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The miserable Internet celebrity Xiaoying's family "is suspected of collapsing."

From the suspected overturn of the "Xiaoying family", watch the "bitter" business and social trust crisis in the short video era

"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay! Affair! Da! ”

This seemingly optimistic and strong mantra comes from a short video blogger "Xiaoying's family" who is full of sadness and suffering. From being questioned about abusing her daughter to being exposed to owning four companies, the "inspirational" character of "Xiaoying's family" collapsed, leaving behind chicken feathers and countless angry denunciations from netizens. This incident, like a mirror in the era of short videos, reflects the "bitter" business experience behind the traffic, and also reveals the crisis after social trust is overconsumed.

1. "Miserable" script: When the algorithm prefers tears, sincerity is worthless?

In the video of "Xiaoying's Family", we see the "chicken feathers" of life: the family's cows are skinny, which is said to be because Xiaoying does not know how to feed; The bruises on Xiaobao's wrists were violently rubbed as dirty; The husband is "pull-up" and idle, and he is addicted to alcohol...... All of this accurately stepped on people's sympathy and accurately catered to the algorithm's recommendation mechanism.

Data shows that on short video platforms, the playback and interaction rate of emotional content are often higher than those of other types.

According to the "2023 China Mobile Internet Semi-annual Report" released by QuestMobile, in the first half of 2023, the number of short video users has exceeded 1 billion, of which the average daily playback time of emotional content accounts for more than 20%. [1] It's not hard to see why more and more bloggers are choosing to "sell badly" to gain attention, after all, sincerity is worthless when algorithms favor tears.

This kind of "bitter" business model invisibly overdraws the trust of society. When one by one, the "miserable" characters are exposed, and when the truth is proved to be just a well-choreographed script, people begin to doubt the true feelings on the Internet, and even begin to be indifferent to those who really need help.

2. From "judging ugliness" to "hunting curiosity": what are we consuming?

The popularity of "Xiaoying's Family", in addition to the promotion of algorithms, is also inseparable from the "ugly" and "curious" psychology of some netizens. Under the pressures of a fast-paced life, people crave solace in the misfortunes of others and even gain a twisted sense of superiority.

As Neil · Bozeman said in Entertainment to Death: "All public discourse is increasingly appearing in the form of entertainment and becoming a cultural ethos." Our politics, religion, journalism, sports, education, and business are all willingly vassals of entertainment. ”

[2] When "bitterness" becomes a kind of entertainment, when the misfortune of others becomes our after-dinner conversation, should we also reflect on whether we have inadvertently become a participant in this carnival of "judging ugliness"?

What is even more worrying is that this kind of "curiosity" psychology is breeding a kind of deformed values. When "selling miserably" becomes a shortcut, and when "eyeballs" become an end, people no longer pay attention to the value of hard work, but try to quickly obtain fame and fortune through various means.

3. Rebuilding Trust: From "Traffic is King" to "Value Leading"

The "Xiaoying Family" incident has sounded the alarm for us. In the era of short videos, we can't let "traffic" become the only measurement criterion, let alone make "miserable sales" a norm. To rebuild social trust, we need to start from the following aspects:

1. Platform Responsibility:

Short video platforms should strengthen content moderation, combat false propaganda and malicious hype, establish a healthier algorithmic recommendation mechanism, and guide users to pay attention to high-quality content.

2. User self-discipline:

Netizens should look at online information rationally, not blindly follow the trend, not be easily confused by the "miserable" persona, and refuse to become the promoter of the "ugly" culture.

3. Value-led:

All sectors of society should work together to carry forward the core socialist values, guide people to establish correct values and outlook on life, and make sincerity, kindness, and hard work the mainstream values of society.

Four

The "overturn" of "Xiaoying's family" may be just a microcosm of the short video era. Driven by traffic and profits, similar events may continue to play out. We believe that with the joint efforts of all sectors of society, the short video industry will eventually return to rationality, and social trust will be rebuilt.

As Mr. Lu Xun said: "A real warrior dares to face the bleak life and dare to face the dripping blood." ”

[3] In the face of the chaos of the short video era, we need to keep a clear mind and a critical spirit, and use the light of reason to illuminate the way forward.

Bibliography:

[1] QuestMobile. (2023). 2023 China Mobile Internet Semi-Annual Report.

[2] Neil · Bozeman. (1985). Entertainment to Death. Guangxi Normal University Press.

[3] Lu Xun. (1925). In memory of Liu and Zhenjun.

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