When I first met Zhang Jun, he wore black, short-sleeved trousers and looked at his phone from time to time. When he walks on the streets wearing a mask, he will merge into the vast crowd like many young head-down tribes. Until he opens his mouth, you can suddenly react, well, it's him.
As a game commentary video creator, he also has a more well-known name on the Internet - Xiaoyao Sanren .
In February this year, Zhang Jun officially entered his thirty years of birthday. Two months later, his personal account "Xiaoyao Sanren" on a certain video platform exceeded 4 million fans.
Nine years ago, Zhang Jun, who is still studying in the United States, uploaded his first homemade video to explain a high-difficulty level-breaking game. He failed to pass the level more than 11,000 times in the nearly 30 hours of game duration, but with his tenacity, he finally passed the game and gained his first group of fans.
From a top student who loves to play games to a full-time video creator who explains games, Zhang Jun has taken advantage of the rise of the domestic second-dimensional industry and became one of the earliest "people who eat crabs" who tasted the delicious "new individual economy".
01 Character
"Hello everyone! I am Xiaoyao Sanren, do you want to know the story behind me..."
As the camera's shooting button was pressed, Zhang Jun, who was just replying to messages on his mobile phone, has quickly entered the working state without too much guidance from the staff. Facing the camera, he was very skillful and talked freely like he usually live broadcasts.
Time went back to 2011, and Zhang Jun at that time seemed particularly immature under the current comparison. In the first video he uploaded, the voice was obviously nervous just at home facing the computer.
(The first video uploaded by Zhang Jun)
This video currently has 700,000 views. In the past nine years, many fans have "come to watch his "first work", and some comments from nine years ago have also been topped with hot reviews.
"I saw that even though your skills were not so good at the beginning, I still persevered. I was suddenly moved. You persevered, so why can't I?"
"I am a person who is easy to give up when encountering difficulties. Whenever I don't want to face them, just watch the video and watch you play, over and over again."
"This video can really encourage me to persevere in studying IELTS."
College entrance examination, postgraduate entrance examination, job search... Whenever I encounter any difficult obstacles in life, fans like to look out for this video and find the power of persistence from the "failure" that is once every nine seconds on average.
Zhang Jun used "company" to describe the relationship with fans. With the rise of live broadcasts, this kind of companionship has become more direct. He broadcasts live frequently, playing games and talking about life. He was happy to chat with the audience like friends. He even shared any new items he had added at home, and there was not much mystery.
Because there are many underage fans watching the live broadcast, Zhang Jun pays special attention to his words and deeds. Not only that, whenever you broadcast live with others, Zhang Jun will remind everyone not to swear. Occasionally, when playing games, he said something anxious, and he always apologized quickly.
In a role-playing game that Zhang Jun has played, he wants to substitute himself into the game to persuade third parties to retire from marriage. Due to the gap in economic strength, the "full-time housewife" character in the game has to tolerate everything when dealing with a marriage relationship. At this time, Zhang Jun outside the game screen began to talk hard about whether girls should still have their own jobs and be able to rely on themselves. When the "full-time housewife" concluded that "I can only ignore my husband when I am outside", Zhang Jun was so angry that he even spoke with a Tianjin accent: "So you should study hard, go out to work and be the highest level..."
Study hard is Zhang Jun's consistent teaching to his fans. When asked by a reporter what he wanted to say to his fans, Zhang Jun interspersed the main line of "study hard" in elements such as "enjoy life" and "don't seek trouble yourself", and finally ended with "being a kind person".
Zhang Jun, who was criticized for being a "talk" during live broadcast, has a much quieter and silent personality in real life. In his own words, "Actually, I rarely speak in private."
If Zhang Jun from the third dimension has given any "personality" to the second dimension Xiaoyao Sanren, it is to use Xiaoyao Sanren's mouth. Zhang Jun, who is often listener in life, has become his own expressor on the Internet.
"Gentle, humor, and correct views" is the most commonly used adjective for him by fans. Zhang Jun himself attributes these to the influence of his family.
02 Qidian
Zhang Jun came from a traditional intellectual family, and his parents were both university teachers. Growing up in a university family home, the place he went most often when he was a child was the teaching and research department. In his opinion, in the ivory tower of college, parents have maintained a relatively naive personality and have a relatively simple way of thinking about problems, which directly affects his perspective on things and is unwilling to think of others too complicatedly.
(Zhang Jun’s childhood photo/photo source: Zhang Jun Weibo)
Because of his professional relationship, Zhang Jun’s parents have strict tutoring management for him. My mother is a physics teacher, but Zhang Jun's physics grades have always been very poor, because he was beaten when he got the wrong questions, and he was even more reluctant to learn when he got beaten. In such a vicious cycle, his grades have never improved.
