From infinite scenery to "turning over"
The history of the demise of traffic stars in 2014-2021
Yangcheng Evening News reporter Li Li
"Traffic star morality is not matched, which brings negative effects to the entire industry, and also has a bad impact on the "rice circle" dominated by young people." On August 28, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission published an article, counting the traffic. Stars and the "flow-only theory" behind them bring all kinds of harm to society.
This long article titled "Traffic Stars "turned over"", following the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Control of Chaos in the "Rice Circle"" by the Central Netcom Office on August 27, further announced the Internet of Traffic Stars The unique products of the era are coming to an end.
From 2014 to 2021, how did the "traffic star" rise to annihilation in just seven years, becoming a fleeting "shooting star"?
Seven years of traffic
Data determines "top stream" or "small transparency"
What is the "significance" of hard work?
In the eyes of fans, the traffic they have worked so hard will undoubtedly bring better resources and a brighter future for their "brother".
With the blessing of data, artists are divided into three, six or nine classes
At the end of 2014, the TV series "Gu Jian Qi Tan" became popular, and the actor Li Yifeng set a record of 78 days in the V list (artist new media index list).
With Li Yifeng’s dominance as a sign, fans have found a direct way to “help” their idols, and they have changed from “bystanders” to “participants” on the star road in the past.
Internet traffic has since become synonymous with celebrity popularity, and the era of internal entertainment traffic has officially opened.
According to incomplete statistics, in recent years, there have been more than 70 celebrity lists on major social network platforms that use rankings to guide fan interaction.
Fans put a lot of time and even money into this arduous "data war"-voting, likes, comments, forwarding and even "control comments" and "mutual tearing"-just to prove that their idols are more "redder than others". "(For details, see "The Adventures of Female Data Workers: When Star Chasing Becomes a "Data War"" on the August 29th A5 version of the "Yangcheng Evening News" report).
With the blessing of data, artists are divided into different levels based on traffic rather than strength: the highest level is called the "top stream", and the "no one cares" are self-deprecating as "little transparency".
On August 5, 2014, Lu Han received more than 13.16 million comments on a Weibo reposted on September 10, 2012, setting the Guinness World Record for the "Most Commented Weibo"; September 2, 2015 , The Weibo comment climbed to more than 100 million, and Lu Han thus set his previous Guinness World Record... This "achievement" that is almost incomprehensible to ordinary people, has made Lu Han become The representative of the "top stream" at that time also allowed him to enter the vision of capital and the market.
A data fraud industry chain is formed under the temptation of traffic
What is the "significance" of hard work?
In the eyes of fans, the traffic they have worked so hard will undoubtedly bring better resources and a brighter future for their "brother".
Take Lu Han as an example. In 2015 and 2016 alone, he was born in a boy group and was still a "cute new" in the film industry. He had 4 titles of "Returning to 20", "I Am a Witness", "Grave Robber Notes" and "The Great Wall". The starring movie was released.
In a self-introduction of a celebrity list before the opening of the list, the "leading value" of the data to the market was nakedly revealed: "For TV dramas, in addition to the script and production quality, the actors are also an important factor. Actors who have brought both word-of-mouth and popularity to the TV series are expected to be more popular in the market...Through this list, you can see which are the market flavours with both word-of-mouth and popularity, which are the high-profile roles, and which are. Representative of high reputation."
In most cases, only "top stream" can match those "S+" level film and television projects, or get those high-end luxury brand endorsements that symbolize "top commercial resources".
The temptation of benefits brought by "traffic" is so great that not only fans of "data women" work hard day and night, all kinds of data fraud have also arisen at the historic moment.
In 2019, CCTV News publicly exposed a gray industry chain that uses false data to increase traffic. Relevant "practitioners" revealed that many artists have long bought "businesses" that have increased fans or increased data.
The report also listed the relevant data of 8 artists. Through the comparison of their relevant data before and after dehydration, it was found that the data "water injection" had the highest proportion of 80%.
In 2019, the Star Aid APP, whose main function is to brush traffic, was investigated, and its developer was sentenced to five years in prison for providing programs for intruding into computer information systems.
On June 15, 2021, the Central Cyberspace Administration of China announced the launch of a two-month special operation of "Clearing the'Rice Circle' Chaotic Situation" across the country (hereinafter referred to as the "Clearing Action").
On August 27, the Central Cyberspace Administration of China issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Chaos in the Rice Circle", which put forward ten requirements, including canceling the list of celebrity artists, optimizing and adjusting ranking rules, not inducing fan consumption, and strictly controlling Adult participation and standardization of fund-raising behaviors for assistance.
A few days later, platforms such as Weibo and NetEase Cloud Music all rolled off the relevant celebrity rankings.
