Extreme star chasing challenges the bottom line. Behind the chaos is the capital black hand under the direction of flow supremacy and malformation.
Rectify the chaos in the "rice circle"
Our reporter Xue Peng Guan Xiaopu
Accumulatively cleared more than 150,000 negative and harmful information, dealt with more than 4,000 illegal accounts, closed more than 1,300 problematic groups, disbanded 814 bad topics, intercepted and removed 39 small programs suspected of raising funds and diverting traffic, and conducted special investigations and rectification of online variety shows... …Recently, the announcement of the staged results of the work of the Central Cyberspace Administration of China, the State Administration of Radio and Television and other relevant authorities in rectifying unhealthy fan culture has aroused widespread public concern.
Recently, the chaos in the "fan circle" exposed by the "Wu Yifan incident" reflects that the bad fan culture has reached a critical moment that must be rectified. It guides the healthy and upward development of the "fan circle" culture, and creates a clear atmosphere for the majority of netizens, especially young people. An upright cyberspace requires the joint efforts of the whole society.
Extreme "star chasing" words and deeds have repeatedly challenged the bottom line of law and morality, and the crazy "rice circle" culture has aroused public outrage
"Are you going to give Wu Yifan a chance? The official announced that he should be a spokesperson, telling everyone that we still have to give him a chance, bad guys also need opportunities, what do you think?" "Nezha spirit is to give everyone a chance to be a new person." 8 On the evening of March 3, a screenshot of a certain brand's WeChat group caused an uproar in public opinion.
That night, the brand side issued a statement stating that all personnel who made inappropriate comments were fired.
As traffic star Wu Yifan was detained by the police on suspicion of rape a few days ago, remarks that challenged the bottom line of the law and public order and good customs, similar to those shown in chat screenshots, appeared frequently in his "rice circle": "Coaching together to raise funds can save my brother?" "Can we visit prison together? "My brother has many fans and can be'rescued'". In this regard, many media commented and criticized them: It's time to wake up!
"Fan circle" is an online community formed by fan groups chasing the same idol. "Fan" means "fans", and "circle" reflects the boundaries and divisions of groups.
If in the past fans invested a lot of time, energy, and money in star-chasing activities, and it was more of a personal behavior, then star-chasing has completed the transformation of systematization, teamwork, and even professionalism, and the "fan circle" has also formed.
In recent years, the formation of the new media ecology, the continuous development of multi-platform social media and the idol economy have spawned a variety of "rice circle" cultures such as buying derivative products for idols, renting advertising spaces for publicity, voting, and charity activities. behavior.
Prior to the "Wu Yifan Incident," the ecstatic "rice circle" culture had repeatedly challenged the bottom line of social law and morality.
At the end of April this year, a "pouring milk video" pushed the talent show "Youth with You 3" to the forefront.
In the picture, nearly 20 people are busy pouring fresh milk drinks into the sink, which is distressing.
The show launched by iQiyi has been eliminated through layers, leaving 9 players out of nearly a hundred players to "make their debut in a group."
According to the rules, before the group night on May 8th, if fans purchase the designated Mengniu milk drink, they can scan the QR code in the box or bottle cap on WeChat to use the "fruit value" to cheer the contestants and help them make the popular list. At the forefront, get exclusive exposure resources.
There is no limit to the number of daily cheers, and there is no upper limit to the "fruit value" that can be used, which stimulates fans to come up with real money to help the idol reach the top.
Behind this absurd way of chasing stars is the inducement of merchants and platforms.
The act of pouring milk and swiping votes is not only suspected of violating the "People's Republic of China Anti-Food Waste Law", but also seriously misleading young people who are in a period of value formation.
On the evening of May 6, iQiyi publicly apologized for ignoring the value orientation and social responsibility, as well as the reasonable rules that the show should have.
Affected by this, the recording of "Youth with You 3", which is nearing the end of the schedule, stopped recording.
"The chaos in the'rice circle' is also a comprehensive phenomenon. Taking "Youth with You 3" as an example, it involves not only the problem of fans' bottomless star chasing, but also the problem of platform indulgence, and the problem of bad behavior of the business because of milk After uncovering the cover, there is a QR code inside. If you want to vote, you have to buy it. Who can drink so much milk will be wasted if you want to vote more.” On May 8, Zhang Yongjun, Director of the Network Comprehensive Management Bureau of the State Cyberspace Administration of China Talked at the press conference of the State Council Information Office.
Substituting subjective preferences for objective evaluation, obstructing public order, breaking through one's own ability to chase stars, and deformed "rice circle" three types of ecological problems need to be resolved urgently
In recent years, with the development of my country’s cultural and entertainment industry, the increase in per capita disposable income, and the rise of "Generation Z" consumer groups, my country’s idol industry has continued to develop. According to industry estimates, the total scale of China’s idol market is expected to reach 2022. 140 billion yuan.
