"The account of Gao Junyu, a girl with a reading machine, was banned"
"Where I won't order, my mother doesn't have to worry about my studies anymore, it's so easy. In 2009, 8-year-old Gao Junyu became famous with an advertisement for a reading machine, becoming a well-known "reading machine girl" and a well-known child star.
Recently, the topic of "Gao Junyu's entire network account was banned" rushed to the first place in the hot search on Weibo, and the total number of views of this entry is 130 million so far, and Gao Junyu's latest developments have triggered heated discussions in the market.
"Gao Junyu's entire network account was banned" Source: Weibo hot search
It is understood that at present, Gao Junyu's Douyin, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Station B accounts are all banned or prohibited from following. Gao Junyu's Douyin account has 350,000 followers, and when he clicks to follow, it shows "This user violates community rules and is banned from following".
Gao Junyu's Douyin account Source: Douyin
Gao Junyu's Weibo account, which has 219,000 followers, shows that "the user is currently banned due to violations of relevant laws and regulations."
Gao Junyu's Weibo account Source: Weibo
On Xiaohongshu, Gao Junyu's account has 102,000 followers, indicating that "the user has been banned for violating relevant community rules."
Gao Junyu's Xiaohongshu account Source: Xiaohongshu
On station B, Gao Junyu's account was also banned, and his account showed "This account is being banned". When clicking to follow, Gao Junyu's station B account shows "The account is abnormal, and the following failed".
Gao Junyu's Station B account Source: Station B
Those who don't know may be a little confused, why was the account of this reader girl suddenly banned from the whole network?
The cause of the incident began at the end of February this year, on February 29, Gao Junyu, who had not updated her news for more than half a year, posted a video on her personal account, in which she said that she had a rare brain tumor and recorded the process of shaving her hair with an electric razor. Subsequently, Gao Junyu, a girl on the reading machine, rushed to the hot search when she revealed that she had brain cancer, which attracted the attention of netizens.
Next, Gao Junyu's account posted 8 videos in a row within 11 days, recording the process of surgery and postoperative recovery. However, some netizens later found that the characters in the videos he posted before did not match the season, and questioned that the series of videos posted by Gao Junyu's account were previous stock videos, which were suspected of being fake, which caused controversy.
Gao Junyu also fell into a storm of public opinion. The signing company of Gao Junyu's social account is Hangzhou Suddenly Kailang Technology Co., Ltd. According to Tianyancha, Hangzhou Suddenly Kailang Technology Co., Ltd. was established in May 2019, claiming to be a short video MCN platform, mainly focusing on IP incubation Internet celebrities, the founder previously mentioned that the company had incubated Liu Genghong and other big V, in terms of live broadcast, the company has in-depth cooperation with companies such as Make a Friend and Worry-free Media.
After the fermentation of public opinion, the "Suddenly Enlightened MCN" certified in Gao Junyu's social platform account has been canceled.
On March 11, Gao Junyu's mother said through Gao Junyu's official Weibo, "Gao Junyu's account on the whole network has been operated by the contracted company, but in the process of release, there have been serious problems in the operation, which has caused misunderstanding to everyone, and it has been decided to stop posting relevant videos, and Junyu still needs further recovery." ”
On March 12, the Internet Illegal and Adverse Information Reporting Center of Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, issued a report statement saying that after verification, the relevant video was filmed in September 2023 and edited and produced in February 2024.
Source: Yuhang District Internet Illegal and Adverse Information Reporting Center
The statement mentioned that the Internet is not a place outside the law, and if rumors are spread through methods such as shifting flowers, exaggerating facts, creating things out of nothing, secretly changing concepts, and taking quotes out of context, causing adverse social impact or serious consequences, the relevant departments will investigate their corresponding legal responsibilities in accordance with the law.
On the same day, Hangzhou Suddenly Enlightened Technology Co., Ltd., an MCN institution to which Gao Junyu belongs, issued an apology statement, saying that the original intention of the video was to let everyone see Gao Junyu's positive and optimistic attitude to fight against the disease, and to give more people encouragement and strength.
The series of videos released by Gao Junyu before are indeed stock videos, and here, the reason why the girl on the reader account was blocked is clear at a glance.
