Chapter 58 Celebrity Fans: Which fandom is entirely made up of fake fans?
Shi Yao spent four or five hours straight researching on her computer. The worse the results, the more she felt that something was very wrong with Zhou Qixue's fandom.
She looked for several verified followers on the list and browsed through all their previous Weibo posts, but found nothing.
The nicknames were still the same few common ones on public platforms; there were no niche nicknames known only to veteran fans. Moreover, after her research, she discovered that the strangest thing about Zhou Qixue's fan circle was that it was too organized.
This kind of organization doesn't mean that everyone is assigned a specific role and trained like in top-tier fan circles, where the big fans have a division of labor, who is responsible for promoting, who is responsible for controlling comments, who is responsible for dominating the public square, and who is responsible for arguing and fighting. The smaller, more casual fans are also very obedient and follow the instructions of the big fans.
Zhou Qixue's fan circle is far inferior to this. The sense of organization in his fan circle comes from the fact that there are only a few influential big fans or official fan accounts. Moreover, his big fans and support groups are not clearly defined. In other fan circles, only the support group managers and studios can communicate. At most, a few highly influential big fans can enter the communication group. Other fans have no right to know.
A person may have many big fans, but most of them have reached such a position because of their passion and certain abilities.
Zhou Qixue's group is different. The big fans in his fan circle all seem to be privately connected with his studio, which is very different from ordinary casual fans. They will immediately and precisely maintain stability at the slightest sign of trouble. Moreover, the content posted by his big fans is very monotonous, as if they are just clocking in to complete a task on a timed basis, without any personal characteristics or vitality.
There is definitely more than one big fan in a circle, and there are obvious differences between big fans. Some are more peaceful, some are more irritable, some just want to promote Meitu, while others argue with other circles every day. The small fans in the circle also choose to follow the big fans they like more based on their own tastes.
However, in Zhou Qixue's fan circle, the big fans don't make such distinctions, and even the support group is the same. Sometimes when there are new schedules, the support group should announce them, but a big fan will announce them instead, and everyone else is used to it and doesn't think there's anything wrong with it.
After observing for a while, Shi Yao had a growing sense that most of Zhou Qixue's big fans were actually shills.
"Zhifen" is actually short for professional fan. In fact, almost every slightly popular fan circle has such people. They know inside information, but they don't usually reveal it. When there is turmoil in the fan circle, they come out to reveal some inside information to appease the fans. At critical moments, they stir up trouble and mobilize casual fans. After the matter is over, they disappear back into the crowd of fans.
In fact, many big fans initially created their accounts purely out of their own passion, but after building up their fanbase, they were recruited by official studios and became mouthpieces for the star studios, able to both support their idols and make money.
The reason why celebrity studios do this is because no relationship is as stable as a relationship based on mutual benefit. Fans' love is a very unstable thing. They love you very much when they love you, but they may turn against you when they stop being fans. If it is just a small fan, then turning against you is not a big problem, and not many people will see it. But if it is a big fan with a certain influence, after turning against you, it will definitely be screenshotted and ridiculed by various rivals, and may even spread to various platforms, causing huge turmoil in the fan circle.
So for the sake of stability, it's better to recruit these big fans in advance. That way, even if they don't like it anymore and want to leave, they will still grit their teeth and continue to promote it for money. Even if they really don't want to operate it anymore, they can choose to sell the account to the celebrity's studio and find the next owner, or leave quietly.
The more influential a fan is within a fandom, the more people will be watching her every move. Some fandoms only have one influential fan, whose words can stabilize morale. This situation is actually very dangerous because the activity and health of the fandom are entirely dependent on this influential fan. If the influential fan leaves, half of the fandom will fall apart.
At this time, the presence of PR fans is crucial. Their job is to act as big fans to stabilize the fandom. When they sense any turmoil in the fandom, they immediately take action and start leaking inside information, such as upcoming official announcements of new endorsements or variety shows, or promising projects that they are likely to secure. This is used to sway the fandom and prevent the big fans from leaving.
While a fandom with more PR staff may lack vitality, from another perspective, it is true that a fandom with more PR staff is more stable. Having their own staff constantly monitoring the situation ensures that the studio is not slow to respond to various matters related to the fandom, which is also very beneficial to the artist's development.
Zhou Qixue's fan circle has this situation, but what's amazing about him is that his fan circle doesn't have paid fans, but that all the big fans in his fan circle seem to be paid fans. There isn't a single big fan who works out of love; everyone is paid to be a big fan.
When Shi Yao discovered the first one, she didn't take it seriously. After all, most slightly popular celebrities have fans, and even some obscure ones do. It's not surprising that someone like Zhou Qixue would have fans.
