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Failing to become an internet celebrity in China

26 points by williswee 9y ago

ohyoutravel 9y ago
Summary: guy tried to team up with his Chinese internet celebrity friend to also become an internet celebrity in China, but the Chinese gov ended up blocking him because he was foreign. It was a very long article for that point to be made, and some of it sounded not plausible.
rahimnathwani 9y ago
"Sir, it is very clear to me that you are not Chinese." This doesn't sound credible. There's no way you can pretend to be a Chinese national just by faking a Beijing accent. The customer service agent would have access to your account details, which include which type of ID you used for real-name verification. If you used a passport instead of a Chinese ID card, you're a foreigner. Pleasant article, though.
JohnJamesRambo 9y ago
"The crackdown resulted in Sina Weibo changing their live broadcasting policies to make it impossible for foreigners to broadcast." It's hard to believe nonsense like this still exists in the world.
- burke 9y ago
  And yet, looking at the way Twitter has been used as a tool to accelerate the divide of American political discourse, it’s hard to see this in quite as negative a light as I used to.
- seanmcdirmid 9y ago
  Many activities in China require you to present your Chinese ID number and/or your ID card. It isn't meant to exclude foreigners specifically, it is usually just an oversight where much of Chinese officialdom can't fathom that there are even foreigners resident in China.
  - Analemma_ 9y ago
    There’s no reason it can’t do both. Keeping foreigners out is four-fifths of the reason why China has banned foreign social networks in the first place.
    - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
      Sure, but in this case, it is just like not being able to use the e-kiosks at the train station to print your ticket. Chinese simply don't care about foreigners, they aren't threatened by them.
- yakitori 9y ago
  > It's hard to believe nonsense like this still exists in the world. What's even worse is that nonsense like this is becoming more popular and people are now actively supporting, not just in china but around the world. Look at how censored social media is in the US. Look at HN with its censorship, banning and shadowbanning. The promise of an open and free internet is dying very quickly. If censorship is supported in a "hacker" forum, what hope is it in the rest of the internet and world.
simplyfantast 9y ago
Some awkward yuppie guy gets friend-zoned by his Chinese kinda-internet-celebrity crush and exaggerates what he did to keep the platonic relationship going.
- doppp 9y ago
  Yeah, his Facebook page has some pretty cringeworthy content.
matz1 9y ago
Then why not just use youtube/facebook ? I'm pretty sure the population of people in china who can subvert the blocking to access youtube + chinese people outside china is still a lot.

26 points by williswee 9y ago

Summary: guy tried to team up with his Chinese internet celebrity friend to also become an internet celebrity in China, but the Chinese gov ended up blocking him because he was foreign. It was a very long article for that point to be made, and some of it sounded not plausible.

rahimnathwani 9y ago

"Sir, it is very clear to me that you are not Chinese." This doesn't sound credible. There's no way you can pretend to be a Chinese national just by faking a Beijing accent. The customer service agent would have access to your account details, which include which type of ID you used for real-name verification. If you used a passport instead of a Chinese ID card, you're a foreigner. Pleasant article, though.

JohnJamesRambo 9y ago

"The crackdown resulted in Sina Weibo changing their live broadcasting policies to make it impossible for foreigners to broadcast." It's hard to believe nonsense like this still exists in the world.

burke 9y ago
And yet, looking at the way Twitter has been used as a tool to accelerate the divide of American political discourse, it’s hard to see this in quite as negative a light as I used to.
seanmcdirmid 9y ago
Many activities in China require you to present your Chinese ID number and/or your ID card. It isn't meant to exclude foreigners specifically, it is usually just an oversight where much of Chinese officialdom can't fathom that there are even foreigners resident in China.
- Analemma_ 9y ago
  There’s no reason it can’t do both. Keeping foreigners out is four-fifths of the reason why China has banned foreign social networks in the first place.
  - seanmcdirmid 9y ago
    Sure, but in this case, it is just like not being able to use the e-kiosks at the train station to print your ticket. Chinese simply don't care about foreigners, they aren't threatened by them.
yakitori 9y ago
> It's hard to believe nonsense like this still exists in the world. What's even worse is that nonsense like this is becoming more popular and people are now actively supporting, not just in china but around the world. Look at how censored social media is in the US. Look at HN with its censorship, banning and shadowbanning. The promise of an open and free internet is dying very quickly. If censorship is supported in a "hacker" forum, what hope is it in the rest of the internet and world.

simplyfantast 9y ago

Some awkward yuppie guy gets friend-zoned by his Chinese kinda-internet-celebrity crush and exaggerates what he did to keep the platonic relationship going.

doppp 9y ago
Yeah, his Facebook page has some pretty cringeworthy content.

matz1 9y ago

Then why not just use youtube/facebook ? I'm pretty sure the population of people in china who can subvert the blocking to access youtube + chinese people outside china is still a lot.