Loyal fans of Chinese celebrities left out of pocket by fake online traffic campaigns on Xinyuan app
- Legions of fanatics were using the app – now shut down by police – which sold memberships to increase shares and comments for pop idol
Lyn is paying the price for being a loyal fan of Cai Xukun. A year after she began to idolise the young Chinese pop star, she is thousands of yuan poorer. But not from buying Cai’s fan merchandise; from helping him inflate his social media numbers.
Lyn, who asked that her full name not be used, and others like her are said to have been exploited by an app that sold memberships to increase traffic for Cai.
Authorities in China reportedly have shut down the app, Xinyuan, in a crackdown on celebrities’ falsely inflated social media numbers, boosted by hard core supporters who are now out of pocket thanks to their own largesse.
Cai rose to fame through his performances on Idol Producer, a popular talent show streamed on China’s Netflix, iQiyi.
In August, Cai’s promotional post on Twitter-like site Weibo of the music video for his new song, Pull Up, raised eyebrows when it garnered over 100 million shares – 20 times more than the most-retweeted tweet – within 10 days.
The sky-high numbers aroused Beijing’s suspicion. In a Weibo article that month, the Communist Youth League run by the Communist Party of China, questioned the legitimacy of Cai’s popularity.