But as she looked through the Weibo profiles of the second and third big fans, she realized something was wrong. These people also seemed to be paid shills. After she finished browsing through all the top-ranked verified big fans on the list, she finally realized that Zhou Qixue did indeed have more than one paid shill; it seemed that all of his big fans were paid shills.
This conclusion startled her. Although some celebrities have a lot of fake fans, she had never seen all of them. She was afraid that she had counted too many or missed some, so she went to the super topic and went through all the big fans whose views and interactions barely met the standard to make sure that she hadn't missed any. In the end, she found that it was not an exaggeration. Zhou Qixue's big fans were indeed all fake fans.
For ordinary fans who are new to the fandom or don't pay much attention to or delve deeply into fandom affairs, it's not easy to distinguish between genuine and fake fans, especially big fans who promote their idols. They usually post videos and pretty pictures in their spare time, so how can some of them be genuine fans and some be fake fans?
However, for Shi Yao, identifying fake fans is a piece of cake. In fact, anyone with a little experience who has been in the fan circle for a while can easily make a judgment. To determine whether someone is a fake fan, just look at whether they take the lead in posting clearly targeted remarks during periods of turmoil or critical times in the fan circle, and pay attention to whether someone starts to hint at certain resources before any news has even been released. Nine times out of ten, these are fake fans.
The biggest task of paid fans is to stabilize the fandom. If there is any turmoil, they will definitely come out and reveal some things that the smaller fans do not know in order to appease them. Secondly, it is popular in the fandom to link up and elevate the status of celebrities. After the artist's studio has clearly defined the track and competitors, paid fans will start to fight against the target. As the number of fights increases, the two sides will naturally be linked together, and the status of the celebrity will be raised without them even realizing it.
Generally speaking, fandoms with sponsored fans tend to be more stable and less easily swayed by rumors. Even if influential fans leave the fandom, it won't be a major blow. The role of sponsored fans is to keep a close eye on the fandom's movements and shift the focus to other fandoms as soon as possible.
As a result, the reputation of cosmetics has changed from being universally condemned to being taken for granted.
Who doesn't have makeup? Especially those who come from big companies, where companies usually hire people specifically for this kind of work, makeup is just standard equipment.
However, Shi Yao has never seen anyone like Zhou Qixue, where all the influential big fans in the fan circle are fake fans.
What does this mean? This situation is somewhat similar to a famous ancient town scenic area. Because of its beautiful scenery and retro restoration, the people living there are very peaceful and leisurely. There are old men who have been rowing boats for decades and old women who have been running inns. Entering this ancient town is like really returning to ancient life. Not only is the ancient town restored, but the original residents of the ancient town also give people a strong sense of immersion. Therefore, the ancient town has received extremely high praise.
However, an insider later revealed that the ancient town had already been acquired and renovated. The original residents were actually hired employees. The peaceful and simple life that tourists felt was actually their job. It was like working and living at the same time, which naturally gave them a relaxed feeling. The entire ancient town could be described as a huge immersive murder mystery game.
Zhou Qixue's fan circle is like this. Some casual fans accidentally saw his materials, became interested and decided to join. After joining, they found that his fan circle was very well-organized and orderly. The big fans were peaceful and did not fight among themselves. The daily tasks were also clear and specific, which made them feel very comfortable. However, after a while, they found that the things the big fans posted every day were actually very formulaic and could not make people feel that they liked him from the bottom of their hearts. It was as if they were just clocking in at work.
No wonder Shi Yao felt that Zhou Qixue's super topic lacked vitality. Although the check-in and follower data were good, the homepage posts were not refreshed frequently, and the replies were not very lively. According to her judgment, there was some inflated data in Zhou Qixue's check-in data.
Once this was clarified, another question Shi Yao had was also answered: Zhou Qixue didn't have many celebrity fans.
In the current Chinese entertainment industry, those with resources are the most popular. Those who can get to the audience's attention are basically those with resources. The only difference is who has big resources and who has small resources. It's extremely rare for someone like Ye Jingyu to play a supporting role to a resource-rich actor and then unexpectedly become a popular couple with him.
There are more investors who buy stocks of new stocks than those who buy stocks of flowers, because new stocks are easier to rise than flowers. Flowers require a longer growth cycle, and the tracks of new and flowers are different. Those who like to follow new stocks will generally continue to follow new stocks, and it is difficult for them to completely switch midway unless they are deeply hurt by the previous stock.
With his top-tier resources, Zhou Qixue undoubtedly has a large following, as his future prospects are practically written all over his face. Coming from a major company, equipped with a top-notch team, meticulously crafted career path, and receiving a constant stream of resources since his debut, his rise to fame is only a matter of time.
Generally speaking, for a rising star like him who is the focus of stock buying, many celebrity fans will flock to buy his stock as soon as he appears, vying to become one of the first veteran fans. If he can become a big fan, that would be even better, so that when Zhou Qi becomes famous later, he can make money while following his idol.
