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It's a story about Darwin's theory of evolution, a story about how the same species has evolved in different environments and eventually shaped differently; it's also about how a single species radically changes ecosystems through its own characteristics and The story that has an impact on other lives inside.  Knowing and Quora: A Giraffe Evolution story Take Okapi, for example, an animal mainly found in tropical rain forests and savannahs in Central Africa that looks a lot like a collection of deer and zebras. It is about 1.5 meters tall and its main food is ferns, fungi and buds . The earlier form of Hokkaido, known as Canthumeryx, is active in 16 million years of Africa, when it lived on grasslands rather than in forests, but Canthumeryx evolved later in response to the fierce predators on the prairie Longer legs to allow them to escape decisively in times of crisis. Increasing their height increases their chances of survival on the prairie, but on the other hand it makes it more and more difficult for them to eat plants that grow in the lowlands, and in order to survive, more and more Canthumeryx have a longer neck and The tongue, their main ingredient, has also become the lush leaves of a tall acacia tree, and you will notice that the animals are far from their original form and become a new species: the giraffe. Today's Okapi and its giraffe cousin This is evolutionary divergence - a set of evolutionary doctrines that Darwin finally came to after recognizing the different species of finch through different beak shapes in the Galapagos Islands. However, this article is not about the natural ecology, nor about how animals in nature slowly evolved over millions of years.The focus of this article is still on the cultural, political and economic ecology of the Internet in China and abroad. Specifically, it is exploring why two seemingly twin brothers will eventually grow into two distinct business models. Okapi is very much like its ancestors, but giraffes can be quite different, Quora is like Okapi, knowing that like giraffes In January 2011, when Quora, a Facebook employee founded in Silicon Valley, was just one year and a half years old, the same version of China App based on the Q & A platform was founded - officially in Beijing - and many others were founded in 2010 Before and after the similar companies know too catch up with a good time, that time, many foreign Internet products due to language, culture and policy control and other reasons difficult to enter the Mainland, which allows mainland China formed a unique Internet ecosystem. In the absence of 'top predators', other species in the biological chain have gained more upside. But then again, though Quy does have a similar DNA to Quora in its initial form, both eventually grew into two distinct 'beasts' because of their respective developmental environments and modes of operation. Similarly, Quora still maintains its original form, and though they later added features such as blogging and top-of-the-line bounties, Quora is still a quiz platform overall. Knowing then moves to a different direction, and nowadays know more and more like a large collection of Quora, Twitter, Patreon, Coursera and Linkedin. China and the United States: New Species in Different Environments 'Chinese culture emphasizes education and emphasizes self-study,' says Zhou Yuan, founder and CEO of Knowing that 'Chinese people generally have determined goals and are diligent and enterprising. Many young people in this country believe that as long as they have a good grasp of knowledge and grasp Opportunity, they can change their destiny, and as a knowledge platform, knowing can help them. In this thirsty knowledge, but also the lack of a reliable knowledge acquisition path of the country, know the product form can be described as fresh and unique. Unlike many countries, China does not have a sufficiently developed and trusted media environment, and as the policies and laws are still being perfected and the profitability of the enterprises has never converged, the vast majority of Chinese people are often skeptical of the remarks of domestic enterprises and government agencies. But in knowing the community, the overall atmosphere is another faction. When the 'experts' here used the words 'praise and praising' - a dynamic, yet elite - mechanism to express their attitude, the credibility of the answer was quantifiable. In contrast, although Quora also has similar functions, its mission can not be the same as that of Japan because of the different network environments in China and the United States. 'If I get lost in an unfamiliar environment, I may use Baidu, but if I want to use the most up-to-date expertise to buy the most suitable insurance products for me, I will know.' Shanghai One Two As young girls in their teens said. From the Q & A platform to the 'smart social gathering' Nowadays, the knowledgeable community of knowledge has gradually acquired the attributes of social networks, and in a sense you can understand it as a 'Twitter with countless smart people.' A few days ago I was working in China National Museum of Friends of the community made a micro-chat, she was asking me what I was busy recently. 'Did not you see my circle of friends?' I asked. 'I do not have a circle of friends,' she replied, 'there are too many marketing messages there, and many of my friends have been moving from WeChat to Weibo, and now they all go to know.' Based on the social networking platform, Knowing is able to tap into more business opportunities in its main business and find that in this thirsty country of knowledge, people are not only fond of reading and discussing but are also willing to give the platform and premium content providers some cash Return In August 2016, Zhixu opened its 'Column Compliment' function: Readers can 'appreciate' the writers of good articles in the form of cash, and the method of payment is to pay for the provided QR code through Alipay and WeChat. Thanks to the developed online payment system, the well-known 'knowledge-based payment' mechanism works smoothly. And when the news of the live broadcast comes, there is almost no miss for them. They added the 'know live' function: the experts answered the questions on the platform on site. The reader can spend only two or three dollars to view their favorite knowledge Big V '. This feature is very popular, it is said that some well-known big V live has attracted hundreds of thousands of people at the same time watching. Of course, the combination of video-on-air and knowledge-based payment is not uncommon: twitter-like microblogging, the same turn on of live streaming, and content service distributors, also find their way through the right path to content. Knowing is still developing Likedin-style business in 2016, they go online 'agency account', the company registered with this account can be settled know almost community. Although this new change is still in its infancy, Zhou Yuan is convinced that in the future his company will not only be a QA service provider, but also a "center of opportunity" for entrepreneurs, recruiters and various experts. 