Xipo Original | Wu Liufang is already a symbol

Now it seems I’m a bit of a hateful prophet.

On December 24th, Douyin’s official account issued an announcement stating that multiple Douyin accounts, including Wu Liufang’s, and the MCN agencies behind them were penalized by the platform. The penalties included “clearing fans who grew due to violations.” Wu Liufang’s number of fans plummeted from 6.3 million to 44,000, and she was banned from speaking and following others.

At the beginning of this month, when Wu Liufang’s account was just unbanned, and her fans surged, and her supporters were overjoyed to announce victory, I wrote an article, in which there were two paragraphs:

“In this storm, we can see multiple narratives, about the edge, about gender, about the elite and the bottom, public opinion is like different tributaries of a river, converging, colliding, fighting, with obstruction, with assistance, with onlookers, with involvement. The story is not over yet.”

“Now the test for the behind-the-scenes team has just begun. The fans who have gathered actually have many origins, some want to see women on the edge, some want to see women striving, and the demands of these fans are in conflict. If you cater to one side, it is likely to cause resistance from the other side. If you don’t handle it well, it’s hard to say what the next trending search will look like. The netizens’ love is very short-lived, just refer to Li Xingliang, don’t say you weren’t warned.”

Facts have proved that it’s not even up to the behind-the-scenes team to re-plan the content direction, the impact of the event itself has already exceeded their control. Of course, there are still many people supporting Wu Liufang now, but the fact is that this account has lost its commercial value.

Some people say why others can post these videos, but Wu Liufang can’t. This is a simple question, and it is also a complex question. I can only say that Wu Liufang herself is innocent, but the sin lies in her influence, and the problem lies in the things attached to her. What’s even more悲哀 is that the previous surge in fans has made it even more difficult to remove the things attached to her, and she has become a symbol. Those who oppose her and those who support her are targeting the symbol of Wu Liufang, not the person of Wu Liufang.

Li Liang, Vice President of Douyin Group, reposted a Weibo from Weibo CEO @来去之间. Someone said: “The biggest difference between young people now and before is that it’s hard for you to influence them with ‘the big picture’. Young people are more willing to listen to clear rules.” @来去之间 said: “Will they know that there are no clear rules when they grow up a bit?” The answer is here.

The most regrettable character in the whole storm is, of course, Wu Liufang herself. Millions of fans come and go, it’s just a dream, and the actual benefits may be negative. I think she should indeed be unhappy with her life, that’s why she chose this track. Now, the MCN behind her can still operate other anchors, but Wu Liufang herself is burdened with such a huge controversial virtual asset, and I really don’t know where to go.

I remember during the Olympics, a reporter was cyber-attacked for commenting that a widely loved athlete was “crazy.” The reporter’s original intention was not bad, he wanted to say that many athletes lack experience in communicating with the real world because they have been in a closed environment for a long time. Although the reporter’s own ability to express himself is also worrying, what he said is true. If the fans really love this athlete, they should actually see the substance through the fog of language, and if there is something wrong, correct it, and if there is nothing wrong, encourage it. But all the firepower is aimed at the “daddy’s taste.”

Do we really want a person to be good, or do we want a person to be like an object placed there to make us feel good? These are two different things.

I increasingly feel that in such an era, being a public figure is a very cruel thing. It’s one thing to endure all kinds of unexpected abuse, and how many people who like you treat you as a person, rather than as a symbol? But there are always people who are moths to the flame, right? And there will always be people who say lightly, what’s the point of being so pretentious when you earn so much money and get scolded?”

There are always people who are worse off than you. But this is not a matter of comparing who is worse off, and it’s not just about money, what’s important is how we treat each other. The tearing of public opinion, the opposition of groups, poisons the air that everyone relies on for survival.

I watched a performance by Dave Chappelle yesterday, and he said it so well, although he was talking about American society, but we should also learn from it. He said that many people have bad feelings about society, but “the difference between you and me is that you hate each other because of it, and I don’t hate anyone, I only hate this feeling. I also suggest that you think about it, everyone should try to live their lives, try to forgive each other, try to find fun from your own existence, and then you can get rid of that bad feeling.”

It’s very important whether we live in ourselves or in the opinions of others. If you can’t simply and purely experience the joy of life, you will project yourself onto others, and you will not be able to tolerate others making sounds that you don’t want to hear.

Many things can be discussed, and all kinds of boundaries are discussed, but when we discuss, should we first take out the person under the spotlight that everyone can see and everyone can’t see? And don’t treat this person’s mortal body as a battlefield, and repeatedly fight a tug-of-war. In the end, the matter is not discussed clearly, and one person after another is sacrificed.

This is a difficult moment, I don’t know what else can help us get through it except for restoring the ancient warmth between people. My suggestion is, if you hate a phenomenon, you should denounce the phenomenon itself, and let go of the fragile and ordinary human individuals in this phenomenon.