Fine-Tuning Fandom

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  It is the ninth year Ni Pei is follow- ing everything about musician and actor Zhang Yixing (Lay). The idol debuted in 2012 in the Republic of Korea(ROK) as one of the Chinese members of male K-pop sensation EXO-M. At the time, Ni was a sophomore at a college in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.
  “He goes to extreme lengths when it comes to his work,” Ni told Beijing Review, adding it is the meticulous attitude and ambition he reveals that she finds most attractive.
  Graduating, landing a job and getting married, Ni has walked down the regular path of life. That leaves her with less time and energy to spend on her idol, but she still cherishes the special connection between them.
  She herself may have left the world of devoted fans, but this sphere is still full of overly fixated youngsters. Today, the ecology of these fan circles often proves problematic and sometimes manipulates or misleads young supporters, especially those underaged.

Young but influential


  Anyone who has a strong interest in or admiration for a particular person or thing can be called a fan, Hu Cencen, a tutor with the School of Journalism and Communication of Beijing Sport University, told China News Week. Researching fandoms, she thinks that today’s fans and their culture have morphed along with the rise of online social platforms and popular culture.
  Different from the 1980s and 90s, when teenagers would watch programs on TV and start collecting information about their favorite stars, China’s fan culture transformed itself in 2005. Super Girl, a singing competition, spawned many fan groups. They not only voted for their favorite contestants, but also produced public materials and organized promotional activities, making the talent show a mass social and cultural activity.
  The world of fandom graduated to the next level when three highly popular Chinese members of EXO-M terminated their agreements in the ROK one after the other since 2014 and consequently returned to China to further develop their careers.
  Their shift also introduced the K-pop fandom mechanism and culture into the domestic market and entertainment industry.
  “We were convinced that our support would be crucial to them getting advertisements, variety shows and even album parts when they were in the ROK. Companies would usually treat them unfairly so they could only rely on us,” Ni said.
  And when they returned to China, they were basically newcomers here. “So in order to showcase our idols’ commercial value, personal abilities and potential, we, as fans, simply had to step up,” she added.   Idol-making programs emerging after 2018 saw working capital take on a dominant role in the fandoms. Entertainment agencies, media companies and online platforms grew into a community with shared interests, making up complex rules and plans to attract fans’ money.
  For instance, during the 2018 competition Produce 101, fans of contestant Meng Meiqi collected up to 12 million yuan($1.85 million) through voting, promoting and other activities.
  Those talent shows not only marked the birth of idol culture, but were also the result of the expansion of social media, big data and other technologies.

Fandom chaos


  Idol worship has become a new online social and recreational activity among young people. A survey conducted by China Comment magazine in 2020, involving over 20,000 students aged between 12 and 18, disclosed that 42.2 percent of middle school students had started following their favorite stars in primary school and 52 percent of students had been doing so for over three years.
  Along with their increasing involvement in all aspects of the industry, those young people now think their fandom has the right to dominate all others, which has generated many problems, Hu explained.
  In this regard, some of their actions pose a detrimental effect to social life, Zhou Xing, a professor with the School of Arts and Communication at Beijing Normal University, told Beijing Review.
  Some fans acquire authoritative status in their related fandoms by obtaining private information about stars. They even follow them onto flights, to their workplaces and hotels just to take close-up photos—without asking for permission.



  “We all say that this type of behavior is not appropriate, but those more private moments are, admittedly, what we are more curious about,” Ni explained.
  Back in the day, following her idols took up most of Ni’s energy—and financial resources. “This ‘pursuit’ requires young fans to sacrifice everything without telling them that they should first and foremost maintain a good balance between their hobby and daily life,” Ni continued.
  And sometimes, what they ask fans to do, is just plain wrong, she added.
  For instance, a voting activity in May provoked much debate on social media platforms. Fans of contestants on Youth With You, a reality show produced by online streaming platform iQiyi, opened bottles of milk and poured their contents down the drain. They would even ask their grandparents and neighbors to purchase more of these specific bottles. Why? To get the QR codes for voting printed inside the bottle caps; the main sponsor of the show being a dairy company.   In August, Kris Wu, a Chinese Canadian actor and also a former member of EXO-M, was arrested by Beijing police on charges of rape. In the online chat rooms, some of his fans discussed how to raise funds to rescue him, exposing their blatant ignorance about the legal and the social implications Wu’s actions had.
  The culture does not accept views that diverge from theirs, even if these are objective and correct, which sometimes leads to cyberbullying, Zhou added. “It has changed the way young people, especially minors, perceive and value the world,” he said.
  The idols, too, are trapped in the rat race and stop improving their wide-ranging abilities to only chase online traffic even if they fail to guide young people with their self-discipline and strong work ethic, he added.

A healthy ecology


  The good news is that the Chinese Government and the industry took notice and have taken action to curb chaotic phenomena in recent years. Websites and online platforms are urged to disable functions that encourage fans to boost the popularity of stars in dishonest fashion and help underage fans adore their favorites in a rational and healthy way.
  On August 27, the Cyberspace Administration of China published a notice with 10 requirements to crack down on the chaotic celebrity fan culture, such as taking down or improving ranking lists and enforcing the strict supervision of entertainment agencies.
  The Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee recently issued a circular focusing on the various negative aspects of fan culture, requiring entertainment shows to improve their content reviews as well as prohibit minors from participating in idolmaking programs.
  In addition, a document unveiled by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on September 2 commands live-streaming platforms and agencies to develop program management and stop performers from asking fans to make financial contributions, releasing false information to drive consumption, or playing up certain topics for publicity.
  A recent notice from the National Radio and Television Administration emphasized the stricter regulation of entertainment programs, celebrities and celebrity agencies. Performers who have broken the law or code of ethics should be banned.
  Many online platforms positively participated in the campaign. According to a recent self-discipline convention jointly issued by the China Association of Performing Arts and 14 digital platforms, including short video giant Douyin, posts that defame celebrities or trigger dispute between different fandoms has been removed; accounts featuring such content were shut down.
  The new regulations do not target the fans, but rather the unhealthy culture that has developed among them. “As long as there is proper guidance, the world of fandoms can return to a healthy ecology and exert a considerable positive energy onto society,” Hu concluded. BR
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