Li Yifeng's unbreakable record of dominance so far does not need to be broken again-on August 29, the V list announced that it would cancel the list part and process refunds for members who have not expired.
When traffic cannot be compared, the term "traffic fans" will also completely withdraw from the stage of history.
"Top stream" out of control
"Amulet" behind Wu Yifan Zheng Shuang's
Before Wu Yifan officially "collapsed the house," he was not without negative news, but the "traffic star" who carried the interests of all parties seemed to bring his own "talisman" and could always get out of the crisis repeatedly.
Wu Yifan who was once praised for being "clean and simple"
Also in 2014, known as the "first year of traffic" in internal entertainment, Kris Wu retired from his Korean idol group EXO.
As the four Chinese members of the group later known as the "Four Returned Sons", the first to receive the economic dividends of internal entertainment traffic, Kris Wu got starred in the movie "There Is Only One Place Only One Month" after returning to China. We know the opportunity.
The film is directed by Xu Jinglei and written by Wang Shuo. Wu Yifan, who has never made a movie before, is the leading actor.
After the film was released the following year, Douban scored only 4.9 points, but it got a box office of 280 million yuan.
This is the beginning of the eager embrace of capital and flow.
In the next three or four years, Wu Yifan has repeatedly cooperated with senior directors and actors in the industry. Collaborators include Guan Hu and Feng Xiaogang ("Old Paoer"), Tsui Hark and Zhou Xingchi ("Journey to the West"), Ma Chuchenghe Liang Chaowei ("European Strategy") and so on.
Although most ordinary viewers failed to see Wu Yifan's talent or progress, seniors in the industry have given this fan a "top-tier" praise with strong spending power.
"I think he is a very hard-working child. The best impression he gives me is clean!" (Zhang Guoli) "His eyes are very simple, all the problems and understanding of children of this age, he actually I don’t know too much!” (Guan Hu) “He has very good talents, but at the same time he will not over-consume these talents. This is the right way.” (Feng Xiaogang)
In 2017, Wu Yifan entered the variety show "China Has Hip Hop" and served as a star producer. In the following three years, he became the "C-position leader" of the "China New Rap" series.
Although his really well-known "masterpiece" is only one "Big Bowl Wide Noodles", although the unrepaired original sound version of his singing has been ridiculed by the crowd after the leak, by 2020 he has been touted by everyone as "Rap New King of Heaven".
Before Wu Yifan officially "collapsed the house," he was not without negative news, but the "traffic star" who carried the interests of all parties seemed to bring his own "talisman" and could always get out of the crisis repeatedly.
Taking 2016 as an example, Wu Yifan, who was deeply involved in the "Little Gina Incident," not only was not endorsed by the cooperating high-end luxury brand, but was upgraded from a product spokesperson to a global brand spokesperson.
In the second half of this year, Wu Yifan produced "To Youth·So You Are Still Here", "Xia You Qiao Mu, Looking to Heaven" and "Grand Path" three works were released one after another. Although the Douban score did not exceed 5 points, the box office was It ranges from 150 million yuan to 380 million yuan.
It may be this, which gave Wu Yifan the confidence to do whatever he wants and the illusion that "flow is in hand, the world is in my hands".
Once offended by a player during the recording of the "New Rap in China" program, Wu Yifan directly put out the sentence "If I am not here, this program will not appear", which shows his self-confidence.
Zheng Shuang, the "black and red" admired by the industry
Like the "clean and simple" Wu Yifan, Zheng Shuang, who was once "true and straightforward" in the minds of fans, was once a leader among traffic stars.
As early as 2009, she made her debut as a starring role in the remake of "Let's Watch Meteor Shower", but for many years since then she has made little progress in her acting skills. The audience concluded that she had only "crowded eyebrows and crooked head and mouth".
However, with the traffic generated by the extremely powerful fan group, Zheng Shuang has been repeatedly exploded with misconduct in his work, and on the other hand, he is still making appointments.
Under the logic of “black and red are also red” in the traffic era, Zheng Shuang’s “hot search physique” is even envied by the industry. According to statistics, Zheng Shuang’s number of hot searches throughout the year in 2020 is as high as 179, although many of them The hot search actually came from her negative news.
On August 16, 2021, Wu Yifan, who was praised as "clean" by some people in the industry, was arrested on suspicion of rape by the People's Procuratorate of Chaoyang District, Beijing.
On August 27, Zheng Shuang, who had been sought after by fans as "true", was announced the results of the tax evasion case, and was charged with taxes, late fees and fines totaling 299 million yuan.
The "top stream" that also fell this year is Zhang Zhehan, who became popular because of the "Shanhe Order". He once created the "Love Reading" character set. He was exploded and condemned by the whole society after "checking in" at the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan. His work was removed from the shelves. There is no hope for a comeback.
