Hold the elders trapped in the network ＂emotional siphon＂
"I these ‘ Brothers ’ But treat me like ‘ Family ’ Treat! How could you lie to me? " Wang Xiulian, 65, is puzzled. At the beginning of September, her favorite network anchor "Scholar" account was banned as "‘ Scholar ’ As a sister, it took her a long time to find new fun in online shopping. It is difficult for her to accept her grandson’s "‘ Scholar ’ The accusation of the younger brothers. This made Li Jie realize that it has become a top priority to hold the elders who are caught in the "emotional siphon" of the network.
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During the National Day holiday, Li Jie, who went home to visit relatives, was surprised to find that grandma Wang Xiulian’s online shopping package was about to "plug" the express cabinet downstairs.
The home is full of "good goods" that Wang Xiulian bought back in the live broadcast room — — Fish oil, vitamin C capsules, American ginseng … … Grandma’s mobile phone shows that in just one month, she spent more than 5,000 yuan in the live broadcast room of the anchor, and there are still more than 20 packages in the express station that have not been picked up. What makes Li Jie angry is that the goods sold by the anchor are basically worthless. "Grandma is addicted to online shopping and doesn’t know that she has been cheated."
The algorithm recommends that grandma who lives alone meet the "scholar" live broadcast.
Li Jie is not the first time to get angry with the behavior of these "network brothers". The anchor "Scholar" whose title was blocked for "violating the platform specification" is one of Wang Xiulian’s "younger brothers".
At the beginning of 2022, under the recommendation of Arithmetic, Wang Xiulian, who lives alone, met the network anchor "Scholar". Grandma’s first feeling was, "This guy is really handsome, sings very well and laughs very well".
Wang Xiulian clicked into the live broadcast room of "Scholar", and he was singing "That Night". "The voice is very clear, and compared with other anchors, it has a different feeling". What Wang Xiulian attaches great importance to is "scholar" and "good character". He will tell young students not to brush gifts for their live broadcast rooms. "It is mutual affection to brush, but it is duty not to brush".
Wang Toulian, who has a pension in his hand, is willing to reward this "younger brother". That night, she sent a gift worth more than 100 yuan to the "scholar" live room. Since Wang Xiulian fell in love with "scholar", Li Jie found that grandma became "very strange". "After cooking, we should open a short video to watch the live broadcast at the dinner table". Seeing the recharge record in grandma’s short video software made him feel "unbelievable". For more than a year, grandma’s consumption in the "scholar" live broadcast room was "estimated to be tens of thousands".
Li Jie analyzed that the short video routine of "Scholar" is very fixed, which is basically lip-synching with music that middle-aged and elderly people like, such as "Seeing the Lover" and "Not Afraid of Mistakes", and then making actions such as touching hair, licking lips and shyly bowing their heads. "It’s too greasy," Li Jie sighed. "I really don’t understand how this short video, which has no creative content and is boring, can attract so many middle-aged and elderly women to fall into it?"
According to the background data of short video platform, by the end of August, nearly 90% of the fans of "Scholar" were middle-aged and elderly women over 50 years old. Up to now, Wang Xiulian still visits the home page of "Scholar" from time to time, expecting to see the latest video of this "good brother". However, all she sees is the prompt that "the account has been banned".
There are many elders who spend ten thousand yuan for the anchor.
In July, Wang Zhi, who went to college, returned to his home in Jiangsu during the summer vacation. He found that his grandparents’ mobile phone network addiction was "aggravated". The old couple sat on the sofa, motionless, and their mobile phones were brushed for half a day.
Once, Wang Zhi glanced at grandma Lin Li’s mobile phone and saw that her account on the short video platform had reached level 31. Because the value of the gifts sent by the platform is linked to the user level, this means that the grandmother who usually saves money is exceptionally generous and rewarded nearly 10,000 yuan for the network anchor.
Wang Zhi was "a little confused" for a while. He taught his grandmother to use smart phones. Originally, it was to make it easier for her to contact relatives and friends, but now it seems to push her grandmother into "internet addiction".
Wang Zhi used his mobile phone to log on to his grandmother’s short video account, trying to understand her online world and her emotional state in reality.
Lin Li is active in an activity called "‘ Scholar ’ In this group, they not only talk about "scholars", dance and sing, but also share their daily situation and troubles in life with each other. Wang Zhi got to know a peer who was also worried about his elders, Xi Yu, who worked in an Internet company in Shanghai. Her mother Jassamyn Liu, 50, was also "fascinated by her handsome brother".
What makes Xi Yu a headache is that her mother "is often cheated by the anchor without knowing it." The home is full of all kinds of products she bought from the live broadcast room of "handsome brothers". A 1,500-yuan diamond-encrusted mobile phone, at that time, the anchor claimed that "the original price was more than 6,000 yuan", which was a "joint payment" between the mobile phone manufacturer and the famous Swiss diamond brand. Xi Yu found in other e-commerce platforms that the same mobile phone can be bought only in 900 yuan. "My mother always does this and spends more money on defective products.".