"There are good sides and bad sides." Zhang Jun concluded when talking about the impact of the original family on life's choices. The greed of playfulness and strict tutoring when he was young created sparks, causing the little rebellious flame in Zhang Jun's heart to burn all the way to the present.
"I liked playing games when I was a child. One of the big reasons why I am a game commentator is that I was so tired of being held back at home because I didn't let me play at home."
In 2010, Zhang Jun participated in the school's "2+2" project and went to the United States, and then continued to study for graduate school at the UC Santa Barbara . During the period of study abroad, because he did not dare to "fight head-on" with his strong foreign classmates, Zhang Jun gradually threw down his hobby of playing basketball and locked himself in the dormitory and passed the time by watching videos.
(Weibo posted by Zhang Jun during his study abroad/Photo source: Zhang Jun Weibo)
It was at that time that he found a video of a high-difficulty level-breaking game uploaded by someone else on the Internet. Because he found it interesting, Zhang Jun downloaded the same game. After passing the level for six or seven days, he felt sorry for not recording the process.
The next day, a free screen recording software, an office laptop that will stutter when playing large games, and a high-difficulty level-breaking game, together formed Zhang Jun's first work.
Counting the time to say hello, in the first two minutes of his first work, the words "GAME OVER" appeared 8 times, and Zhang Jun started over while saying "Okay". Because of his clear pronunciation and extraordinary skills, some people predicted that he had the potential to be a game commentator in the comment section back then.
When uploaded to the eighth issue, Zhang Jun encountered difficulties in the game and caught traveling with his classmates. The matter of playing games and recording videos was directly put on hold. A month later, Zhang Jun logged in to his account again and saw a comment like this - "Why don't you continue to do it? I still want to continue to read it."
The few comments and barrage back then were even mixed with some criticisms of "poor technology", but some people read it and some like it, which was a great encouragement for him, so Zhang Jun decided to continue to update it.
After the work gradually gained popularity on the Internet, the opposite is a pot of cold water poured from the real world. The game video was seen by his parents. For the first time, the call from his parents was no longer asking about his well-being, but cursing him on the face - "I asked you to go abroad and play games, what does it mean?"
After so many years, Zhang Jun was still impressed by the scene at that time. At that time, he used his grades to not drop to calm his parents' anger, but those scolding words were buried in his heart word by word.These disapprovals not only exist between Zhang Jun and his parents, but are largely also the initial impression of the entire society of this emerging industry. Many people in the industry are striving to tear down such prejudice.
03 Breaking the circle
"It only took one year from two million to four million, and it took eight years from zero to two million." Fans helped Zhang Jun record a special time node, but this journey called "Going out of the circle" was obviously a bit long.
Zhang Jun once created a milestone work in his game commentary career - the first video in the series was released in 2014, and has nearly 25 million views and more than 3 million barrages so far. Previously, most of the video platform game areas he was in were hardcore game players, and a plot-oriented love game suddenly appeared. It was easy to get started and easy to understand, and it could be called "a little red in the green cluster".
I had my own representative works in 2014. For many people, it seems natural to change their hobbies to full-time jobs while taking advantage of the popularity. But Zhang Jun's transformation was delayed four years later, and behind this was an invisible "tug-of-war" between him and his parents.
In the early days, the business model of self-media was not mature, and the audience had a very low recognition of the behavior of video creators to accept advertisements. "At that time, the environment was that you would do anything related to business, and everyone would say that you would scold you if you changed."
"Generate electricity for love"? Zhang Jun's parents couldn't understand and could not accept his career choice. The embarrassing situation of not having a stable income also made Zhang Jun unable to provide reasons to convince his parents. If you accept advertisements, you will lose your audience, have no income and cannot get the support of your family, and Zhang Jun is trapped in a vicious cycle.
Due to his personality, he did not choose to confront his parents head-on, but instead insisted on his choice in a more tactful way - to pursue an MBA at Nankai University and continue to work on game commentary in his spare time.
(Screenshot of Zhang Jun’s Weibo)
Opportunities are always left to those who are prepared. With the rise of the live broadcast industry and the gradual maturity of commercialization, Zhang Jun has stood at the forefront. Gradually, relatives or acquaintances often find Zhang Jun’s father and say they want Zhang’s signature, their income has gradually improved, and their parents’ attitudes have finally begun to change.
Playing games for Zhang Jun is no longer a "lost of ambition" that was frightened by childhood, and it is not only an entertainment and entertainment for boring times. It transforms years of hobbies into formal work and makes choices that he has never regretted at the critical moment. Zhang Jun works hard and is also lucky.
After eight years of persistent contributions, popularity has slowly accumulated. Just wait for the rain to stop, and a ray of sky light can be broken out behind the layers of dark clouds.