"There is only one person under the spotlight, and tens of thousands under the lampstand."
Driven by the development of the industry, a number of stars with mixed good and bad are constantly appearing, and the "rice circle" that comes with it has also continued to grow.
The "Research Report on the Internet Usage of Minors in China in 2020" shows that fan support through the Internet has become a new type of online social and recreational activities for minor netizens.
Among all the educational backgrounds surveyed, 11% of junior high school netizens conducted fan support activities on the Internet, 10.3% of high school netizens, and 5.6% even elementary school netizens.
However, some celebrity idols as public figures, due to their low quality, their illegal behaviors such as fighting, prostitution, drug use, surrogacy, rape, etc., not only caused extremely bad social impact, but also seriously damaged the main youth group. The "rice circle".
Some "fan circles" have been distorted into "eccentric circles" full of unhealthy trends: insults, provokes confrontation, and scrutinizes quantity control, including instigating excessive consumption or even large-scale consumption, and network violence, and other bad behaviors and phenomena frequently occur.
According to Lin Shengdong, a researcher at the Journalism and Social Development Research Center of Renmin University of China, the current ecological problems of the "rice circle" can be classified into three categories:
Substitute subjective preferences for objective evaluations, and conduct irrational and bottomless mutual tearing of people who do not conform to their interests.
In order to compete for traffic, the "fan circle" responded to the site, forwarded votes, swiped page views, organized fans to actively play the rankings, attacked and abused other groups that did not conform to their interests, and even violated privacy and human flesh searches, seriously harming the personal rights and interests of others. Mental Health.
Disregarding others and obstructing public order.
Events such as "flight delay caused by fan pick-up and drop-off", "fan machine trouble" and other events.
According to statistics, only in Terminal 3 of Capital International Airport, from 2017 to the first half of 2018, there were 27 recorded fan alarms.
With the help of the industry chain, fans break through their own abilities to do some meaningless things.
Today’s star-chasing behavior covers some new ways to be guided, such as communicating with other fans, promoting idols, and even buying planet naming rights, buying out large-scale advertisements, and giving away expensive luxury goods, which encourages irrational consumption.
“Minors tend to use idols as their imitation objects, and they will continuously beautify and rationalize the behavior of idols.” Ji Weimin, deputy director of the Institute of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that although some well-known artists have violated laws and regulations, there are still Many fans explain their actions, shield them and even abuse the law enforcement officers. There are too many similar examples.
Behind the various forms of chaos in the "rice circle" is a capitalist under the malformation of "flow first"
It’s not guilty to chase stars. It’s normal for young people to like stars, and it’s normal to have a circle they like.
In fact, the "fan circle" culture has also shown a positive side in promoting young people to cultivate good collective emotions and realize self-expression and self-worth.
For example, when fighting back against "Hong Kong independence" speeches, "fan circle girls" used their own unique methods to "guard the best Azhong (China) in the world"; in the fight against the epidemic, their donations of public welfare materials, etc., are at critical moments. A large number of anti-epidemic materials have been raised, and the frontline of the fight against the epidemic has been strongly supported.
However, under the unfavorable guidance such as "flow first" and "pan-entertainment", some capital ignores the sense of social responsibility, and in the current Chinese "rice circle", "idols—fans—commercial platforms—entertainment brokers—marketing agencies—advertisers— Various interest groups "manufacturers" do everything they can to harvest the "pocket" of a large number of fans, especially underage fans.
According to reports, "fan circle fund-raising assistance" can be roughly divided into three categories: one is to include in-kind returns, such as selling albums and peripherals, and the profits are used to support idol-related activities; Real money is used to vote in the draft and to give gifts to idols; the third is to make money for idols and promises to provide rewards but not fulfilled fraudulent behaviors.
The Xinhua News Agency previously published a statement that taking this year’s "Youth with You 3" and "Creation Camp 2021" as an example, some trainee fan support clubs had begun to raise funds for follow-up campaigns before the program started. pin.
On March 14, shortly after the show started, a fan of the "Creation Camp 2021" trainee raised 3.68 million yuan in 6 hours.
After the "Creation Camp 2021" finals, according to incomplete statistics, the total funds raised by the four trainees exceeded 10 million yuan, and the total funds raised by the top 11 players exceeded 100 million yuan.
"Since the'first year of idols' in 2018, star-making programs have ushered in a stage of rapid development. In the endless'cultivation' idol programs, capital has participated in every aspect of idols from'trainees' to'stars'. It is possible to repeatedly "harvest" the fans' money bags in various ways." A person who has been engaged in the entertainment industry for a long time told reporters.