In Xi Yu’s view, the routines of these anchors are "too low-level". "Sending a set of fixed words every morning, noon and evening is to grab the attention of the old people and strengthen their emotional appeal."
After these anchors led the elderly into the so-called "welfare live broadcast room", they began to stage bargaining drama with some people who claimed to be "manufacturers’ representatives", claiming that in order to "benefit the family", they created a "spike" and "snap up" effect by artificially restricting commodity inventory in the background.
Seeing that the mountain of express boxes at home and the orders for live broadcast rooms in Jassamyn Liu’s account are growing at the same time, Xi Yu can’t help but yell at her mother loudly, and she always says, "These boys are handsome and sing well, and they ask me questions every day. How can they lie to me?"
Beware of the "emotional siphon" brought by the digital divide
Ten years ago, Xi Yu was admitted to college, but her parents divorced. Jassamyn Liu changed from a housewife to a housewife. To her relaxation, the money she earned can be controlled by herself.
"I am busy at the customer’s home every day, and I have no time to think about it." For Liu Jie, this is an "escape" — — Will not be fettered by trivial housework, not to mention dealing with those annoying interpersonal relationships.
However, in the client’s home, when loneliness strikes in the dead of night, she can only turn on her mobile phone and feel a kind of comfort in the chat of the anchors.
"Sister, it’s cold. Remember to put on more clothes. Come to the live room at 8 pm and talk. I’m waiting for you." Xi Yu opened Jassamyn Liu’s short video software, and a well-dressed "younger brother" appeared in front of him. From being caring and attentive to live broadcast with goods, their roles changed quietly in a set of words. Whether it is brushing gifts or buying things, the middle-aged and elderly people who reward in the live broadcast room are hard to extricate themselves from the greetings of the network anchor. As children, young people find that their elders have fallen into the "emotional siphon" of the network.
"Siphon" was originally a physical term, which refers to the phenomenon that liquid or gas is transported, sucked out or sucked empty under the pressure difference of pipeline. These middle-aged and elderly people’s unsatisfied emotions in real life, like being siphoned by the internet, may bring mental pain and even be defrauded of money.
In July this year, Jing ‘an Branch of Shanghai Public Security Bureau cracked a fraud case of counterfeiting celebrity social accounts. In order to give fake "Jin Dong" a gift, some victims even sweep the streets and pick up garbage to sell money. Some elderly people have been cheated of more than 200,000 yuan, but they still don’t want to trust their families, refuse to cooperate with the police to investigate and collect evidence, and always try their best to maintain the fake "Jin Dong" on the Internet.
According to the fraud gangs, when they choose their targets, they will investigate the identity information and family situation of the victims in advance, specifically looking for single older women or elderly groups to cheat, taking advantage of their lack of "spiritual sustenance" and empty life, and breaking through their defenses with false care and care.
The police in Jing ‘an, Shanghai have now verified five victims, who are basically in their 60 s and involved nearly one million yuan. Eight suspects have been taken criminal compulsory measures according to law for alleged fraud, and the case is under further investigation.
"The digital divide is very complicated." Dong Chenyu, a lecturer at the School of Journalism, Renmin University of China, said that age is a gap between middle-aged and elderly people and the digital age, and this digital gap does not only refer to whether there are smart devices and whether they can surf the Internet. The "skill gap" caused by insufficient use and mastery of digital technology, and the "participation gap" that can’t participate in self-expression in online communities are all deep-seated "digital gaps" that need to be paid more attention to.
"Many middle-aged and elderly women have never taken care of their feelings, and they lack attention to their true emotional needs." Dong Chenyu believes that the deeper question that needs to be considered is whether the middle-aged and elderly people get enough respect, care and recognition in their family life.
Change is happening. Just as the elders took them to know the world step by step, young people are trying to pull their elders into the footsteps of internet addiction.
"It is the rapid development of network technology, and we are so busy that we ignore their emotional needs." Nowadays, "calling the elders" has become a weekly thing for Wang Zhi and Li Jie. They hope to enrich the emotional life of their elders through a little care. "They also want to keep up with this era and keep up with us."
Xi Yu and her mother, Jassamyn Liu, made a "three chapters", and the mother and daughter reached a consensus that they would surpass 500 yuan’s "large expenditure" in the future and needed to discuss it together. She also encourages her mother to go out for a walk more in her spare time, which can cultivate some hobbies, adjust her emotions and find a channel to release her emotions. "Whether it is to establish a friendship or love, it is quite good."
"A show falls, Wan Xiu is born." It is worth noting that some online anchor videos that focus on emotional consumption continue to "siphon emotions" to the elderly.
(Li Jie, Wang Xiulian, Wang Zhi, Lin Li, Xi Yu and Jassamyn Liu are pseudonyms in the text)