Share Industry Goes Too Far With Bed-Sharing App
China's booming share economy looks to have overstepped itself with a new service that aimed to put men and women into the same bed for the purpose of saving money.
The bed-sharing app "Shared Accommodation" (同住) was shut down on WeChat this past Wednesday after it attracted controversy for "promoting prostitution."
The service allowed users to find other people willing to share the cost of a hotel room at a certain date and place. However, the app became controversial for allowing users to dictate the gender with whom they would share the bed.
Most incendiary of all was the app's motto that told potential users: "Sleeping with (her) is like being 20 years old again," supposedly a nod to the rugged conditions of youths during hard economic times.
Beijing-based Kaimeijia International Association founder Wu Xuyang defended his banned app, explaining that sharing the cost of a bed isn't "technically illegal." Wu said that although it's "none of his business" what his clients do behind closed doors, he admitted that some men are prone to certain expectations when the opposite sex is involved, something he said can be found across all platforms.
"Shared Accommodation" should not be confused with "Sleepace," Beijing's other bed-sharing venture that offered Zhongguancun customers the chance to rent single-person sleeping bunks at an hourly rate. Both bed-sharing companies have since been shut down by authorities.
The share economy in Beijing has seen few limits as it continued to expand over the past year. New ventures have offered shared products as varied as folding stools, personal gyms, and even sex-dolls as "shared girlfriends."
Image: footage.framepool.com
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