For example, the "Super Talking List" of some websites encourages fans to exchange points by signing in and posting, and then send the points to idols to brush up the rankings and make the list.
The higher the number of fans, the higher the ranking, the greater the value of idol traffic; some program groups encourage fans to buy designated products through methods such as "purchase the title dealer’s product scan code vote", which brings huge returns to advertisers; and Some marketing agencies create "traffic stars" through data falsification, topic hype, and control and evaluation and control, and even use the "slobber wars" among fans to engage in the so-called "black and red is also red" bottomless hype.
"In order to profit from this, entertainment companies and fans continue to strengthen their fans' sense of mission to protect their idols and induce fans to increase their consumption. Some stars support or acquiesce to this, which further boosts fans' willingness to consume. People are not mature enough to resist the inducements of all parties and are prone to make irrational consumption.” Ji Weimin believes that the support costs of tens of millions of yuan in the "rice circle" not only far exceed the affordability of minors, but also give their families. It causes a certain amount of pressure, and the support concept of pursuing the amount and comparison will have a negative impact on the minors' concept of consumption, money, and values.
To control the chaos in the "rice circle", we must work together to establish rules, establish red lines, and standardize words and deeds.
At present, the special action of "clearing the chaos in the'rice circle' in Qinglang" is being carried out in depth.
In response to the chaos in the "fan circle" and "should help hit the list" and other issues, the Central Cyberspace Administration of China implemented precise policies to urge the website platform to further optimize product functions, upgrade management strategies, gradually reduce the fan group's irrational star-chasing space, and induce fans to support the game through cancellation. The product functions of the list, the optimization of the rules of the list, the improvement of the management of the fan circle, and the restriction of irrational star-chasing activities of minors, strengthen the management of key links such as the list and the circle.
The Central Cyberspace Affairs Office stated that it will summarize recent governance experience, improve system construction, and improve the long-term rectification and standardization of fan culture by strengthening online celebrity information standards, strengthening account management, improving black production cracking mechanisms, and exploring the establishment of fan guidance mechanisms. Lay a solid foundation.
Recently, the State Administration of Radio and Television launched a special investigation and rectification of online variety shows, requiring strict control of idol development programs, and resolutely resisting bad tendencies such as star chasing and speculation, pan-entertainment, and abnormal values such as "flow first" and money worship.
With the in-depth rectification of the Central Network Information Office, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and other administrative departments, major platforms have also issued announcements to rectify the chaos in the "rice circle".
In response to the inappropriate remarks caused by the "Wu Yifan Incident," Weibo administrators issued a Weibo community announcement stating that as of the evening of August 1, 108 misdirected hypercalls were closed, 789 violating groups were disbanded, and irrational behavior was resolutely curbed. Deal with extreme speech.
Severely deal with illegal accounts such as seizing the opportunity to provoke troubles, attack government agencies, malicious marketing and hot spots, and malicious washing of the ground.
A total of 990 accounts have been banned and permanently closed.
The "Kaishou Blackboard News" public account stated on July 31 that Kuaishou has carried out special rectification of the chaos in the "fan circle" on June 15 to comprehensively clean up harmful information and content, resist the bad atmosphere of the "fan circle", and focus on rectification and "induction". The behavior of "minors chasing stars without a bottom line" has effectively created a clear cyberspace, and dealt with 290 illegal videos and 110 illegal accounts.
Douyin also stated that since June 2021, Douyin has investigated and cleared 7864 illegal videos in response to fans’ mutual verbal abuse and minors’ cheating on the rankings. In the comment scene, Douyin has cleaned up each other’s verbal abuse, instigated confrontation, and scolded each other. There were 2.419 million comments related to quantity control and evaluation, of which 805,000 were processed to induce rankings, 572,000 were verbally abused, and 555,000 were comments on quantity control.
Frozen three feet is not a day's cold.
To rectify the deformed "rice circle" culture, we must work together to establish rules, establish red lines, and standardize words and deeds.
Cut off the bottomless capital black hand, curb the barbaric growth of pan-entertainment, strengthen industry self-discipline, and urge entertainers to establish a correct professional outlook.
In addition, for the "rice circle" dominated by young people, we must call on society, families, schools and the performing arts industry to work together to stop the abnormal "rice circle" behavior and purify the entertainment ecology.
According to Jin Xuetao, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of Communication University of China, the "fan circle" culture was born and prospered because of the Internet. The self-discipline of the entertainment industry promotes the formation of a model of mutual growth and benign interaction between fans, celebrities and idols, so that the development of the "rice circle" can stand toward the sun and act for good.