However, after observing Zhou Qixue, Shi Yao found that there were almost no popular fans in his fan circle who were good at creating buzz, and very few people invested in him. This was completely disproportionate to his actual resources. Shi Yao didn't understand why before, but now that she realized that all the big fans in the entire fan circle were paid shills, she finally understood.
Influencer fans are a very unstable fan group. They are highly active, get easily hooked, and are very knowledgeable in fandom slang. Some are also very capable. However, their downside is that they are too easy to switch allegiances and leave, and they can easily fall in love with one new fan.
Or rather, they constantly monitor the trends within the investment circle, and when they discover a promising newcomer, they quickly flock to buy their shares, then decide which one to focus on based on the development of the several investments they have.
Once a main character is chosen, they will devote themselves to it wholeheartedly. It's not uncommon for new actors to be carried by popular online celebrities and big fans. Having a big fan who knows how to use internet savvy and is familiar with memes can save the studio a lot of effort. However, these popular fans can also be fickle. Once they realize that the main character's momentum is weakening and their own novelty has worn off, they will quickly look for a new idol and abandon their former favorite.
It's fair to say that influencer fans evoke mixed feelings of love and hate. Many fandoms even dread their intrusion, as it means a massive influx of all sorts of people. These influencers bring them in, cause trouble, and then leave, leaving the original, law-abiding fans to clean up the mess. If a fandom lacks the capacity to cope, such an invasion by influencers can severely damage its vitality.
However, if an artist's career is on the rise, and their studio is cooperating well, with their fans already in place, then the entry of celebrity fans will more smoothly lead the entire fandom. Under the control of these celebrity fans, the fandom won't become too chaotic. Even if the initial wave of fans who came for the novelty leaves, there will still be room for growth, and they can continue to welcome new fans.
Among the more well-known influencers in the industry, there are bound to be many fans who "share" their idols. Some of these fans are so lazy that they don't even bother to change their accounts, following several influencers at once. Whoever becomes popular becomes the main influencer, which is not uncommon in the industry.
However, the celebrity fans have disappeared from Zhou Qixue's fandom. Shi Yao carefully checked the list of super likes and the number of creators, and found that there really wasn't a single celebrity fan. There weren't any big fans in Zhou Qixue's fandom who knew how to create interesting content. They were all calm and composed fans who knew how to control the situation. This led to the entire fandom being relatively quiet.
At first, she didn't understand why, but now she does. It's because there are too many paid fans in the fandom. The fans of the celebrity noticed this situation and realized that even if they bought shares in Zhou Qixue in advance and became veteran fans, they wouldn't have a chance to become top-tier fans when Zhou Qixue really became famous, because the studio reserved all the spots for their own paid fans.
What's the point of staying in this kind of fan circle? There's no sense of growth at all, and you can't participate in its development because you can only follow orders from above. Every action in the fan circle is authorized by the studio, and the big fans below can't have any of their own ideas. That's why the fans of popular celebrities ran away overnight.
The speed at which internet celebrities switch allegiances is so fast, vying to become fan leaders for various newcomers in order to gain a voice in the fandom. However, Zhou Qixue's side doesn't give them any chance, so of course they won't play along. There are plenty of young actors of the same type and who debuted around the same time as Zhou Qixue in the market, so fans are never short of choices.
This raises another question: why did Zhou Qixue Studio go to such lengths? Actually, it's quite normal to plant shills in fan circles. Although you could directly select and recruit people from fan clubs to relay messages, that approach is definitely not as effective as directly planting one of your own people.
Furthermore, everyone knows that the fan club's liaisons are simply relaying messages on behalf of the studio; they are the studio's overt messengers. "Paper fans" are different. Aside from seasoned veterans who are very familiar with the fandom, most casual fans can't distinguish between ordinary, popular fans and "paper fans" planted by the studio. They just assume they're all ordinary fans. "Paper fans" relay messages discreetly, occasionally offering subtle hints to guide the audience, unlike the fan club's liaisons who issue direct announcements.
It's not surprising that Zhou Qixue wanted to cultivate a fanbase; what's surprising is that he cultivated so many at once, directly controlling the entire fandom and leaving no room for ordinary fans who are passionate about their work. This approach is actually not conducive to the activity and health of the fandom and will scare away those influencer fans who want to invest.
Why do we have to do this?
A thought arose in Shi Yao's mind, and this thought deepened as she searched for evidence in Zhou Qixue's super topic.
Ye Jingyu said that Zhou Qixue was very aloof during filming and did not interact with any of the actors in the crew. Not just Ye Jingyu, but everyone else did not interact with him either. Zhou Qixue's staff were also aloof and had a very strong sense of privacy.
