| Douyin Baike Chinese: 抖音百科 | |
| Location: | Beijing |
| Type: | Social network with wiki-based encyclopedia, chat forums, and bulletin boards |
| Language: | Chinese |
| Commercial: | Yes |
| Registration: | Optional (required to edit pages) |
| Owner: | ByteDance |
| Author: | Pan Haidong (CEO) |
| Current Status: | Perpetual work-in-progress |
Douyin Baike, formerly Hudong and Hoodong, is a for-profit social network and Chinese encyclopedia owned by ByteDance. It is one of the two largest wikis in China, along with Baidu Baike.
Baike.com was founded in 2005 by CEO Pan Haidong,[1] who had moved back to China after earning a PhD in systems engineering from Boston University in 2002.[2]
Baike.com, a 2007 RedHerring 100 Asia company, developed its own wiki software platform, called HDWiki, as a rival to MediaWiki. The system has some social networking-like interactive features, such as user profile, friends and groups. The first version was released in November 2006 and by November 2007 version 3 with added functions, features, and more stability was released.[3]
The HDWiki software is free for non-commercial use, has been downloaded 200,000 times and currently supports over 1,000 other web sites in China (as of December 2007), consisting mostly of tech researchers, software groups, government, universities, and high school students.
In 2011, it was announced that Draper Fisher Jurvetson had invested $15 million in Baike.com.
On 22 February 2011, Baike.com submitted a complaint to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce asking for a review of the behavior of Baidu, accusing it of being monopolistic.[4]
In December 2012, the company changed its English name from Hudong to Baike.com.[5]
In 2019, the company was acquired by ByteDance.[6]
Baike.com is a wiki and lets its users edit and contribute material. Frequent users may accumulate credits redeemable for gifts. It has also included features of social networking sites, including chat forums and fan groups.[7] Baike.com is a for-profit business partially supported by advertising and paid support services.