Bilibili (stylized in all lowercase), nicknamed B Site, is a video-sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view, and add overlaid commentary on videos. Bilibili hosts videos on various themes, including anime, music, dance, science and technology, movies, drama, fashion, and video games, but it is also known for its extensive kuso-style parodies by subculturalcontent creators. Since the mid-2010s, Bilibili began to expand to a broader audience from its original niche market that focused on animation, comics, and games (ACG), and it has become a major Chinese over-the-top streaming platform serving videos on demand such as documentaries, variety shows, and other original programming.[1] Bilibili is known for its scrolling danmu (弹幕, "bullet curtain") commenting system.[2] Bilibili also provides a live streaming service where the audience can interact with streamers. Bilibili also offers games, mostly ACG-themed mobile games, such as the Chinese version of Fate/Grand Order and the Chinese game Azur Lane. In the third quarter of 2022, the number of average monthly active users reached about 332.6 million, including 28.5 million paying users.[3]
History
Founding and early development (2009–2013)
Inspired by similar video sharing websites, Nico Nico Douga and AcFun, Xu Yi (Chinese: 徐逸; pinyin: Xú Yì, known as "⑨bishi" on the internet) founded Bilibili in 2009.[4] At the time, Xu Yi was an AcFun user and wanted to create a better website than AcFun.[5] He spent three days creating a prototype website named Mikufans.cn as a fandom community of Hatsune Miku.[6] As it grew, he reshaped the website to specialise in video sharing and launched it on 14 January 2010 with the name Bilibili, a nickname for the protagonist Mikoto Misaka in the anime A Certain Scientific Railgun.[7] Bilibili also names many of its features after the anime and celebrates Mikoto Misaka's birthday on its homepage every year on 2 May.
Bilibili's domain name bilibili.us was revoked in 2011, because of the domain registrar enforcing .us restrictions. As a result, Bilibili switched to bilibili.tv on 25 June 2011. Later that year, Xu Yi founded the startup, Hangzhou Huandian Technology (Chinese: 幻电; pinyin: huàndiàn; lit. 'fantastic electricity') based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, to develop and operate Bilibili. In April 2012, Bilibili obtained an agreement with Nico Nico Douga to webcast the latest Chinese-subbed episodes of the newly airing anime Fate/Zero starting from 7 April.[8] However, the program was censored after three episodes for being reported as unauthorised operations of Internet audio-video broadcasting services and Hangzhou Huandian Technology was penalised and fined ¥10,000 by the local government.[9] Bilibili started to display logos on its homepage in August 2012 to indicate its affiliation with the state-owned Shanghai Media Group and share the use of various content provider licenses in the hopes of avoiding future legal risks. Meanwhile, anonymous visitors to its website were redirected to a subdomain of Shanghai Media Group Broad Band subsidiary (bilibili.smgbb.cn).
Leadership change, expansion, and acquisitions (2014–2018)
In November 2014 Chen Rui [zh] (Chinese: 陈睿) was appointed CEO and chairman of the board of Bilibili.[10][11][12][13] Chen was an early member of Bilibili's community and started watching anime on the platform in 2010, before he met Xu Yi in 2014 when he was convinced to become the company's earliest investor. He was the fifth member of the company.[14]
Partnership with Sony, original programming, and second stock listing (2019–2021)
On 23 March 2019, Bilibili announced at AnimeJapan that they had partnered with Sony-owned American anime distributor Funimation to jointly license anime titles for both the U.S. and Chinese markets.[23] On 9 April 2020, Sony Corporation of America announced it would acquire a 4.98% minority stake in Bilibili for US$400 million, valuing Bilibili at US$8 billion.[24] Upon completion of the deal, Sony and Bilibili signed an agreement for the expansion of anime and mobile games within the Chinese market.[25] Later that year, Bilibili Esports, its e-sports arm, signed a partnership deal with Ping An Bank.[26] Bilibili began its foray into original programming by joining the production of a fourth season for Informal Talks.[citation needed] In August 2020, Bilibili produced the show ''Rap for Youth'' [zh].[27] In December 2020, it produced a competition programme for voice actors called Voice Monster.
