China urges restraint in the pursuit of viral popularity
In China, state media and local authorities have urged content creators, fan communities and online platforms to curb the pursuit of attention online that disrupts people’s privacy and the work of public services. This was reported by South China Morning Post.
Couple cut down pumpkins because of crowds
In the city of Shaoxing in the eastern province of Zhejiang, a 75-year-old man and his wife became the focus of mass attention after photos and videos of seven pumpkins on their balcony spread online. Users compared the scene to the Chinese animated series “Calabash Brothers,” released in 1986, and nicknamed the man “Pumpkin Grandpa.”
Visitors, streamers and photographers began coming to the house. They took photos, held livestreams, shouted “grandpa” and knocked on the door. Because their normal lives were disrupted, the couple cut down all the pumpkins last Saturday.
In a commentary, People’s Daily said that the case demonstrates the need to preserve boundaries between public attention and private life. The publication stressed that even sincere goodwill, without restraint, can become a heavy burden for a person.
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Pressure on public services
Similar cases have also been recorded in other regions of China. In Shaanxi province, visitors damaged wheat crops while arriving in large numbers to see a tree in a field that became popular because of its picturesque appearance. A local resident cut off the tree’s crown to protect the harvest. In Wuhan in 2022, a seller of a cheap sweet drink closed a kiosk that had operated for 17 years after it went viral and questions emerged about hygiene.
In Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, nearly 49,000 appeals were submitted to a public services platform over ten days at the end of August, mostly concerning concerts by a boy band. Fan groups argued over the holding of performances. The Xuzhou 12345 hotline introduced an emergency response mechanism, while the number of night-shift operators was increased from 15 to 43.
People’s Daily called the mass mobilization of fans to exert pressure through government hotlines an aggressive intrusion of toxic fan culture into public space. On September 2, Weibo reported restricting accounts that called for the use of government hotlines in fan disputes.