'What we are building is a mechanism for knowing the tripartite win-win situation of the platform, content providers and job hunters,' Zhou Yuan said. 'In the past, when employers looked for talent using Linkedin or other recruitment platforms, their knowledge of applicants was limited to their resumes, but that was obviously not enough, and now, based on the knowledgeable platform, employers can learn more about it Of the respondents, aware of their expertise, understand their ideas, a more comprehensive understanding of candidates, which is clearly conducive to the former to find the real fit for our employees. Different species, different survival strategies Quite differently, Quora did not grow by tapping into the depth of its business model, but by enhancing its reach by broadening the base of its use of the crowd. Over the past year, Quora has extended its reach to Including Spain, France, Italy, Japan and other countries where Quora developed App versions for their own language. Quora believes there will always be 'forests' in the world that are right for them to grow in. Even being 'acclimatized' in China will not affect their ambitions to open up the rest of the world. From this perspective, they remain in their original form Quora is more like a Hokkaidou; and rooted in China, continue to take different approaches to adapt to different environments know more like a giraffe evolved from Canthumeryx. Quora and Knowing, although having similar genes, have their own different strategies for survival, and different survival strategies ultimately make their way of development very different. WeChat and the "dominant predator" effect On the southern islands of Indonesia, there is an active, perhaps the most ferocious predator on the planet. The body length of 3 meters, 150 kg weight of the komodo dragon is the world's largest lizard sharp knife sharp teeth, armor-like hard skin and contains highly toxic saliva to make it prey even escape the big hunt is difficult Escape from the heavens. As a 'dominant predator' in the local ecosystem, the komodo dragons not only have an overwhelming advantage over native-born animals, but even foreign predators can not change the fate of their predators and slaughters - Here, it is a real 'evil dragon'. Comodo dragon And this kind of "ruler-like predator" capable of deporting all foreign competition also exists in China's Internet ecosystem. In recent years Slack has changed the way many companies communicate internally, making it the 'Best Business of the Year 2015.' As an instant messenger App, Slack allows every employee in the company to be different from one person to another in the same interface (New York Magazine) Molly Fischer even claimed that the App 'has successfully transformed the workplace into a non-stop chat room.' However, Slack and his App in the Chinese market have never achieved such a revolutionary achievement, and I was deeply touched by this, just not too long ago when I was still working for a Chinese company in Beijing with a large number of American employees I talked to a colleague from the San Francisco Bay Area when she told me, 'Companies do not have uniform requirements for using communication tools, Americans use Slack, but most Chinese colleagues prefer the WeChat group To exchange work. In many other companies, Slack or the nail is the official exchange platform for business, so from that point of view, the two companies did have some degree of success. However, the crux of the problem lies not in the "official status", but in the practical application of the habit of communication. 'Our company uses Slack, but to be honest, most of the work I do with my colleagues is still on WeChat,' an Internet company employee in Beijing told me. Out of curiosity, I again and again asked many of the employees who work for mainstream technology companies in China. I asked them if they used nails, and if so, how often they were used, and the feedback I received was that although many The company does use nails, but they mainly use it to record attendance or position of employees.As for the comparison of frequency of use, most people's response is 1: 9, WeChat dominant, and even more exaggerated than this Only one engineer working in Shenzhen told me that his team used the staples more often. So why do employees prefer to use WeChat rather than nail it? I've heard quite a few sayings. Some people say this is because the Chinese team does not pay as much attention to the safety of data and information as overseas companies. Others think that Chinese people already Used to the integration of work and life, so you do not need two different App. Although the above argument also has its own reasons, but I personally think that the most appropriate explanation is only two words: convenience. When Slack rescued European and American employees from the sea of annoying emails into the 'chat rooms', most Chinese employees are already accustomed to using the WeChat to handle personal affairs, and letting them use the new apps at this time actually did not improve them Work efficiency, but to give them more trouble. In fact, the comparison between the nail and the WeChat shows exactly what the latter dominates in the Internet ecology in China - yes, it is the Como dragon that I mentioned above. The most direct manifestation of Comodoro's power is to destroy its competitors. Renren, a social network once nicknamed 'China Facebook,' plummeted by 70% of its monthly active users after completing their IPO in 2011. Despite relying on revenue from various investments, Renren remains the same A considerable market value, but its status in China's Internet has long been no match with the United States Facebook. Why is this? 