For the middle class, the pursuit of self-fulfillment should have been a steady process. Therefore, MC Tianyou’s overnight popularity is certainly not of their interest. On the contrary, knowledge is something concrete but vital to success.

　　At this point, when the value of some knowledges is marked clearly, they are quite willing to pay for these knowledges. Oftentimes, they are aware of the importance of knowledge, but not quite sure what kind of knowledge they need most.

　　In the era of economic depression, lipsticks’ sales often skyrocketed, since they could temporarily sooth people; in the era of middle classanxiety, however, “paid contents” are as much-needed as “lipsticks”. Although they aren’t as expensive as school district houses, they can still provide some sort of short comfort.

　　Although most people don’t really understand what kind of knowledge they need most, they are certain about one thing: the more knowledge they grasp, the better they will become. Who knows? These knowledges may prove to be useful someday.

　　As a matter of fact, people’s blind pursuit of knowledge is quite similar to people’s preference towards school district houses. Most people want to buy school district houses believing that everybody else are doing so. Such mentality applies to paid contents. In an era of knowledge explosion, almost everybody is trying their best to acquire new knowledge through all kinds of media such as Zhihu, Guokr, Dedao, Ximalaya, TMTPost, etc., fearing that they might lose any opportunity to learn new things.

　　However, since nobody can afford to buy school district houses, they can at least afford paid contents as a compromise. As long as the middle class anxiety persists, paid contents will have target consumers. From this aspect, the boom of the paid contents market may be as long-lasting as the real estate market

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　　[The article is published and edited with authorization from the author @Li Xiaoerplease note source and hyperlink when reproduce.]

　　Translated by Levin Feng (Senior Translator at PAGE TO PAGE), working for TMTpost.