In 2019, Zhang Jun finally ushered in his own circle-breaking moment: as a contestant, he was invited to participate in a provincial satellite TV brain-based competitive program. Because many contestants clearly stated that they were his fans, the recording site of the program almost turned into a fan meeting, and the entry "Xiaoyao Sanren" once reached a high position in the hot search on Weibo. Afterwards, he signed a contract with an agency to become an artist, and began to post singles, record variety shows, and shoot fashion magazines. Zhang Jun is on the list of elites under 30 in 2019 released by Forbes China.
When popularity began to cross from "two-dimensional" to "three-dimensional", Zhang Jun became a "big star" in the eyes of his classmates. In response, he kept laughing at him as a joke from his friends. Although he would ask for a photo when he went out to the street because he was recognized, Zhang Jun still had no burden of a celebrity. In an offline event this year, he was invited as a guest to attend on the last day, but he bought a ticket the day before to have a trip.
At an award ceremony this year, all the winners appeared together before the end, and Zhang Jun held up his mobile phone and went on stage. The curtain opened, the stage was filled with dazzling lights and sounds, and the audience was filled with cheers. Zhang Jun chose to record this moment from the first perspective and share it with his fans. The background sound of the video was his iconic thoughts, without official remarks, like an old friend of yours posted a circle of friends that could not contain the excitement of winning the award.
04
The 5G era is coming, and the competition among video platforms has entered a white-hot stage, and the self-media industry has also ushered in more strong competitors. For Zhang Jun, who has been creating videos for more than nine years, this is a year of self-resolving.
A large number of newcomers flocked in. As a member of the "old man", Zhang Jun faced a situation where the number of fans was overtaken, but it did not make many people feel out of the way that they were facing a great enemy, which did not make Zhang Jun feel too anxious.
"It's very common to be out of date. I've been there for nine years. Everyone doesn't feel that freshness about me is that. Basically, I feel out of date every year." He is content with his current popularity. In his opinion, nine years is enough to screen out all potential fans.
Because there are fewer commentary on popular popular games, it is difficult for ordinary viewers to maintain their attention to Zhang Jun, and they are more passersby who accidentally click on one or two videos. After becoming popular with a popular work for a while, the discussion around Zhang Jun will slowly cool down. He accepted this situation calmly, "My fans increase trend is basically a straight line, which is a long-lasting style. I think this is good, and my relationship with fans is closer."
The speed of fans increasing is slow, and fans have helped him analyze the reasons from many aspects, such as the video time is too long and the games he plays are too unpopular. Zhang Jun actually knew these "problems" very well, but in addition to gaining fans, he also had his own persistence.
In April this year, Zhang Jun ended a live broadcast of a game. After the broadcast was released, his mood could not calm down for a long time. It was close to one o'clock in the morning. He wrote a special article on Weibo. The lines were the little bits and pieces in the game, and there were a lot of words, which was rare in his Weibo.
"Every time I broadcast the game live, the popularity is very low, the text is large and profound and tedious. Many viewers say that I should play other things, so I don't get involved and don't be pleased. I am happy to persevere now."
Following the origin, from the beginning of uploading videos to the Internet, Zhang Jun's selfishness is to share the niche games he likes with more people, even if the effect is insignificant.
Luckily, although the hobby has become a profession, playing games can still bring spiritual comfort to Zhang Jun. "When I was sick and felt very uncomfortable, I also played games live. Everyone said I worked too hard. But in fact, after I got sick, I forgot all the pain when I played games, and I felt that I was not sick at all. As soon as the game ended, the feeling of illness suddenly came up."
Unfortunately, the pure love of hobbies and the profession has an essential conflict. Last year, a commercial promotion video by Zhang Jun caused a big storm among his fans. Many people accused him of "small money" in his new video, and some people lost their fans because of this, thinking that he had "changed".
When asked about this, Zhang Jun was deeply impressed. Although he had almost a year later, he still accurately and quickly said that he had deleted the video on the third day after it was released.
"I actually mentioned to the platform at that time that there may be some problems with this video. I said that since you have picked it up, just play it. If you have any questions, I will delete it later."
The conflict is far more than that. With the vigorous expansion of the platform, a large number of new users have settled in, and the atmosphere of the community has changed a lot, and the complaints of the "indigenous people" have begun to increase. As the top content creator of the platform, Zhang Jun has added a little more to fight, but also has added a few uncontrollable constraints.
"If I were a newcomer, I could try a lot. But after all, I was not, so I couldn't do too many breakthroughs or too outrageous things. Maybe because you drive a wind direction, many people will do this wind direction, and it may not be a good direction."
