained at a relatively considerable level. According to informed netizens, when there were only more than 100,000 fans on A Island Weibo, a single advertisement quotation was already at a four-figure level, and in the bill given by San Sauce, the one-month server cost of Island A was only a few thousand yuan. Whether Isle A has the right to use the content created by users for profit and who the copyright should belong to has also been a long-standing debate.
With only a few red names operating and maintaining Island A, the dilemma does not stop there. For a long time, Island A suffered from frequent DDOS attacks, and after the increase in users, The A Island server also briefly collapsed due to unbearable loads.
Under the impact of the tide, Island A is shaking.
"No one is an island"
The requirement that Island A be forever isolated from the world, and remaining pure and independent is too idealistic a requirement. Island A, which is likened to the "peach blossom source", "does not know whether there is a Han, regardless of Wei and Jin", but has to face the reality of changes in the external environment.
In today's content sharing platforms, Island A has become too "out of date." In an anonymous environment, creators who create excellent works cannot be paid attention to by fans and cannot form personal IP; there is no private message function and group function to minimize the possibility of social interaction, and in the current situation of "everything can be socialized", the inability to form an intimate social circle has also led to a decrease in the stickiness of some users. The conflict between these islands and reality is no different from the reason why the forum was eliminated many years ago.
"Everybody scolds uncle, everybody wants to be an uncle." Under the hot search of "A Island", some netizens gave such comments. "Station B can go out of business, but it definitely won't deteriorate." When Chen Rui wrote this sentence in Zhihu's answer area, it was less than five months before Station B launched the large membership service. The current B station as "China's small YouTube", whether it is the number of video copyrights or the quality of derivative services, is naturally beyond the reach of the past "small broken stations". The entrance exam of Station B has also changed from the "Devil 100 Questions" that once included multiple disciplines and required a lot of knowledge accumulation to a process of formalities.
This may be the pain that a small circle must go through to step out of the comfort zone. The form presented by station B now may not be the future appearance of A Island after insisting on commercialization: the concentration of "two-dimensional elements" has decreased, the advertising content has increased, and paid content has appeared. From the appearance of commercial advertisements to the registration of Weibo diversion, every step taken by A-Island has traces to follow.
Growing up in AcFun's A Island, its users do not support the competition object of Station A, Station B, and regard Station B, which has been commercializing in recent years, as a "traitor to the two-dimensional culture". This is also why after the announcement of the three sauces, the emotions of A Island users will be so intense. Compared with "Shendao", the anonymous version of Island A, which is regarded as "Peach Blossom Source", has become the next B station, which is something that is even more unacceptable to A Island users.
"Island A is beautiful because of the islanders, not the forum set up by ate by ATMs, and as long as the islanders are still there, Island A can go back to the way it was." Under the hot search of "A Island", some A Island users wrote such a Weibo.
Ideals are ultimately too illusory. A new Island A may emerge, or someone may be able to generate electricity with love and pay for servers and operations out of their own pockets. But when the increase in the number of people makes the cost of operations continue to rise, how many people can firmly say "no" to the commercials that come to the door?
How to strike a balance between "niche" and "business" is too difficult a subject, and not everyone will choose the former in the single choice of "making a change" and "sticking to the original intention".
For the entire Internet, the sinking of Island A is just an ordinary apoptosis in the metabolic process, and the "fat" people who leave Island A will eventually find their next "peach blossom source".
Text | Wang Ziyue
Edit | Zhao Ordinary