'WeChat beat everyone,' said one employee before the network. 'WeChat functions too much, it is not just a communication App. You can use it to buy tickets, pay a variety of miscellaneous living expenses, access to other related In short, everyone is just a 'social app,' while WeChat is more like a 'life app'; the difference between the two is so remarkable that everyone can not see the difference. WeChat's chain reaction in its 'food chain' Like Komodo dragons, Jaws and Siberian tigers, the existence of WeChat allows other competitors to nowhere to stand.When overseas internet users use 3, 4, or even 5 different App to handle the sending and receiving of information, Social communication, online payment and other functions in China, you only need a WeChat. However, while it is a nightmare for competitors, dominant ecosystems play a positive role, and researchers find that when predators at the top of the food chain are present, Ecosystems will be healthier. Take the wolves in Yellowstone National Park as an example: they used to be 'local fighters' for thousands of years until humankind's arrival-a massive hunt that ran through the entire 19th and early 20th centuries almost dug near Yellowstone Wolf disappeared. And when the Wolf was introduced to Yellowstone again in 1995, biologists got a windfall - the number of beavers has increased - and until then, beavers have almost disappeared in the Yellowstone. In this regard, biologists explained that the return of the wolf to the local ecosystem has brought a series of chain reactions, and the end result is the food chain becomes complete. When the wolves were expelled from the local ecosystem at the beginning of the 20th century, elk in Yellowstone would no longer have to worry about survival, and as a result, the population of elk gradually became more and more leisurely. When they hovering in the stream, chewing the willow there, for a long time do not want to leave. But the waterfront is a habitat for beavers, and the willow is their 'food' for the winter, so it is conceivable that the elk would surely have to find another place for the beaver when he occupied it. The return of the wolves changed the situation, and although these ferocious animals did not reduce the number of elk, their presence forced the latter to exercise: the elk could no longer rely on the stream to stay away The beavers also recovered their living space. As the Beaver grows, so do more 'small dams' that they 'build', forming more small ponds, while the increase in water resources in some areas has pushed up the groundwater level. Finally, Fish and birds also followed up. This kind of chain reaction under the influence of dominant predators is ubiquitous in various ecosystems, which naturally include the Internet ecology. The ubiquitous WeChat is a common platform provided by a large number of Chinese citizens, on the basis of which other branches and industries have also been able to develop rapidly. For example, WeChat and its rival, Alipay, are leading the way in network payment, which has a profound impact on the format. These payment tools seamlessly interface various types of App and user accounts, and at the same time, bring convenience to people and almost end in hand The payment era supported by cash and bank cards. At the same time, similar features such as 'column complimenting' have at the same time attracted readers and authors alike because users can easily complete their reading, compliment, and payment processes with the support of WeChat. All in all, the rewarding mechanism similar to 'Column Admiration' is not exclusive and Patreon of the United States is a crowdfunding platform sponsored by sponsors to sponsor artists' creation, but compared to Patreon's More demanding: They will continue to provide financial support to the artists who have been assisted for a relatively long period of time, and must complete the bank card information before funding to complete the various established processes in the traditional transfer mechanism. In contrast, the Appreciative Appreciation Mechanism is obviously more concise and, in functional terms, it does not require sponsors and recipients to establish a long-term relationship based on a certain promise; in terms of the payment mechanism, the sponsor does not need to pass through Complex transfer procedures, as long as they want, you can always express 'appreciation'. It can be seen that WeChat still plays an important role in the 'knowledge-based payment' mechanism that seems unrelated to its main business. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Now, WeChat's central role has infiltrated every inch of consumer life.From social life to business exchange, from leading the world in a shared economy to unmanned convenience stores that require efficient food supply chain support, WeChat's chain reaction Is continuing to ferment in every large and small city in China, on the one hand it resembles the Comodoosaur, mercilessly annihilating all kinds of competitors around it, and on the other hand it looks like a wolf in Yellowstone to protect the local The integrity of the food chain keeps ecosystems healthy. Final thinking People often say that the Internet world in China is two non-intersecting parallel lines with the United States and the rest of the world, but in my opinion this is a biased one, just as the difference between climate and geographical environment has created a Different, the Internet ecology around the world also has its own unique way of development. In China, although we are accustomed to calling the Weibo China Twitter and Baidu Google China, such an analogy may not be appropriate, and maybe they could barely use these as they were still in their infancy For example, to understand their business characteristics; but as time goes by, you will become more aware that they and those in Europe and the United States are not the same.
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