Why Kuaishou wants to pivot away from the celebrity influencers who made it famous


By Iris DengTracy Qu

The ByteDance rival has relied heavily on exclusive clans of video streamers to drive traffic. Experts say grooming smaller individual streamers is essential to diversifying Kuaishou’s reach. — SCMP

Online celebrities come in many forms, but for Kuaishou – the video livestreaming company debuting on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday – its earliest success can be traced to a unique breed of Internet stars: tight-knit clans of powerful streamers with outsized influence. But while the model once allowed these streamers to thrive on Kuaishou, there are signs that their popularity is waning.

Jiazu, a Chinese term meaning family or clan, is a distinctive culture that sets Kuaishou apart from rival Douyin, operated by TikTok owner ByteDance. Like masters of Chinese martial arts, top influencers – or key opinion leaders (KOLs) – often support smaller streamers as “apprentices” by introducing them to a wider audience. Aspiring content creators can get a huge lift in views just by banking on the popularity of their masters.

Subscribe now and receive FREE sooka plan for 1 month.
T&C applies.

Monthly Plan

RM13.90/month

Annual Plan

RM12.33/month

Billed as RM148.00/year

1 month

Free Trial

For new subscribers only


Cancel anytime. No ads. Auto-renewal. Unlimited access to the web and app. Personalised features. Members rewards.
Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

Kuaishou

   

Next In Tech News

Tesla increases wages for staff at German gigafactory by 4%
Apple explores push into smart glasses with ‘Atlas’ user study
Japan's Kioxia sees flash memory demand almost tripling by 2028
Hacker gets into woman’s email, changes every password, tries to make purchases
Foxconn says Oct revenue +8.59% y/y, Q4 outlook good
Want to help a friend find love? Give a PowerPoint presentation
Can an Apple�Watch get AFib patients off bloodthinners?
South Korea fines Meta about $15 million over collection of user data
Ehailing service Bolt says it’s launching in Malaysia soon, already licensed by Apad
French IT firm Atos agrees to sell Worldgrid unit to Alten

Others Also Read