"Rice circle" backlash
"Hegemony" of fans who are feared and exploited
Because of fear and want to take advantage of the "hegemony" in the hands of fans, the star and the team behind it have repeatedly adopted a posture of tolerance and connivance towards the fan's arrogance, which led to intensified chaos in the "rice circle", and eventually the star and his team were beaten back.
Fans took the "Master Ba" script
Choosing a partner for an artist to choose a role
On August 23, many official Weibo or big Vs of Zhao Liying's fan base were banned on Sina Weibo, including the "Zhao Liying Global Fan Support Club" with 2.59 million fans and the "Zhao Liying Weiba" with 2.34 million fans.
The next day, Zhao Liying's studio Weibo was banned for "management misalignment, resulting in untimely voice guidance", and thousands of Weibo accounts were disposed of.
On August 25, Zhao Liying herself publicly published a "deep reflection", advising fans to "civilized exchanges, harmonious discussions, and calm speeches on the Internet".
This is the first fan group that has been banned on a large scale due to "mutual tearing" since the Central Cyberspace Administration decided to launch the "clear operation" in June this year.
The cause of the whole incident actually only stems from a piece of online news: Zhao Liying and Wang Yibo will co-star in the new drama "Savage Growth".
The two artists had collaborated in the costume drama "You Fei" in 2019, but the reputation of the drama was not satisfactory, and the two protagonists were also considered "lack of CP sense".
Zhao Liying's Global Fan Support Club therefore issued a post stating that "rejecting the second match is the core demand of all fans" and united fans to resist on various platforms.
This is not the first case of fans trying to influence the choice of star performing arts and the direction of their works.
Yang Zi and Wu Yifan’s "removal" incident also had a far-reaching impact-because fans on both sides believed that their own talents should be "Yifan" in the TV series "Qing Zan Xing", so they started fiercely on the material ranking of the two. "Tear each other", this matter almost affected the filming process of the show. In the end, the official announcement of the work only dared to replace the names of Wu Yifan and Yang Zi with "two actors born on the same month and the same day" in order to prevent fans from fighting over their positions.
The atmosphere of "fan circles" competing for the right to speak in the entertainment industry has gradually invaded all parts of the industry, which has deeply affected many artists who originally did not rely on traffic to survive.
For example, Tong Liya originally played the role of "Gu Jia" in the TV series "Thirty Only", but fans believed that the role affected her image and resolutely resisted.
After that, "Gu Jia" was changed to starring Tong Yao, and Tong Liya lost a masterpiece she might have owned.
In addition to "opposing" artists, some fans will even "tear" their own artist's management team.
In 2019, Yang Mi's fans were dissatisfied with the quality of the play, and when Yang Mi participated in a commercial event, he publicly raised the handwriting of "Jiaxing is not righteous and will kill itself."
But in fact, most of the plays Yang Mi has received in recent years are Jiaxing’s self-made plays. As one of the company’s shareholders, Yang Mi’s acceptance of the play is voluntary. Fans try to separate the artist from the capital, which is largely wishful thinking.
Because they hold the "power" of traffic, fans feel that they should and can determine every step of the idol's decision-making and even the future.
Stars want to eat traffic dividends
Facing the chaos of fans, he dare not express his position
Because of fear and want to take advantage of the "hegemony" in the hands of fans, the star and the team behind it have repeatedly adopted a posture of tolerance and connivance towards the fan's arrogance, which led to intensified chaos in the "rice circle", and eventually the star and his team were beaten back.
Xiao Zhan is one of the typical cases.
For a long period of time, its fans have been "initiating wars" on the Internet, causing complaints from netizens.
However, it was not until Xiao Zhan encountered resistance from many parties in February of this year and Xingtu was facing a serious crisis. He himself only came forward to apologize and reflect on his mistakes in "the idol lost his voice" in the past year.
In his apology, he admitted that he once wanted to speak up, but he was "scrupulous in his heart". Later, he "want to restore it, but everything can no longer develop as I expected."
He reflected: "From the moment I didn't express my attitude, I had missed the window of rational communication with everyone. From the beginning, I was wrong."
In the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Control of Chaos in the "Rice Circle"" issued by the Central Cyberspace Administration on August 27, in addition to prohibiting the presentation of "mutual tearing" information, it also clearly requires that celebrity brokerage companies (studios) be strengthened for fan groups. The account of the fan club and back-up club must be authorized or certified by the star brokerage company (studio), who is responsible for daily maintenance and supervision.
"Fan behavior, idol pays" is no longer an empty talk, and internal entertainment will enter a new era of "clearness" from now on.