Internet celebrities are in chaos, and they frequently overturn
Regarding the closure of Gao Junyu's account, some netizens said, "It's embarrassing, but this is the price you must pay." Some netizens also believed, "It's time for the unscrupulous trend of MCN and so-called Internet celebrities to do whatever it takes to gain traffic." ”
Netizen comments Source: Weibo
In any case, from the Gao Junyu incident, we can also draw a conclusion that those who do anything to gain traffic will eventually pay the price for their actions.
Not long ago, the Internet celebrity with tens of millions of fans "Thurman Cat Cup", which was banned by the whole network, is also a living example.
In mid-April this year, the Hangzhou police reported that the video of "picking up the homework book of primary school student Qin Lang in Paris" was fabricated, which was directed and acted by the Internet celebrity cat in a cup, posing for photos and drainage. Subsequently, Mao Mou posted an apology video on multiple social platforms.
Previously, Mao Cup had more than 37 million fans on the whole network platform, and now, its account has been banned on WeChat, Douyin, Weibo, Xiaohongshu and other platforms. On April 16, the OMETOO store, a clothing brand owned by Maojia, also announced the termination of operations.
Earlier, in March this year, the million-fan Internet celebrity "Liangshan Mengyang", who fabricated the death of his parents and sold miserably, became popular with the character of "poor girl", and then began to sell fake goods in live broadcasts, was also sentenced to 11 months in prison for false advertising.
Success is also traffic, failure is also traffic, these examples of Internet celebrities overturning can be said to be the extreme manifestation of advocating "traffic first". For influencers, hype such as cheating can bring temporary traffic and exposure, but when the truth comes out, they will eventually be eaten by traffic.
It is worth mentioning that behind the fraud, the MCN agency to which the Internet celebrity belongs is also inevitably involved.
In the Internet era, traffic is paramount. Driven by the demand for traffic, there is no shortage of MCN institutions and Internet celebrity anchors who are eager for quick success for the sake of traffic, choose some improper ways to gain traffic and attention, and blindly pursue hot spots and hype.
Traffic, while important, doesn't tell the whole story. This kind of bottomless behavior of grabbing traffic has hidden dangers that cannot be ignored, and will also destroy the normal industry ecology, resulting in bad money driving out good money. To this end, it is imperative to rectify the chaos in the industry.
Some time ago, the China Network Audiovisual Program Service Association, together with 8 platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, Channels, Bilibili, Xiaohongshu, and 27 MCN institutions across the country, launched the "Proposal for Strengthening Industry Self-discipline and Building a Healthy Ecology".
The proposal calls on media content network (MCN) institutions and practitioners to consciously abide by the bottom line of online communication, and resolutely resist false content and "traffic-only theory", and at the same time oppose behaviors that violate social order and good customs and endanger the healthy development of the industry.
On April 23, the Cyberspace Administration of China also announced that it would launch a two-month special action nationwide to "clear and rectify the 'self-media' without a bottom line to gain traffic", focusing on the "self-media" to create hot spots without a bottom line, and create outstanding problems such as "information traps" that are mixed with the real and the false.
All in all, Gao Junyu's case is another wake-up call for the industry, and as the remediation campaign continues, we can expect cyberspace to become more upright.
Quality content is king
Industry supervision is becoming stricter, and those roads without a bottom line to rub traffic are no longer working. Unscrupulous attempts to gain traffic will eventually backfire on itself, like a moth to a fire.
Internet celebrity anchors have a huge fan base and extensive influence, and their words and deeds will be noticed and quickly amplified.
Fraud may bring short-term popularity, but it is unlikely to bring long-term commercial value to influencers. Whether it's a live broadcast, a short video, or a graphic text, content is always king. In the Internet industry, Internet celebrities can only continue to attract and retain fans by constantly innovating and improving the quality of their content.
Nowadays, the market competition is fierce, and if Internet celebrities want to be seen by more people, they must achieve differentiated competition, so they must strengthen innovation and produce high-quality original content, so as to achieve a double harvest of traffic and monetization.
In general, traffic is a double-edged sword, and anyone who enjoys the dividends it brings must also be prepared to be eaten back. Of course, if MCN institutions and Internet celebrity anchors want to be invincible in the market, they must always keep a clear head, adhere to the bottom line of law and morality, and bring positive value guidance to the society.
Author | Pandora