In September 2020, the company launched Bilibili Video Satellite.[28][29] On 3 February 2021, Bilibili announced it had acquired Shanghai Yarun Culture Communications Co., Ltd, the parent company of animation studio Haoliners Animation League and its subsidiaries.[30] On 23 March 2021, it was reported that Bilibili would raise US$2.6 billion on the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEX).[31] This would be the company's secondary listing, as it is already public on the NASDAQ in New York City. On 29 March 2021, Bilibili was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at an opening price of HK$790.[32]
Besides hosting video content, Bilibili's main feature is a real-timecaptioning system that displays user comments as streams of scrolling subtitles overlaid on the screen, visually resembling a danmaku shooter game. These are called bullet comments, danmu, or danmaku[33][34][35] (Chinese: 弹幕; pinyin: dànmù; Japanese: 弾幕; rōmaji: danmaku; lit. 'bullet curtain'). This system offers various subtitle controls, including style, format, and movement. Users can also create translated and soramimi subtitles, or special effects with carefully formed subtitles.[7] Bilibili's platform also offers a feature called "advanced subtitles", where users can use an ECMAScript-based API to control video playback, dynamically change danmaku subtitles and draw shapes on the screen. This functionality is only available with the video poster's permission.[citation needed]
Danmaku are easy to post, but only registered users who have passed a verification check and have a phone number tied to their account are allowed to post them. Comments usually move from right to left on a video, and if viewers do not wish to be distracted, they can disable them. There are three types of bullet comments offered on Bilibili: rolling comments, top comments and bottom comments. Non-registered user comments are limited to 20 characters while registered users have a character limit of 120 and may edit the size and colour of their comments. The video creator has the ability to save or delete comments. Bilibili users may use acronyms or slang unique to the site, such as the code "2333" to indicate laughter. Another type of comment unique to Bilibili is a "high energy alert" (高能预警), which is a kind of spoiler warning, to tell the audience that something exciting or climactic is approaching.[36]Bilibili users communicate not only through text but also by frequently using emojis and ASCII art to express emotions or add humor. These symbols have become a unique cultural expression on the platform. For instance, the emoticon is commonly used to convey confidence or pride and has become a widely recognized form of interaction among users. Additionally, users employ attention-grabbing symbols such as "!!!" to mark a "high energy alert," signaling that an exciting or climactic moment is approaching. [37]These symbols not only enrich user interactions but also strengthen the cohesion and uniqueness of the Bilibili community.Research result states that when the main purpose of watching videos is entertaining, the bullet comments meets the leisure and self-expression needs of users,[38] though the Ministry of Culture of China has criticised the bullet comment system for allowing the spread of hateful messages on videos.[39]
Operations
In 2012, Bilibili consisted of nine team members all versed in Japanese language and culture. Two are web developers, including Xu Yi himself, and the others were website editors and moderators. Bilibili is free to use, with its main revenue coming from webpage advertisement and affiliate marketing.[6]
Membership
Most content on Bilibili is free for anonymous viewing, while some videos require a membership. Select videos are also only available under the Chengbao system, in which case members must pay to access them. Membership is also required to submit videos or comments. Bilibili limits its memberships to balance the quality of its users and moderation capacity.[citation needed] In March 2013, a limited number of invitation codes was shared with existing users. Registrants using the codes needed to complete 100 questions to become a premium member, with questions mostly related to ACG. On 19 May 2015, Bilibili reduced the number of questions to 50, with 20 questions on internet comment etiquette. On 26 February 2017, Bilibili reinstated the 100-question test, with a passing threshold of 60.[40] Existing users can purchase invitation codes.
Subscription
On 9 October 2016, Bilibili launched a premium membership subscription service on the site, costing around ¥25 per month,[41][citation needed] or approximately US$2 per month on a long-term subscription.[14] Premium members get access to videos in high resolution and can receive early access to certain videos, alongside other benefits such as discounts on Bilibili-owned games.[42][43] From 1 January 2018, Bilibili extended its early access programme to premium members, giving them early access to certain episodes of animated series, with regular members needing to wait a week to watch them.[44]
Account suspension
On 26 February 2017, an account blocking function was launched to regulate the website's content and users. Offensive comments can be deleted by administrators and offenders would be penalised. Accounts could be suspended temporarily or permanently, depending on the severity of the offence.[45] On 15 June 2017, Bilibili launched a "discipline committee", allowing members to arbitrate reports of violations in some communities and decide whether the behaviour is illegal, and vote on the penalty.[46]
Upload and review
Bilibili does not allow duplicate videos, but does allow high-resolution and lower-resolution versions of the same content.[47] Similar to other Chinese video sharing websites, Bilibili is subject to strict censorship. As of 10 February 2017, individual users are prohibited from uploading videos regarding politics, with only certified bodies allowed to upload political content.[48][49]
Bilibili Sports
Bilibili airs a sports programming entitled Bilibili Sports, the sports division of the Bilibili. Bilibili via Bilibili Sports officially obtained broadcasting rights for Meiji YasudaJ1 League for Southeast Asian countries excluding Thailand starts 2024 season. HIGHSPEED Étoile and F1 also aired in the same year.
Community
Bilibili's official mascots are elected by its community, Bili-tans, named "22" and "33".[50]
Bilibili has also established affiliated communities: Corari (Chinese: 协作乡; lit. 'Hometown of Collaboration', currently offline), a collaboration project founding community; DrawYoo, a creative drawing community; The Ninth Channel, a support forum for Bilibili.