In the past nine years of video creation, Zhang Jun has been updating the original high-difficulty game series video. One interpretation is that the original intention remains unchanged, and the other interpretation is that you are standing still.
"I want to break through, but it is difficult for me to do something too out of line in my current position.Sometimes when you make something relatively changed, many viewers say that you have changed. Although you sometimes don’t care about this comment, you still look like that after reading too much, right? "
For Zhang Jun, this industry is too new and there is no guide ahead. Stepping on the single-plank bridge in the fog, he carefully grasped the balance, carried the burden of his original intention and reality, and continued to move forward. He also hoped that he could illuminate a little direction for future generations.
05 Shadow
The glory of becoming famous is accompanied by flowers and applause, but when the crowd disperses, the many trivial effects of private life need to be borne by Zhang Jun alone.
This July, Zhang Jun started a live broadcast and chatting with fans while eating outside. Not long after, a fan suddenly broke into his box. According to the background and dishes of the live broadcast screen, the girl in the first year of high school recognized the hotel where Zhang Jun was. This made Zhang Jun's fan circle burst. While condemning the "private meal", the fans emphasized "close to the work and stay away from life". In this regard, Zhang Jun already has the "fan circle treatment" like a star.
（Zhang Jun Screenshot of fans Weibo)
This is not the first time Zhang Jun encountered a "illegal fan". This time, he happened to be broadcast live throughout the whole process, and the problem was suddenly presented to other fans. The situation would become much more serious. As the impact continued to ferment, the fans' words and attitudes were not friendly. Speaking of this, compared with the enthusiastic fans, Zhang Jun's attitude was more peaceful. "After you come here privately, I don't know what to talk about. After she understood that she was embarrassed, she would not come next time, and the problem would be solved by herself."
The fan who broke into the hotel was scolded online, and Zhang Jun also felt a little disgusted, "If a person does the same thing several times in a row, you can criticize him because he is not corrected. But just come occasionally, and I think it can be resolved through other methods, and there is no need to rise to such a large height. "He fully understands that fans want to get close to their idol out of curiosity. As long as they don't help but continue to teach them, there is no need to blame them.
If some fans' fanatical behavior is still within the controllable range of Zhang Jun and they have the strength to deal with it, then another big problem that plagues contemporary young people - being single, is much more difficult for him.
Zhang Jun usually starts live broadcasts at night and works in other people's leisure time. Such a day and night reverse work and day and night have made him lose a lot of private clubs He also attributed the main reason why he was single to this.
Zhang Jun’s parents were very worried about this. Because of the epidemic, Zhang Jun stayed at home for a long time this year, and his parents took the opportunity to arrange a blind date for him. His own mentality also changed subtly. Zhang Jun, who had clearly stated that he would not find a girlfriend from his fans, gave this time the answer was "It depends on whether there is a suitable one". The clichéd "iron plate" problem finally left a little room.
06 In the future,
Whether it is amateur or full-time, Zhang Jun has experienced too many people and things in his nearly ten years of self-media career. Due to various reasons such as work and health, some of his friends of the same period have been indifferent or left, or even passed away.
The golden period of playing games is very short. As the age of age, the hand speed and reaction ability will decline to varying degrees. The trend is changing too fast, and Zhang Jun often feels that he is left behind by the times, but as long as the pace of the pace is not chaotic, the future direction will be particularly clear in Zhang Jun's eyes.
Zhang Jun is willing to be a game commentary video creator for his whole life. If no one watches the videos, then move from career to amateur. "Maybe in the future, I will open a new major in college and talk about new individual economy, and I will be a teacher, right? "Zhang Jun said with a smile. But at present, his farther goal in his heart is to become the person who can drive the development of the industry, but he also understands that "there are very few people like this."
Affected by the epidemic, many of Zhang Jun's plans this year have been lost. He originally wanted to go to different and unfamiliar places, go out during the day to understand the customs and customs, and start live broadcasts or make videos at night. This is his most ideal life, go to the world, be as free as the wind.
(Zhang Jun travel photo/photo source: Zhang Jun Weibo)
No complicated titles, Zhang Jun’s personal profile on social platforms says “Happy every day” and “happy”. He hopes that at least the moment when everyone sees his introduction, they can forget their sadness briefly and in the most straightforward way.
When you are impetuous, Zhang Jun will also review his first video. The recorded image is "shrouded" in the upper left corner, and the screen is not even covered. There is also a big watermark in the upper right corner. The picture quality is blurry and the editing is rough, but fans call it "the place where the dream begins", and then calm down.
In the game, Zhang Jun manipulated the villain wearing a red cloak to move forward bravely, dodging and jumping among the thorns; in reality, this thirty-year-old boy walked his own way calmly between the moon in the sky and the sixpences all over the ground. (Wang Ruoyi/text)
