Chances are, if you’re a young, affluent Chinese guy living in a large city of China, you’ve heard of P1.cn. Further chances are, your picture was taken by them and posted on their exclusively naughty and niche SNS community. You were probably then identified by a friend or co-worker and “tagged”. The next thing you know, you’re hooked into the P1.cn SNS world of exclusivity, affluence, and showmanship.  So goes the life of a P1.cn user.

In a recent story on the Chinese tech blog, Mobinode, Gang Lu spoke with the founder of P1.cn, Wang Yu, who explains P1’s remarkable SNS philosophy.

“We brought in photographers who were asked to spend time in night clubs, shopping malls, etc. They took photos of fashionable young guys, then invited them to P1.cn in person and asked for their permission to use the photos on P1 to attract more users. It’s the strategy P1 has been using until now (P1.cn membership is also invitation based). It’s simple but really works. It helps us be sure of identity verification and it also guarantees the high quality of our user base.”

P1’s extremely niche focus is representative of China’s fragmented youth online landscape. Some Chinese youth netizens are seeking alternatives to massive SNS and BBS forums where their voices may get drowned out in the crowds of 10 to 20 million users.

P1.cn also posts ads from companies traditionally geared towards wealthy and affluent customers, including Bentley and TAG Heuer.  Although the legitimacy of these ads is a question we choose not to delve into at this time, the future may point to an increased relationship between these affluent brands and P1’s affluent, niche community.

enoVate is an insights and design firm based in shanghai. we publish daily insights and develop creative solutions for China’s youth market. visit enoVate’s website for more information.

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