Games
The group's companies have published the following games in the Chinese market:
Cai Xukun, a Chinese artist and singer, was chosen as a spokesperson of the NBA in January 2019, sparking controversy. His introduction video from Idol Producer, which involved him playing basketball, went viral. Following this, hundreds of parody videos appeared on Bilibili mocking the original video. Cai issued a lawsuit notice asking for Bilibili to remove the parody videos.[56] Bilibili responded that they believed the videos were not illegal and refused to penalise the users who uploaded the videos. Lyrics from the video, such as "sing, dance, rap, basketball" went on to become viral as well. To prevent potential backlash and spam from users, Bilibili temporary halted the verification of new accounts.[57][58]
Servers in Taiwan
In September 2019, Bilibili was found to be renting servers illegally in Taiwan. The National Communications Commission required provider Chief Telecom to cease the tie-up immediately after the issue was discovered by a Taiwan-based think tank. Video on demand services based in mainland China are forbidden to operate in Taiwan due to national security concerns.[59]
Source code leak
In April 2019, a repository called "Bilibili website backend codes", with a large number of usernames and passwords, was published on GitHub. The repository was taken down by GitHub due to "excessive use of resources". The repository amassed more than 6,000 stars in just a few hours. However, copies could still be found on GitHub and other platforms. Bilibili responded that the leaked code was from an older version of their website and that they had taken "defensive steps to ensure the accident won't compromise user data security".[60]
996 work schedule
On 7 February 2022, an influencer known as Wang Luobei posted on Weibo about the death of a content moderator while at work in Bilibili's Wuhan subsidiary during the Lunar New Year holiday period. The cause of death was suspected to be overwork, sparking controversy amid the prevalence of the 996 work schedule in China's internet industry. Bilibili responded the same day that the employee was feeling unwell since the afternoon of 4 February 2022 and completed a standard nine-hour shift that day, ruling out the possibility of excessive work as the cause of death. The response was refuted by a Weibo user who claimed to be the cousin of the deceased, stating that he did not return home for the festive period and stayed behind in Wuhan for work.[61]
Socially responsible investing
Bilibili Video Satellite
Bilibili Video Satellite was launched on 15 September 2019. This satellite is developed by CIOMP and it is the first popular science video remote sensing satellite which customized by Chinese internet company. Bilibili wants to use this satellite to help uploaders to make more videos, including technology and humanities. And use it to excite and keep the new generation of Chinese youth in a curious spirit of exploration.[62]
Bilibili Elementary School
On 26 June 2019, Bilibili announced that it has achieved deep cooperation with "Teach for China" to build an elementary school and provide support for teachers' humanity support, environment and school equipment in a village of Dali, Yunnan. Meanwhile, Bilibili will also give full play to its own advantages to support schools in providing curriculum resources such as art, science and innovation, and the cultivation of comprehensive literacy, enriching the video course resources of art, science and innovation in school.[63]
^ ab土八哥 (August 2011). 让字幕飞——互联网"弹幕"视频全方位解析 [Let the Subtitle Fly: Comprehensive Analysis of Internet "Danmaku" Video]. Popular Software (in Chinese) (375). Beijing: China Society for Scientific and Technical Information: 19–27. ISBN9783319209074. ISSN1007-0060. OCLC308996806.
^"Fate/Zero第2季週六晚間繁中字幕同步播出！" [The second season of Fate/Zero will be webcast with traditional Chinese subtitle simultaneously in Saturday evening!] (Press release) (in Chinese). Nico Nico Douga Taiwan. 7 April 2012. Archived from the original on 6 June 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012. 另外，本次為了造福中國地區的粉絲，也確定在中國動畫網站『嗶哩嗶哩動畫』進行《Fate/Zero》第２季簡體中文字幕網路同步播出！ [Besides, for the enjoyment of fans in China at this time, we decided to webcast Fate/Zero the second season with simplified Chinese subtitle on the Chinese anime website "Bilibili Donghua" at the same time!]
^Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, TV, Film, Press and Publication (26 April 2012). "行政处罚结果公示" [Public Notice on Result of the Administrative Penalty]. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
^Chen, Yue; Gao, Qin; Rau, Pei-Luen Patrick (2015). "Understanding Gratifications of Watching Danmaku Videos – Videos with Overlaid Comments". In Rau, P.L.Patrick (ed.). Cross-Cultural Design Methods, Practice and Impact. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 9180. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 153–163. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20907-4_14. ISBN978-3-319-20907-4.
^Wu, Zechen; Ito, Eisuke (2014). "Correlation analysis between user's emotional comments and popularity measures.". 2014 IIAI 3rd International Conference. Advanced Applied Informatics (IIAIAAI). IEEE. pp. 280–283. doi:10.1109/IIAI-AAI.2014.65. hdl:2324/1463259.
^Chen, Yue; Gao, Qing (2015). "Understanding gratifications of watching danmaku videos–videos with overlaid comments.". CCD 2015: Cross-Cultural Design Methods, Practice and Impact. International Conference on Cross-Cultural Design. Springer. pp. 153–163. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20907-4_14.
^Bilibili Announcement (27 May 2010). "【BILI娘投票结束】投票结果发表" [(The Vote for Bili-tans Ended) Announcement on Results of the Vote]. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
^东施 (30 May 2019). "《BanG Dream! 少女乐团派对!》iOS版本正式上线 一同奏响我们的乐章" ["BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!" IOS version is officially launched] (in Chinese). 7k7k. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
^ abc"Bilibili Inc". SEC.gov. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
