Chinese YouTube Rival Is Going Global
Bilibili will soon open its doors to Western audiences.
YouTube will soon get more competition: Bilibili, one of the most popular Chinese video-sharing platforms, has launched its international app globally and is planning to expand in the future.
The app works on Android, with iOS support coming later, so more people will get a glimpse of the hosting and perhaps learn something new about the culture. Or just find more cat videos, works too.
"Globally distributed content, better localization & easier sign ups with no identity verification...and more localization optimization and features to come!"
Chinese socials are notoriously hard to get into, and this is one of the most important parts of the promo: you don't need to verify your identity in this version. This is the third time the company has tried to go global, but this one might succeed.
X/Twitter user AYi believes that one of the reasons Bilibili is pushing for a worldwide release is YouTube's rules getting "less friendly" toward anime and mid-length videos.
"Bilibili's DNA isn't short-video algorithms; it's mid-to-long videos plus danmaku [a subtitle system that allows users to post moving comments onto a playing video] plus interest-based circles. The battlefield is ACG [Anime, Comics, and Games], knowledge, gaming – stuff YouTube serves poorly and TikTok's too short for."
Sounds reasonable, but I think larger exposure might harm the service eventually, so use it to the max while you can.
The global app is still not available in some countries, so you'll have to be patient. Considering the wild popularity of Chinese Douyin (a.k.a. TikTok), this could be something to look forward to.
Bilibili started as a site where you could enjoy anime, comics, and game content, but has since expanded to a wider variety of shows.
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