How to keep true feelings and eliminate chaos in the cloud worship industry
In recent years, civilized low-carbon sacrificial sweeps have been accepted by more and more people.
On the eve of this year's Tomb-sweeping Day, in order to avoid the gathering of epidemics caused by on-site sacrifice sweeps, notices were issued in many places across the country to advocate the use of civilized and low-carbon sacrifice sweeping methods such as online sacrifice sweeping, staggered peak sacrifice sweeping, flower sacrifice sweeping, family memorial service, and tree planting outing.
As online ritual sweeping and cloud worship have gradually become new customs, on many platforms, worshipping methods such as sweeping tombs, offering flowers, and crying have been launched, becoming an alternative business.
Online ritual scanning increased by 192% year-on-year
During this year's Qingming Festival, in order to meet people's needs for sacrifice and sweeping, relevant departments and institutions in various regions have provided cloud sacrifice sweeping services in various ways.
Statistics show that at present, there are 2,304 online sacrifice and sweeping platforms across the country.
People can send their condolences to the deceased relatives and friends through the online sacrifice sweeping platform, pay to choose whether to leave a message, offer flowers, etc., or entrust the cemetery staff to purchase the service of sacrifice sweeping.
In Jinan, Shandong, a cemetery provided valet sacrificial sweeping services.
An etiquette teacher placed fruits, snacks, flowers, etc. in front of the tomb, and gently recited the eulogy, bowed to the deceased, and wiped the tombstone.
Another staff member is responsible for recording the pictures and videos of the scene, and sending them to the family members of the deceased after the production is completed, helping people to complete the cloud sacrifice sweep and express their condolences.
In Luzhou, Sichuan, a cemetery launched cloud sacrifice activities on its official website, local media accounts and other platforms.
Citizens who participated in the cloud sacrifice can leave a message on the platform for their condolences.
In addition, the staff of the park also presented "Benevolence and Filial Piety Sacrificial Packages" to some citizens to perform sacrificial sweeps on their behalf.
Nanjing in Jiangsu, Xi'an in Shaanxi, Tianjin and many other places have also opened online worship channels and platforms to provide citizens with cloud worship services.
According to statistics, during the Qingming Festival this year, a total of 17.54 million people in various places received on-site sacrifices, down 74% from the same period last year.
The number of people participating in online sacrifice sweeps has increased significantly, with a total of 21.56 million, an increase of 192% over the same period last year.
Unreasonable charges, entertainment and other behaviors disrupt the market order
Since online sacrifice sweeping platforms are mainly provided by large and medium-sized cities and large-scale cemeteries, many people whose needs cannot be met choose cloud sacrifice sweeping apps and second-hand e-commerce platforms for sacrifice sweeping services.
New things such as surrogate sweeps and online sweeps have been welcomed by many people who are unable to return to their hometowns due to epidemic prevention and control, and have become an important link for people to place their condolences.
It is understood that these cloud sacrifice apps have similar functions, and generally have a hall of fame and a memorial hall for deceased relatives and friends.
After registration, users can send flowers and worship for deceased celebrities, great people, martyrs, etc. for free, and can also build memorial halls for deceased relatives and friends.
Among them, a variety of virtual offerings have been set up for deceased relatives and friends, including not only incense, wreaths, flowers, etc., but also tobacco and alcohol, tea, children's toys, etc., with charges ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan .
However, many surrogate sweeping services have been "out of the circle" because of their alternative performance.
Filling up members, "swiping gifts", crying with code names... Some unreasonable charges and entertainment of worship have disrupted the market order.
Many cloud sacrificial scanning apps provide high-priced paid services and induce users to “krypton gold” – recharge a few hundred to thousands of yuan to become a member, you can use sacrifices, upgrade memorial halls, etc. After purchasing electronic sacrifices, you can send out a barrage on the public screen of the memorial hall to refresh the screen; establish a leaderboard, and rank according to the amount of "gift gift".
In addition to being suspected of unreasonable charges and guiding excessive consumption, many platforms still lack effective review of the information of the deceased.
On the Yunji Sweep App, users can fill in information and upload photos to create a memorial hall at will, resulting in emoticons, other people's photos, etc. being "spoofed" and uploaded to the memorial hall page.
On some second-hand e-commerce platforms, many users have released related services such as buying flowers, cleaning tombstones, and offering sacrifices.
Among them, content such as kowtowing, crying, and chatting on behalf of others aroused heated discussions among netizens.
Many netizens found that they were deceived after purchasing the service.
"The same video, I don't know how many people have been deceived." After purchasing the service, a consumer said that only one live video sent by the merchant was taken on the same day, and the other videos were taken a month ago.
The cloud sacrifice industry is in urgent need of effective supervision
Regarding the paid service of cloud sacrifice and sweeping, some netizens said that "the virtual memorial hall can entrust a piece of heart to the deceased relatives"; some netizens believe that these methods do not feel the sincerity of worshiping relatives.
Although the current market evaluation is diverse, as a new thing, these cloud sacrifice apps still continue to attract many consumers in need.
It is understood that there are currently more than 100,000 registered users on a certain platform, and the users are mainly between the ages of 30 and 55.
As it is in its infancy, the cloud sacrificial sweeping industry still lacks relevant regulations and supervision, which is one of the reasons for the frequent occurrence of chaos in the market.
A few days ago, in order to standardize the order of online sacrificial sweeps and prevent the spread of feudal and superstitious information by means of online sacrificial sweeps, random "pillars" to infringe upon the rights and interests of others, and malicious accumulation of money to harm the interests of the masses, the Cyberspace Administration of the People's Republic of China and other relevant departments issued notices to deploy During the Qingming period, standardize the management of network sacrifice sweeping.
The notice requires that the website platform shall not charge high service fees in the name of cleverness, shall not sell luxury mansion, entertainment and other oriented souvenirs, and shall not take advantage of opportunities to make money by providing private customized luxury services; it is necessary to strictly prevent living people from being worshipped, and to set up net monuments at will. tombs, etc.
At the same time, the website platform must promptly handle complaints and reports from netizens and respond to the concerns of netizens; it must promptly dispose of illegal information and accounts in accordance with laws and regulations, and issue announcements in a timely manner.
Relevant experts pointed out that new forms of sacrificial sweeping such as surrogate sacrificial sweeping and online sacrificial sweeping will become a necessary supplement to meet people's sacrificial sweeping needs in the digital age.
In the face of some subsequent problems, the public should remain vigilant, and relevant departments should also implement standardized supervision.
(Our reporter Yao Yaqi)