Why Are China’s Seniors Hooked on Short-Video Influencers?

Yang Tingting (杨婷婷)

With the suspension of a short video channel popular among elderly people, many are trying to understand the fascination behind these seemingly tacky influencers and the potential risks they carry

Zhang Jian, a 62-year-old farmer in Anhui, was devastated when he heard that Yixiaoqingcheng, his favorite influencer on Douyin (China’s TikTok), announced a temporary hiatus from social media due to family issues on August 24. Visiting Yixiaoqingcheng’s channel has become a daily ritual of Zhang for the past three years.

“All I want to do is watch her smile while she dances and sings after a long day in the field,” he tells TWOC.

After working in factories, on construction sites, and as a security guard in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Wenzhou, Zhang had to return home to pursue farming due to a lack of job opportunities in those big cities. That’s when he came across the charismatic influencer Yixiaoqingcheng, or Xiaoxiao as her followers lovingly call her. The 31-year-old Yixiaoqingcheng, which literally translates to “the smile that charms a city,” has amassed about 20 million followers with thousands of videos of her singing and dancing with a captivating smile on her face. She has become a comforting presence in Zhang’s life.

“Xiaoxiao is a part of my life now. I tell her many things and she never gets annoyed at me,” Zhang tells TWOC.

To better support his favorite influencer, Zhang often calls his granddaughter via video chat and asks her to teach him how to get access to Yixiaoqingcheng’s livestream session and leave likes and comments so the platform could boost her traffic. He loves Xiaoxiao’s girl-next-door vibe and actively follows her every update and livestream session on Douyin. When Xiaoxiao stopped updating her social media, Zhang felt like something was missing from his life.

Many find Yixiaoqingcheng’s hiatus from social media suspiciously timely considering the recent closure of another popular Douyin influencer account—Xiucai, a term that refers to someone who has passed the imperial examination at the county level in ancient China and is usually associated with intelligence. As Yixiaoqingcheng’s male counterpart on the platform, the official account of Xiucai stopped livestreaming on August 20 and was temporarily suspended by the platform on September 2 due to alleged tax evasion.

Born in the 1980s, Xiucai had over 12 million followers on Douyin, with most of them being middle-aged or elderly before his account was suspended. In a short span of three years, he has won their hearts through his captivating smiles, adorable expressions, and lip-synch performances of old classic songs filmed against picturesque countryside backdrops. Xiucai often encourages his followers to “duet” with him in videos—a function on Douyin that allows users to post their video side-by-side with a video from another creator. These duet videos have become immensely popular among his senior followers, with a related hashtag on Douyin gaining over 660 million views.

Liu Yinhua, a grandmother in her 60s from Hunan province, doesn’t even quite understand that the Xiucai in her duet video is not actually shooting the clip with her in real time. “My sister-in-law and I made a video with Xiucai for fun last July, and he didn’t get annoyed during the process. So later I started to watch his videos every day. For elderly people, it’s beneficial for our health to have something to do like shooting videos as we have a lot of free time,” says Liu. The influencer has become a friend of hers on the other side of the screen. Out of over 1,000 videos about Liu posted of her life in rural Hunan, dozens are about her singing songs with Xiucai since last July. “When I was home having nothing to do, I just want to watch his videos,” adds Liu.

According to Daduoduo, a data analysis platform for Douyin, over 64 percent of Xiucai’s followers are aged over 50 years old, and over 62 percent of them are from third-tier cities or lower. His channel has become a virtual haven filled both with laughter and sorrows from left-behind wives, lonely elders, and separated middle-aged couples. They would share various stories of their life, from their grandchildren falling sick, to their excitement about their children’s weddings. Some would also simply praise him for his appearance and talent, calling him “handsome” in the comment section.

Xiucai, along with Yixiaoqingcheng, has emerged as leaders in a growing wave of influencers targeting the middle-aged and senior populations. According to a report by the China Internet Network Information Center, nearly 300 million netizens are now over the age of 50, accounting for approximately 30 percent of the total Internet user base. Users aged over 60 have created more than 600 million short videos on Douyin alone as of April 2021, based on a study done by the Population Development Studies Center of Renmin University, one of China’s most prestigious colleges. China’s over-60s population is expected to reach 402 million in 2040. With more free time and disposable income, the monetization potential of this demographic has become increasingly appealing to businesses and influencers.

According to Chinese media Jimu News, a 62-year-old female fan from Beijing sent Xiucai approximately 520,000 yuan worth of virtual gifts between October and December 2020. The top five spenders on Xiucai’s channel have each spent at least 100,000 yuan during his livestream sessions based on a report from finance news media Znfinnews. The report also shows that the number one supporter of Yixiaoqingcheng has spent at least 20 million yuan on the influencer. Many suspected that this series of potentially troubling “gifting” led to Xiucai being reported to the authorities and Yixiaoqingcheng going radio silence to wait out the storm.

Even though the elderly population has very little understanding of algorithms and feedback, it doesn’t interfere with their usage of short video platforms, as Professor He Zhiwu from Huazhong University of Science and Technology points out in his study this August. All they need to do is like, or repeatedly watch the video they enjoy and swipe away the things they’re not interested in. The platform will learn their preference and provide them with an endless supply of entertaining content. These short video platforms, like Douyin and Kuaishou, and influencers, like Xiucai and Yixiaoqingcheng, have in turn become a source of solace and companionship for the age group.