According to Ye Jingyu's recollection, their drama was filmed in the largest film and television city in the capital, where the infrastructure was very complete. The film set rented by the crew had a special rest building, and each main actor was assigned a private rest room. During breaks in filming, everyone would go to their respective rest rooms. On rare occasions, some actors would return from outings with their nanny vans and rest directly in the vans, but most of the time they would stay in their respective rest rooms.
The only exception was Zhou Qixue. He brought his RV with him from the first day he joined the crew. Although the crew gave him the largest and most spacious rest room, he never used it. As soon as they yelled "cut," he would immediately return to his RV and stay there until the production assistant announced the time when the show was about to start before coming out of the RV.
Filming lasted for two months, without a single day of exception.
This level of privacy can no longer be described as merely "relatively private," but rather "too much." The level of privacy is absurdly strong, making one wonder if Zhou Qixue suffers from severe social anxiety, to the point that he must immediately return to a secluded place as soon as filming ends.
However, judging from his usual performance in events and interviews, he is definitely not socially awkward. Even when meeting a reporter for the first time, he can skillfully banter and socialize with them. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a social butterfly.
That makes Zhou Qixue's behavior on set very suspicious.
Actually, it's not unusual for film crews to bring RVs. RVs are basically standard equipment for top stars, leading actresses, or veteran celebrities. However, they are mostly used for outdoor shooting in remote and poorly equipped places. In film studios with complete or even excellent infrastructure, there is no need to bring an RV.
Moreover, not everyone can afford a motorhome. For example, Ye Jingyu can't. She only got her own nanny car after becoming famous after the show aired. She's still a long way from being able to afford a motorhome. In fact, besides her, Zhou Qixue is the only one in the entire crew who has a motorhome, which shows how popular he is.
Even before Zhou Qixue became famous during the filming of the drama, the company had already provided him with a private RV. They also customized the script, changed the female lead to highlight the male lead, forcibly increased the publicity budget, and provided the RV. He was treated like a prince.
The fact that Zhou Qixue traveled entirely in a motorhome during filming not only shows how popular he was, but also suggests that he might have had to rely on a motorhome due to his circumstances at the time.
To verify the reliability of this guess, Shi Yao specifically searched for leaked photos of Zhou Qixue filming his next drama, and went through several Weibo posts by fans who followed him. After confirming that Zhou Qixue did not bring a motorhome to the other drama, Shi Yao was finally able to confirm her guess.
The reason why Zhou Qixue's studio chose to provide a motorhome throughout the trip was twofold: firstly, Zhou Qixue was a key artist they were focusing on, and secondly, Zhou Qixue's situation at the time necessitated the use of a motorhome, otherwise a significant secret would be exposed.
What kind of secret can only be hidden in a motorhome? Shi Yao felt the answer was about to be revealed.
But she didn't want to rely solely on speculation. To put her mind at ease, she called Ye Jingyu again and asked a rather strange question: "Ms. Ye, could you recall if, during breaks while you were filming, Zhou Qixue's staff went back to the RV with him, or did he go back to the RV alone?"
Ye Jingyu had just gotten off the plane and was on her way to the new variety show. In the van, besides her, there were only her manager, assistant, and driver, all of whom were her own people. She didn't need to worry about answering the phone, but Shi Yao's question really stumped her for a while.
When they met this afternoon, the other party asked a lot of strange questions like these. Ye Jingyu tried her best to recall them and told Shi Yao. Although she didn't know the other party's intention, she could feel that the other party was helping her.
At this moment, Ye Jingyu held up her phone and, amidst the puzzled looks of her manager and assistant, whispered to Shi Yao to wait a moment before trying to recall.
The assistant looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked curiously, "Sis, what are you thinking about?"
Ye Jingyu kept her contact with Shi Yao a secret from the company. She wanted to achieve some results first before revealing the truth to the company. Although the company treated her very well, Shi Yao's asking price was not low, and she was afraid that if she told her agent right away, her agent would object.
But she really couldn't recall it, so under her manager's gaze, she said to her assistant, "Mimi, do you remember when Zhou Qi and I were filming, he liked to go back to the RV whenever he had a break?"
"I remember, what's up, sis?"
"Do you remember whether he went back to the RV alone or with a staff member?"
The assistant, unaware of the situation, quickly replied, "I remember, he always went back alone. His staff would come to our rest area to use the air conditioning, and only a few would guard his car. It was so mysterious. What's wrong, sis? Why are you suddenly curious about this?"
Ye Jingyu did not answer her assistant's follow-up question. Instead, she picked up her phone again and repeated her assistant's answer to Shi Yao.
Upon hearing the answer from the other end of the phone, Shi Yao couldn't help but chuckle.
really.
Author's note: I'm here!
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