Bilibili

Founding and early development (2009–2013)

Inspired by similar video sharing websites, like Nico Nico Douga and AcFun, Xu Yi (, known as "⑨bishi" on the internet) founded Bilibili on June 26, 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]

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. 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.[42]

Bilibili Mascots

Bilibili's official mascots are elected by its community, Bili-tans, named "22" and "33". 22 and 33 were determined by the final vote tally from the BILI Mascot Girls Election from July 7, 2010, to August 16, 2010. There were 72 mascot artworks received. After the whole election event ended, Bilibili surprisingly found out that both No.22 and No.33 artworks had the same votes, 1824 votes. Bilibili then decided to let them both stand as the winner mascots and name them directly from their election serial number, 22 and 33. Artist Hao (Japanese: ハオ) was the winner of the election and the creator of 22 in the election, while artist AUER was the winner of the election and the creator of 33.[52] Hao was officially interviewed in 2018 as a genuine supporter of Bilibili, explaining his inspiration while coming up with the design of 22. 22's distinctive hairstyle stems from Hao's desire to create a "fluttery, electric shock" look, which would be more in line with the theme of Bilibili's name. The community’s recognition of his artwork has been his motivation to continue delivering his effort as an artist.[53]

Bilibili New Year Festival

Cai Xukun

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.[64] 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 temporarily halted the verification of new accounts.[65][66]

Servers in Taiwan

In September 2019, Bilibili was found to be renting servers illegally in

Bilibili Video Satellite

Bilibili Video Satellite was launched on 15 September 2019. This satellite was developed by CIOMP, becoming the first video remote sensing satellite to be customized by a Chinese internet company. Bilibili uses this satellite to aid uploaders in video production, particularly in the technology and humanities spaces, with the goal of raising scientific awareness among young audiences.[71]

Bilibili's Dream Elementary School And Happiness Scholarship

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.[72]