AcFun (), also known as A Site (A, as opposed to

bilibili Bilibili (stylized in all lowercase), nicknamed B Site, is a Chinese online video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view, and add overlaid commentary on videos. Bilibili hosts videos on various themes, including ...

) for short, is a Chinese video sharing website. The name "AcFun" is an abbreviation of "

Anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

Comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

and Fun". The website is initially orientated as an ACGN (Animation, Comic,

Game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

and

Novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

) community and is a

video sharing An online video platform (OVP) enables users to upload, convert, store, and play back video content on the Internet, often via a private server structured, large-scale system that may generate revenue. Users will generally upload video content vi ...

web platform The Web platform is a collection of technologies developed as open standards by the World Wide Web Consortium and other standardization bodies such as the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group, the Unicode Consortium, the Internet Engi ...

. AC Musume and TD Musume are the representative icons of AcFun.

History

In 2007, AcFun was created on June as an ACG themed video sharing site based on

Sina Sina may refer to: Relating to China * Chin (China), or Sina (), old Chinese form of the Sanskrit name Cina () ** Shina (word), or Sina (), archaic Japanese word for China ** Sinae, Latin name for China Places * Sina, Albania, or Sinë, a vi ...

Video. In 2008, the site launched with a

Niconico , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...

-style player. In 2009, the site added

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

and movies as new categories. People can create an account and upload videos. On 13 February 2010, they held their first Spring Festival Gala. On 9 May 2010, the number of articles and videos submitted reached 100,000. In 2011, AcFun had over 200,000 submitted articles and videos. The website changed its domain from acfun.cn to acfun.tv.It was awarded "Specialty Website of 2010" by

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

-based New Weekly Magazine. In 2014, the submission of articles and videos reached 1,000,000. On 31 December 2014, AcFun did a live broadcast of

Kōhaku Uta Gassen , more commonly known simply as ''Kōhaku'', is an annual New Year's Eve television special produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. It is broadcast live simultaneously on television and radio, nationally and internationally by the NHK net ...

. In March 2015, they moved their headquarters to Beijing. On 6 June 2015, AcFun did a live broadcast of the show AKB48 anniversary year. On 6 August 2015, AcFun received US$50 million series A funding from Youku Tudou Inc. at a reportedly valuation of US$200 million. On 7 August 2015, AcFun organized an offline event in a cinema. People could send comments while watching the movie Mr. Black: Green Star. The comments would appear on the walls immediately. On 10 October, AcFun registered a second-level domain: acfun.tudou.com. On 14 January 2016, AcFun has completed a US$60 million funding round led by Softbank China Venture Capital. On 1 July 2016, Liu Yanyan ( zh, 刘炎焱) became CEO of AcFun. On February 2, 2018, the website, as well as Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

apps, were offline as the server shut down by its domain registrar

Alibaba Cloud Alibaba Cloud, also known as Aliyun ( zh, p=Ālǐyún, s=阿里云, l=Ali Cloud), is a cloud computing company, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group. Alibaba Cloud provides cloud computing services to online businesses and Alibaba's own e-commerce ecos ...

due to failure to renew the domain name. Possible financial constraints within AcFun may be related to the shutdown. The official

Weibo Weibo (), or Sina Weibo (), is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily ac ...

account of AcFun confirmed the shutdown implicitly but no official statement regarding it had been made. Access for website and apps has been restored as of February 12, ten days after the shutdown.

Website

The website enables users to upload, view, and share videos. In addition, users may post comments in a dedicated section or overlay them directly onto the videos, facilitating enhanced interaction and communication during playback.

Features

* Users can comment on the video while watching. The comments will overlay on the video screen, a system known as " danmu". * Each viewer can create a "blocking list", which allow users to block some unwanted words or comments. There may be some unwanted comments shown on screen while watching videos, viewers can block the unwanted word or comment. The word or sentences would disappear on that viewer's screen. The others viewers can still see the words or comments. * The website divides videos into different types: **

Animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

(MAD) ** Music (Eastern, vocaloid themes, and animation songs) ** Video games (it has many Asian themes but now is mainly MUGEN) ** Entertainment (TV shows, movies) ** Articles (politics, military related articles with some

OTAKU is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, such as anime, manga, video games, computers or other highly enthusiastic hobbies. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. ...

) ** Drama

Controversy

AcFun has been criticised for its server instability issues, and the shift on both the official and its user group's political stance while losing the focus on ACGN.

References

External links

*
AC Musume Emoticon

AcFun Help
{{Video digital distribution platforms Chinese social networking websites Internet properties established in 2007 Chinese entertainment websites Video hosting Chinese brands