Ren Xing was shocked when she first found out this August that her technologically challenged grandma, now in her 70s, had been following Xiucai since early 2021. But she soon comes to understand the logic behind her grandma’s fascination. “Most of them have been trapped in a loveless marriage since they were young, and as they grew older, they couldn’t keep up with the times. With most of them burdened by life, they tend to seek out emotional solace online. Men look for sweet girls, and women look for gentlemen.” says Ren, a music teacher in her 30s who agreed to be interviewed under a pseudonym. Even though Ren doesn’t fully understand the allure of Xiucai herself, she does admit that the influencer appears kind and considerate, even a bit shy at times, which is completely different from her ill-tempered grandfather. “Most women weren’t treated well in the past so I can understand why the aunties and grandmas are drawn to him,” says Ren.

However, not everyone is as understanding as Ren. The emotional support that elders find from these influencers has now become a source of mockery and pranks among young people. Some, including primary school students, who considered Xiucai’s performance cheesy, have started a new trend of imitating the influencer and hilariously recreating his “shy and embarrassed” expressions in different scenarios, such as meeting students and their parents as Xiucai in supermarkets and Xiucai discovering expensive items after scrutinizing labels in a shop. These sarcastic videos have gained over 300,000 views online.

Some would even impersonate middle-aged users and leave sarcastic and sometimes explicit comments under Xiucai or Yixiaoqingcheng’s videos. Many elderly users are especially bothered by the series of behavior from young people. A female user under the handle Pingdanshizhen, who seems to be in her 50s, often posts her duet videos with Xiucai on Douyin . Under her videos, some young people have left comments like “Being too lecherous can only do you harm.” She is so bothered by these comments that she had to later write a disclaimer on her homepage: “I come from a rural village. I don’t have any other ways of entertainment. It’s only through Douyin did I get to meet you guys. Please don’t make irresponsible comments on my channel.”

Ren Xing’s grandmother is also keen on sharing videos of herself dancing, singing, and wearing pretty dresses on Douyin to document her life. She has gotten lots of lovely compliments online but still sometimes struggles to deal with some unfriendly and explicit comments left by some middle-aged and elderly men. “Some sent my grandma messages saying something like ‘come spend life with me,’ making her really traumatized about any of male followers. She wouldn’t reply to this kind of comments anymore, because you don’t know if the polite ‘thank-you’ reply would be treated as an invitation for harassment,” says Ren.

Ren sees these as the mischievous act of small kids. “Young people don’t understand why elderly people express themselves so boldly, which is different from how they usually see them. But in fact, old people are just trying to express their love [for the influencer],” Ren tells TWOC.

An article from the media outlet Chongqing Shangyou News points out that the reason young people tease the elderly for these unconventional actions is that they don’t usually see them as individual human beings with desires and emotional needs. Instead, they often view the group as housewives or caregivers for their children who are now deviating from their supposed societal roles. While it’s normal for young people to become avid fans of pop idols, when old people start to splurge on their favorite influencers, it becomes a problem for some people, creating tension within the family.

In March of last year, a girl voiced her dissatisfaction online when her mother spent 800 yuan on a coffee machine endorsed by her idol, Deng Lun, and continued to spend money voting for Deng on the Chinese Twitter-like platform Weibo. The daughter thought her mother’s actions went too far and remained adamant, despite her mother earning her own money to support her favorite idol. This incident sparked heated public debates on whether children should interfere with their parents’ spending money on their idols.

Inspired by what Xiucai said in a video about “age is not a problem,” 72-year-old retired teacher Wang Yunfen traveled 1,700 kilometers alone from Jilin province to Anhui province this May just for a chance to meet him in person. “Why can’t someone in her 70s meet online friends?” asked Wang as people questions her actions. Unfortunately, her dream of meeting Xiucai didn’t come true as she was arranged to be sent back by local rescue authorities at the request of her family the day after her arrival.

Many young Chinese individuals are also becoming concerned about their parents falling victim to scams, as some might take advantage of their parents’ affection for these influencers.

Cases of fraud targeting the emotional needs of senior citizens are on the rise. In 2020, 60-year-old Huang Yue was tricked into eloping from Ganzhou city of Jiangxi province to Jilin’s Changchun city with someone pretending to be the famous actor Jin Dong. The con man claimed that he would marry her with 1 million yuan and a house worth 600,000 yuan. Last September, another fan of Jin Dong from Shanghai, who was over 60 years old, also fell victim to a scam while supporting her idol. Surnamed Wang, the woman transferred 200,000 yuan to the criminal group behind. It was later revealed by local police that the photos and videos of the actor were downloaded online and his voice was manipulated via certain AI software. In cases like this, the “actor” would approach the victims through private messages, opening up about their lives and worries in order to build an emotional bond with the victim. After they get closer, they would start asking for investments, charitable donations, and gifts.

Yun Yi, a sophomore in college from Zhejiang, introduced her father to Yixiaoqingcheng this August. She later found that her father started watching the female influencer’s channel almost every day. But she isn’t too bothered about her father getting obsessed with influencers online. “I think as my parents earn their own money, then they have the right to decide how to spend it. What we kids need to do is to show more support, and I believe my parents will pursue celebrities rationally without having a negative impact on our family life.”

To address the growing concerns about potential scams on elders, short video platforms including Douyin declared this August that they would try to prevent online fraud targeting elderly people via pop-up window notifications, safety verifications, AI voice notifications as well as daily spending limits on virtual gifts .

As Zhang waits for Yixiaoqingcheng to come back online, he is now trying to learn from his granddaughter how to buy virtual gifts and send them to Xiaoxiao once she’s back. “I just want to show my support,” adds Zhang.