The suspension of a short video channel throws the spotlight on how influencers attract elderly users and the risks seniors face online
Z hang Jian, a 62-year-old farmer in Anhui province, was devastated when he heard that Yixiaoqingcheng, his favorite influencer on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), announced a temporary hiatus from social media due to family issues on August 24. For the past three years, visiting Yixiaoqingcheng’s channel has been a daily ritual for Zhang.
“After a long day in the field, all I want to do is watch her smile while she dances and sings,” he tells TWOC.
After working in factories, on construction sites, and as a security guard in Shanghai, Nanjing in Jiangsu province, and Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, Zhang returned home to pursue farming due to a lack of job opportunities in those cities. That’s when he came across the charismatic 31-year-old social media personality Yixiaoqingcheng, which literally translates to “the smile that charms a city.” Yixiaoqingcheng, or Xiaoxiao as her followers lovingly call her, has amassed about 20 million followers with thousands of videos of her singing and dancing.
She has become a comforting presence for Zhang. “Xiaoxiao is a part of my life now. I tell her many things and she never gets annoyed at me,” Zhang tells TWOC.
To better support his favorite influencer, Zhang often calls his granddaughter via video chat and asks her to teach him how to get access to Yixiaoqingcheng’s livestream session and leave “likes” and comments. He enjoys Xiaoxiao’s girl-next-door vibe and watches her every video on Douyin. When Xiaoxiao stopped updating her social media in August, Zhang felt an emptiness in his life, he tells TWOC.
How China’s Seniors Got Hooked on Short Video Influencers is a story from our issue, “Online Odyssey.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
Yang Tingting is a Chinese editor at The World of Chinese. Interested in telling Chinese stories, she writes mainly about culture, language, and society.
