On March 18, the network anchor Super Xiaojie appeared on Weibo's hot search, because he participated in the Pinduoduo bargaining free mobile phone collection activity during the live broadcast, but he still failed to successfully cut it with the help of tens of thousands of fans. After the matter was reported by the media, it quickly appeared on Weibo hot search and B station hot search, of which Weibo's highest ranking was as high as the fourth place.
In addition to paying attention to the event itself, the protagonist of the event, Super Xiaojie, has also aroused everyone's curiosity. Who is he? How can there be such a large network appeal? What do you live on a daily basis? On which platform is the live stream? A few days ago, the reporter interviewed him, taking you to understand the anchor career and mental journey of super Xiaojie behind the camera.
The following is a transcript of the interview:
Super Xiaojie, formerly known as Duan Dongjie, is the game anchor of Douyu Console District and has more than 2.4 million fans in Douyu.
He graduated from the department of Chinese of Central South University, and has been obsessed with console games since he was a teenager, and chose to work as a product manager at a game company after graduation. On the first day of live broadcasting, he stood out. Due to the high-tech live broadcast application and futuristic design, the super small live broadcast room is known as the "most geeky" live broadcast room.
Childhood experiences have always affected him. In elementary school, Xiao Jie told a story to his classmates, and their laughter made him feel the happiness of being needed. This feeling of happiness shaped his values – helping others as much as possible. After becoming an anchor, the "experimental live broadcast room" he created also aims to help anchors solve technical problems.
He said, people will die, you always have to leave something for the world.
He was content because "what a lot of people dream of having, I already have." But I feel that time is scarce because "there are too many things I want to do." He was obsessed with work and had little personal life, but he enjoyed it.
At some point in his spare time, he would climb a mountain alone that was inaccessible and sit quietly in the air. The goal in his heart had never been clearer.
The premiere was half a year in preparation
Reporter: When did the live broadcast start?
Super Kid: The official livestream was in 2014. In fact, I have watched foreign game live broadcasts for a long time, and I know how to be an anchor. I used to work as a product manager at a game company, doing end games. Later, the smart phone caught fire, and the company transformed into a mobile game. I didn't like mobile games very much, so I quit. It was 2014, and I was back in Changsha from Shanghai.
I took a break for half a year and kept watching Twitch's livestream, but the culture was very different, the audience was happy, and I didn't know why. The network compares cards, and there is a jet lag, so I turned to see the domestic game live broadcast platform and came into contact with Douyu. At that time, there were not so many anchors, and there were even fewer hosts of console games. Most of the anchors are not fixed in time, the sound effects of live broadcasting, the picture is not very good, and the audience experience is relatively poor. I just wanted to try it myself.
Reporter: What preparations were made before the start of the broadcast?
Super Kid: I look for all sorts of live tutorials. General live streaming sites will have basic tutorials. I found intermediate, advanced tutorials on the forums, to learn, and there was also a lot of foreign language material, which I translated and watched, and some videos on YouTube.
There is also the preparation and commissioning of live streaming equipment. I studied for a long time, bought dozens of mobile phones, and tested the viewing effect. In fact, when the water friend enters the live broadcast room, he looks dissatisfied at first glance and will immediately paddle away. Your live broadcast of the beauty, lighting is not good, water friends feel that you are not real, may go away.
I also chose a good start time. 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm is the prime time for live streaming. This time period began broadcasting, there were many viewers, and there were also many anchors. I chose to start the live stream at 1:00 a.m. At that time, many big anchors were broadcast, and many live broadcast rooms were put on video.
There are also selection games. Mario is a game that has been around for more than 30 years, and people of all ages have heard or played it. But their impression is to stay on the old version and not know what the later version looks like. This game will have new titles every two years. So everyone knows about the games I live, but the content is brand new to them.
Reporter: How effective was the first broadcast?
Super Xiaojie: The super pipe on duty that day saw that my live broadcast content was good and gave me a home page. The audience was even more, broadcasting until 12 noon, and at the highest number, there were almost 5,000 people. On average, there are more than 3,000 people. The most popular anchor in the host area has about 20,000 viewers per day. After the end of the day, Super Pipe immediately contacted me to sign the contract.
