It costs at least 2,929 yuan for Zhang Ziyi to answer one question on Fenda. Photo: Yang Lan/GT

Fenda, (the one-minute answer) is a new online Chinese question-and-answer platform that has rapidly gained hundreds of thousands of followers - and made thousands of yuan for some.

Questions are answered as one-minute voice messages, and the questions can involve general knowledge or be distinctly personal.

The platform was launched on May 15 and since then many Chinese celebrities and experts have signed on and are collecting piles of cash for their answers. A key aspect of this platform is that anyone can pay one yuan to eavesdrop on any answer being given.

Wang Sicong, the 28-year-old only son of China's current richest man, Wang Jianlin, and a web celebrity in his own right, has earned more than  240,000 yuan ($3,653) in just two weeks by answering 32 questions (it costs 4,999 yuan to have him personally answer a question rising from 3,000 yuan). The film star Zhang Ziyi picked up more than 100,000 yuan for answering 31 questions in less than a week - she charges 2,929 for an answer.

Specialists

Apart from celebrities, some of the busiest people on the platform are specialists like Zhang Yu, a gynecologist from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and the acclaimed screenwriter Shi Hang.

In just a week of its launch, Fenda's unique approach has begun to attract a growing number of celebrities, opinion leaders and grass-root users. The Global Times talked to two Fenda participants about their experiences and how the platform works.

KeerQinfu is a Mongolian musician, and has been a judge on national talent quest shows like Super Girl and the Voice of China. About 10 days ago he saw some of his friends posting links to their Fenda pages in WeChat and decided to try the platform himself.

"I was curious about this new platform and thought it could be fun to answer questions on it," KeerQinfu said.

On his Fenda homepage he has tagged himself as a musician, talent show judge, a cat lover, a Buddhist, and a Go enthusiast. He charges 12.34 yuan per question, and has already received dozens of questions.

"Sometimes I get more than 20 questions a day and sometimes there's only one or two," he said. Though he wasn't in it for the money he has picked up more than 1,300 yuan so far.

On Fenda registered users with specialist knowledge or experience can charge (usually between one and 500 yuan) for their answers. If they don't reply within 48 hours, the people asking the questions will get their money refunded.

Mongolian musician KeerQinfu. Photo: courtesy of the interviewee

Personal life

KeerQinfu said some users wanted to know about music and talent shows and asked him "Why do singers from talent shows generally not succeed?" Others wanted to know about his private life. "One guy asked me why I was still unmarried and offered to introduce me to some women."

But KeerQinfu was open-minded about different kinds of questions, and said he would answer them all as honestly as possible. "I hope people will know exactly who I am via my voice message replies," he added.

He said that he tried to be as honest as possible with his replies, and having to answer with voice messages rather than typing out characters gave him a sense of intimacy, and made him feel more comfortable about speaking openly.

"If I post ideas on social websites like Weibo, everyone can see my opinions in writing," he said. "But my voice messages are only heard by the questioners - although people can pay one yuan to eavesdrop. If people don't pay they can't listen."

Though he is enjoying answering questions on Fenda, he is unsure how long people might be interested in him.

"I am very willing to share my musical knowledge and talent show experience. But over the past three days I have seen a drop in the number of people asking me questions. So I'm not sure about the future," he admitted.

In Fenda asking good questions of the right people can also prove profitable. Hu Xiao knows this well. Hu is 20-something and is a Fudan University graduate and a media professional.

He joined Fenda at its launch, and, over the past two weeks has earned around 1,300 yuan by asking celebrities and prominent figures good questions.

When someone finds a question particularly interesting they can pay one yuan to listen to the answer. While the platform takes 10 percent of that payment, the rest is split between the questioner and the person answering. The more intriguing a question seems, the more popular it is and the more people will pay to listen in.

Media professional Hu Xiao. Photo: courtesy of the interviewee

Period question

Some 800 paid to hear the noted gynecologist Zhang Yu answer Hu's question about whether drinking brown sugar in hot water could help period pain.

"I paid 58 yuan to ask Zhang this question, and now around 800 people have listened to her reply. As the questioner, I get 0.4 yuan if anyone pays one yuan to listen to the answer. So far I have made around 320 yuan from this one question," he said.

He said that to make money out of questions, asking about the personal lives of celebrities was most likely to provoke interest.

But he said interesting questions in some specific areas also encouraged people to listen in - like "What have been the highlights in this year's European Cup?" or, "What are the usual challenges in the early stages of entrepreneurship?"

"Based on my assessment, questions that contain useful information are popular. It seems that many users still want to learn about things from industry experts rather than hear gossip about celebrities," Hu said.

As well as asking his own questions Hu has also spent money in listening to other peoples' questions and answers. He thinks the one-yuan investment is worth it to be able to hear a celebrity or an expert answer. "It doesn't matter always whether the answers are good or not, at least I get to hear these famous people speak."

One person he has been listening to a lot is the wealthy 28-year-old Wang Sicong.

Racy questions

"I was curious about his voice and how he might answer some of the racy questions people asked him, like 'Did you ever get any of your girlfriends pregnant?'" Hu said. "To my surprise, he didn't avoid the truth when he answered these very personal questions. I think he is a genuine and good person and after listening to his replies I have a better impression of him as a man."

Making contact with famous people is the winning factor for Hu. He admitted that in his ordinary circle of friends and acquaintances, there were no famous experts or celebrities but by paying a little money to ask questions on Fenda he can enjoy a personal interaction with some famous people.

"It's a wonderful experience to hear a celebrity answering your particular question in a voice message," he said.

Wang Yue is an assistant researcher in new media studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and told the Global Times that the attraction of celebrities and the lure of making money were two of the driving factors behind Fenda.

"The one-on-one voice message format shortens the distance between ordinary people and celebrities, and builds up a sense of intimacy between ordinary questioners and famous respondents," Wang said. She said that the one-yuan "eavesdrop" feature also allowed ordinary people to listen to celebrities' replies very cheaply.

Fenda's profit-sharing mechanism was also attractive. "For celebrities, answering questions on this new platform gives them another channel to make money," she said. "And grass-roots users enjoy financial rewards if their questions attract others."

Despite Fenda's overnight popularity some industry experts criticized it for being more of an entertainment site than a genuine knowledge-sharing platform. Some have said it was more about famous people selling their secrets than a place offering professional guidance and answers.

But media man Hu said that for him even a joke, a food recipe or a gossip item could be informative.

Some users have also complained that the reply time (one minute) can only contain 100 to 200 Chinese characters and it was almost impossible for respondents to give detailed answers. Some have suggested that Fenda extend the answer time.

Time-consuming

But both Hu and the musician KeerQinfu feel that 60-second limit is adequate. KeerQinfu said if he needed to talk for three or five minutes per question, it would be too time-consuming. Hu said that if people were looking for in-depth information, they could read books, online articles or view TED lectures.

And some users have complained that the platform is weighted in favor of the celebrities who can earn thousands of yuan for a one-minute reply where ordinary users would struggle to attract followers.

But Hu maintains that ordinary people always provide the good questions. "Without their contribution, the celebrities and professionals wouldn't have the opportunity to provide answers let alone help make money," he said.

KeerQinfu believes that as the platform expands the ordinary users will play a bigger role. "Since Fenda was only launched a couple of weeks ago, it needed celebrities to promote it," he said. "But as more individuals participate, grass-root participants good at answering specific questions will show up and gain followers. Once they become celebrities on Fenda, others will want to ask them questions and earn lots of money with their replies."

Newspaper headline: 60-second secrets