Paying-for-knowledge app a hit on internet, but future still unclear

Wang Sicong's answers to questions are heard by 36,190 users on the Fenda app. [Photo/IC]

Fenda, an app which allows people, for a fee, to get their questions answered by professionals or hear the answers, is becoming popular among Chinese internet users. Yet it is stirring debate on whether the money-based knowledge sharing method is practicable.

Fenda was launched on May 15 by a website, Zaihang, a platform for people who want to learn knowledge and expertise online. Users of the app can ask any question of anyone they want after paying the amount of money required for the answer. If a user's question doesn't get a reply in 48 hours, the money is refunded.

There were more than one million paying customers on the app within the first three days after it launched in May, according to the Zaihang website.

Actress Zhang Ziyi, TV host Dou Wentao and Hugo winner and science fiction writer Liu Cixin have joined the professionals who answer questions posed by other users on the app.

Wang Sicong, son of Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin, Dalian Wanda Group's chairman, earned more than 200,000 yuan by answering 32 questions by June 1, according to thepaper.cn.

A question for Wang - whether there is anything he cannot afford as the son of Asia's richest man - attracted 22,038 listeners on the Fenda app.

Not all respondents earned large sums like Wang. Zhang Ziyi earned more than 100,000 yuan by answering 30 questions, while scriptwriter Shi Hang earned 83,438 yuan by answering 1,754 questions.

On the app, users ask their questions in print, while the answers are in phonetic form with a spoken length of 60 seconds or less. Based on this, users who are interested in answers to certain questions can spend one yuan ($0.15) listening to them.

It's noticeable that the one yuan spent in hearing a certain answer is said to flow equally into the pockets, respectively, of the questioner and the respondent. So the more people hearing the answer, the more money will be earned by the questioner and the respondent.

Meanwhile, nearly half of the top 10 profitable respondents on the app are reportedly answering questions about gossip.

Facing the big difference, internet users worry whether the app can realize its goal of sharing knowledge and expertise, since most people are interested in gossip-related topics.

"Customers' demands are diversified, once their questions get answers, the app proves its value," said Ji Shisan, who launched the app.

Novelist Ma Boyong said,"It's understandable for customers to ask about personal gossip when they get so close to the celebrities for the first time. However, for a long-term development, questions on the app should be focused on knowledge and expertise, since people will get bored with the gossip-related questions and what they really need to solve in daily life are questions about certain knowledge and expertise."

Besides, some internet users disapprove of the payment model, since they think it can not hinder the spread of knowledge, which is the wealth of all humans.

However, an internet user named woshiSunnie said users should pay. "Why do the professionals have to answer your questions for free? It's time for Chinese to get used to paying money for knowledge products for the sake of intellectual property protection," woshiSunnie said.

"With growing numbers of paying customers, the success of the Fenda app proves knowledge is valuable," said Wu Yunfei, assistant to Ji Shisan.