Known as the most geek live broadcast room
Reporter: Why is your live broadcast room known as the most geeky live room?
Super Xiaojie: Because the technology content is relatively high. In order to have a better live broadcast effect, I do not consider the cost of equipment procurement. Including I have a live broadcast room host bit using Sony A7sii micro single with movie lenses, eating and unboxing are set separately, there are various sound cards, capture cards, converters behind the three cameras to support the entire video system. The desktop is equipped with two monitors, one for daily games and one for vertical surveillance of live broadcasts. There are also two tablets to view the screen, two PC hosts under the desktop, one to secure the live broadcast network for the server, and one to play games. In my new live broadcast room, in order to facilitate the switching of special effects, I also purchased the Stream Deck button console, which can be customized.
In addition to these hardware devices, I also program and develop some applications myself. For example, the barrage. Traditional bullet screen, the information is too mixed, bullet screen content, gift messages, into the room information, activity information are all together, it is easy to miss important information. So I just separated it and divided it into several modules. On the left is the barrage content, and on the right is the content of gifts. Streamers can customize the priority.
Reporter: For anchors, this optimization is more convenient.
Super Xiaojie: For example, through the video information and audio information of the Hdmi port, I can make some applications for a certain game, such as playing Mario, whether the character dies, how many times it has died, what level it is now, and everything can be read. Like sporting events, it's intuitive. The audience needs this.
I borrowed from the experience of live television broadcasting. I previously interned at Mango Terrace. I've always felt that there is no essential difference between live webcasting and live TV broadcasting. They have hundreds of years of production experience. The transfer of sports events, replays, score information, are all things that the audience needs, and they are things that have been verified by time and retained. We can just imitate it.
I also have an experimental live broadcast room, the purpose is to help the host customize the live broadcast solution.
Reporter: Will it be customized according to each person?
Super Xiaojie: Yes, because each anchor situation is different, mainly depending on his needs, roughly what effect he wants, I can help you do it. For example, the barrage is also divided into different situations. In the live broadcast room of a head anchor, there are many bullet screens per second in his live broadcast room, and he can't watch it separately. At this time, it is necessary to further screen the bullet screen with valuable information, and slow down a little before he can see it. But for small anchors, this is actually not a problem, because there are few bullet screens and no need to optimize.
Reporter: Why did you think of helping the anchor do this?
Super Xiaojie: I live broadcast myself, and the problems I encounter should also be encountered by other anchors. So I want to help them solve these problems.
Super Xiaojie posted his live broadcast lab on Weibo
Many things in the adult world have only one chance
Reporter: Looking back on your 7 years of professional experience, what do you think is the thing that makes you most proud?
Super Kid: I think it's a live broadcast of the 2015 total lunar eclipse. At that time, there were only two live broadcasts on the Internet, one was me and the other was NASA in the United States.
Reporter: Why did you go live broadcasting a total solar eclipse?
Super Boy: I like astronomy, and the club I joined when I was in school was the Astronomy Club. I have this device again, so I can do this thing.
Reporter: The live broadcast went very smoothly?
Super Little: NASA live broadcast, it's very simple for them. But for a fan to live, the whole construction process is much more difficult than live broadcasting a game. Because it was an outdoor live broadcast, it was not a simple thing to bring your own computer, find a way to power the power supply, connect to the Internet, and connect the astronomical telescope to a system. It was something I had never done before.
The front and back of the Fighting Fish staff and I prepared for about 5 days, just for those few hours of live broadcast. Very tired, but I know we are doing something very meaningful, very fulfilling.
Reporter: It feels like you're a person who is particularly striving for perfection.
Super Little: I'm a Virgo. It may have something to do with my zodiac sign. I generally ask myself to be the best in my ability. I did short videos, and I did more than 50 episodes before, and I denied them myself. I only upload something that I make to my complete satisfaction on the site. In the adult world, although you can say that there are many reasons why you are not doing a good job, others will not listen and will not give you a second chance.
