Young Li Wenxing could never have imagined that after his death, he would become an internet sensation. Like Wei Zexi, he used his young life to tear open a scab on the skin of the internet, raw and exposed.8Month2Day, the news that college student Li Wenxing was scammed and met with accidental death while job hunting on the “BOSSZhipin” website sparked widespread public concern.
Yesterday, the involved platform “BOSSZhipin” publicly responded, stating that once “everything becomes clear,” it will assume legal responsibility accordingly. From a legal standpoint,bossZhipin is not the primary party at fault, but in the face of a lost young life, the public has turned their questioning gaze toward the company behind the websiteBOSSZhipin, accusing it of insufficient scrutiny over fake job postings during the recruitment process. It was this careless or negligent oversight that led to today’s tragedy.
Public information shows that “BOSSZhipin” was founded4years ago as a “star company” in the recruitment industry. Institutions such as Shunwei Capital and Today Capital, both affiliated with Xiaomi, have invested in the company. Notably, in2016, despite extremely low main business revenue, the company completed itsC+round of funding, raising over2000million USD. Since the exposure ofBOSSZhipin’s lack of vetting, a media reporter conducted an experiment on theBOSSZhipin website. Using a fake identity to create a company and post job listings, the process went through “without a hitch,” and the reporter even received numerous applications from job seekers. Clearly,BOSSZhipin’s business model has almost no barriers to entry and is riddled with vetting loopholes. This is precisely whyBossZhipin was able to rapidly grow its user base and quickly become a star recruitment platform within a year or two. It’s also why many criminals target such “free” platforms — where crime carries almost no cost and fleeing involves zero risk.
Similar toBossZhipin, another Xiaomi-invested product, “Banana Travel,” also has numerous issues. Founded by a former Xiaomi employee, Banana Travel claims to be the “Didi for travel.” It promises to integrate online and offline services — from finding tour guides and making online payments to leaving reviews after the service ends — all to optimize the tourist experience. At first glance, shared travel and online guide booking seem to solve many pain points in traveling. However, upon closer inspection, the product is full of flaws. Guides are a good entry point;2016years ago, amid a boom, over50companies aimed to break into this space. So Banana Travel’s claim to be the first in the industry is questionable. Moreover, all guide projects aim for a+Xmodel, which is actually the most capital-intensive and unrealistic approach. With majorOTAalready dominating most traffic channels, and tour guides entirely under the control of travel agencies, what reason do tourists have to scan a QR code to find a guide when there’s already an on-site commentary waiting at the scenic spot entrance?
Compared toBossZhipin, travel products are a more complex, broad-reaching traditional service. Yet according to my knowledge, Banana Travel also failed to conduct rigorous vetting and certification processes to attract guide registrations. In fact, Banana Travel itself is not among the pilot units approved by China’s National Tourism Administration for free practice of tour guiding (current tourism laws stipulate that guides must operate through travel agencies, and free practice is only permitted in10pilot regions, with8entities specifically authorized by the National Tourism Administration). So one must ask — can such an unregulated, uncertified, and illegal “triple-no” product flaunt itself just because it hides behind the internet and wraps itself in the cloak of the sharing economy? The internet is a virtual world; we never know if the person on the other side is the real deal or an imposter. Consumers are ultimately the weaker party in any transaction. Internet companies are primarily engaged in commercial activities with the fundamental goal of profit. But alongside profit-making, they must also shoulder economic and legal responsibilities. And beyond these mandatory obligations, shouldn’t they also proactively take on social and moral responsibilities?
Additionally, according to my investigation, the concept of an internet-based shared tour guide platform, or online tour guide service,+where drivers also act as guides, was not first proposed by Xiangjiao (Banana) Travel. Platforms such as Tuniu and Ctrip900were all nationally certified pilot platforms for the free practice of national tour guides and team leaders. However, after nearly a year of development, only Ctrip and900You (a travel platform) continue to persevere. The idea of shared tour guides and internet-based tourism is indeed appealing, but questions such as where the guides come from, how their quality is ensured, how scenic spots screen tourists, and how service quality is guaranteed are all very practical. It is reported that Ctrip, in collaboration with Qunar’s former “locals,” spent nearly a year attracting just a few thousand tour guide registrations.900You, which specializes in third-party public tour guide services, currently has only410,000 active online tour guides. So where do the novice tour guides of Xiangjiao Travel come from?
A Xiaomi ecosystem company announced at a press conference that itsApp“Xiangjiao Tour Guide” app had generated60RMB in revenue and attracted100over 100,000 users during its internal beta testing phase of1030 days. But when consulting several experienced travelers, most said they had never heard of Xiangjiao Travel. So where do the data and revenue come from? Could it be yet another low-profile money-spinner under the Xiaomi umbrella? After trying out Xiangjiao Travel out of curiosity, I found that upon entering the app, you can only choose a guided tour of the Ming Tombs, and you’re required to pay upfront without even knowing the price. The product logic is confusing, the service content is vague, and the entire experience leaves you baffled before being asked to pay. You can’t just rely on hype — with such a terrible user experience, what exactly are users supposed to be paying for? Data fabrication is already a common issue among startups, but I’ve never seen such blatant self-promotion.VMost people said they had never heard of Banana Travel. So where do the data and revenue come from? Could it be yet another quietly profitable product under Xiaomi? Out of curiosity, I tried Banana Travel and found that once inside the app, I could only choose a tour guide for the Ming Tombs, and I was asked to pay without even knowing the price. The product logic is confusing, the service content is vague, and the entire experience left me baffled as I was pushed to make a payment. As the saying goes, "It takes real skill to forge good steel." I wonder what users are supposed to pay for with such a poorly designed product. Data fabrication has become a common problem among startups, but I’ve truly never seen one boast so boldly before.10W+With such an extremely poor user experience, why should users pay for this product? Data fabrication is already a common problem among startups, but I’ve truly never seen anyone boast so shamelessly.
In summary, while Xiangjiao Travel is frantically attracting users and venture capital, should it not also consider how to ensure the legality of its tour guides? How to guarantee the safety of travelers? These are matters of life and death — don’t trade trust for profit and repeat the tragedies of Wei Zexi and Li Wenxing. In terms of user experience and tour guide experience, shouldn’t the system also be optimized? Don’t assume that slapping on the “sharing economy” label will automatically make it a hit.
Looking back at Xiaomi’s rapid6years of growth, the company went from nothing to a market valuation of tens of billions, and such swift expansion is inseparable from the support of its hundreds of millions — even over a hundred million — Mi fans. Xiaomi ought to be grateful, yet it has ignored copyright issues,WIFIthrottling, router hijacking, benchmark cheating, false advertising, and various other behaviors that bring us back to reality.BossZhipin.com has already delivered a resounding slap to Xiaomi. How far can Xiangjiao Travel’s “gray area” strategy really go? If it loses the support of high-quality products, abandons its original mission to serve users and take social responsibility, and focuses solely on profit, tactics, and marketing, then what future does the Xiaomi ecosystem really have?