Want to do something for the industry
Reporter: What is the motivation for insisting on live broadcasting all the time?
Super Kid: I've always wanted to do something with my skills and abilities for this industry, or for other anchors.
Reporter: It feels like you're standing in the industry thinking about things.
Super Xiaojie: I am now in the 7th year of live broadcasting, no accidents, I will continue to do it, I hope this industry is good, it must be good for everyone. If you are good alone, it is only a small part of the industry.
I admire Mr. Yuan Longping the most, I absolutely cannot have his achievements, but I want to bring value to others as much as possible, whether it is happy or solving problems, I think this can make the individual more valuable.
This may have something to do with my study of literature, always thinking about changing something. People will always leave this world, you have to leave something. There are people who are so accomplished that the world will remember him. But I can do a thing that does well and makes some people remember me, and I feel very satisfied.
Reporter: You still have humanistic and romantic feelings.
Super Kid: I think it was my schooling that influenced me. I read so many books, read so many stories, and became such a person. Can I influence one group of people, and then how many people in this group can influence another group of people?
Super Xiao Jie said that he hopes to influence others with a small amount of effort
It can bring strength to others, even if it is painful, it is worth it
Reporter: Many netizens said that through live broadcasting, they can learn about your real life.
Super Xiaojie: What you see is the real state of my life, if you want to hide yourself, you can't do it for that long, I've been live streaming for 7 years now.
I think very clearly, what kind of person you are, you can't hide anything. Even if there are shortcomings, this is the real self.
Reporter: So if you expose yourself too much in the live broadcast, will it affect your life?
Super Little: Of course there will be an impact. Many water friends know where I live, and it is already a very bad thing that someone has not informed me in advance and blocked my door. I'll tell you not to look like this. Fortunately, my audience is more rational and friendly.
Reporter: What is the daily working state?
Super Xiaojie: Live at 12:00 noon, usually until 6:00. Have a meal, about half an hour or so. Then take a look at the private messages of each platform to see if there is anything to reply to.
Then, start making videos, or go to my lab and there's endless work waiting for me. Generally busy until about 2:00 a.m., too tired, directly to sleep. If I'm not tired, I'll take a shower and exercise a little.
It will be closed on Mondays. I usually go around Changsha. Sometimes I go by myself, sometimes with my friends. Go to some clean places, climb the mountains, look at the scenery, and be in a daze.
The daily live broadcast of Super Little
Reporter: Is there any dissatisfaction with the current situation?
Super Xiaojie: Whether it is my life or my work, I have arranged it very well. A lot of things are in control. The only thing I might be upset about is that I have too much to do, but too little time. A lot of people say that 996 is tired, and I am much more tired than 996. I haven't been out in a long time. I try to optimize the process of work and squeeze out time to do things.
Like now, we're chatting, and I'm actually wearing wireless headphones and doing work that doesn't require thinking, like cleaning up, tidying up.
Reporter: It feels like you're a workaholic.
Super Kid: Actually, I can get a lot of fun out of my work. Every time I solve a new problem and help others, I feel a sense of accomplishment. It doesn't have to be a monetary reward.
Reporter: Most of the time I work, and I have very little time to live.
Super Kid: A lot of people dream of having it, and I'm probably luckier to have it. I think that now is one of the few opportunities in my life, so I cherish this opportunity and enjoy this state.
People's energy is limited, you are now focused on work, that must be squeezing other time. Like a balance, you focus on the left and it tilts to the right. It's hard to stand at a midpoint. It's too hard to do both ends well.
Getting married or starting a family is also a real problem, but I can't leave my job on my own. If you force it, in my opinion, you are irresponsible to others.
For example, one day, I don't love this job, or because of physical reasons or something, I can't continue to do it, and I naturally have more free time.
Reporter: Many water friends are in the trough, watching your live broadcast gain strength, how do you feel when you hear these words?
Super Kid: I think it's more valuable to do live streaming. I think of when I didn't have a live broadcast before, watching someone else's live broadcast, or video, I would also have this feeling. So every time I hear this kind of thing, I feel that a lot of attempts on live broadcasting, even if it is hard, are worth it.