Introduction
Social media has become the new battleground in the digital age where people can’t live without their phones except to sleep. While social media may seem like an equal opportunity arena for everyone to showcase themselves, online harassment and online violence are increasingly rampant because of anonymity and virtuality. Many ordinary social media users are bothered by it, but perhaps a new account would solve the problem for them. They can start over with a new virtual identity. However there are some special social media users——celebrities can not use this way to escape online harassment and online violence. They need to maintain that kind of visibility in their work, they need to maintain a good presence, so they can’t engage in the scolding that normal people do on social media. Otherwise, they’ll be accused of being impolite and rude. They have to live with this. So their problems are never solved, and this are often overlooked — because you’re a celebrity, and public figures are discussed. What public figure can receive only positive reviews and not negative ones? This blog will take Wanwan, a Chinese social media celebrity, as an example to analyze the plight of online harassment and online violence. Explore the reasons behind this phenomenon and whether there are solutions.
The case of Wanwan
Online harassment has grown as a big societal concern in recent years, with the number of incidents increasing year after year. Online harassment is a kind of media-based, social and virtual harassment, which is caused by more diverse channels, forms of expression and more hidden harm (Jennifer Golbeck,2018). According to a 2017 Pew Research survey, social media is the most prevalent platform where online harassment takes place, with Facebook being the most popular. Many cybercriminals and exploiters have converted social media platforms into forums where they abuse and exploit other users while threatening to injure or kill them or revealing sensitive information about them to the public (J.D, Mitchell and Finkelhor, 2007).
Wanwan and her husband, Lin Han, consider themselves victims of online harassment and cyberbullying, which has taken a heavy toll on their psyche. On December 21, 2021, Wanwan and her husband gave a video interview to Tencent News: ‘Now my expectation is not to make more people like me, but to be able to have less malice and not destroy us (Tencent, 2021).’ Wanwan has been an Internet celebrity for more than ten years. In 2007, she started using Douban, one of China’s first social media platforms, to share her life, wrote articles about her favorite artists, and recommended the work of young artists. Soon, Wanwan attracted a large number of fans with her beautiful look and unique style of dress. Fans have witnessed the growth of her. She graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Arts, went to Columbia University to study for a master’s degree in art management, met his current husband in New York, returned to Beijing to get married, and founded M WOODS art museum. But now, Douban and other social media are filled with users who call her a hypocrite. This shift in attitude came dangerously close to breaking her. In 2021, the first video of the Wanwan and her husband, Lin Han, working with Rolls Royce, had just gone live, only to be challenged by some netizens. Many Weibo users posted comments on Rolls-royce’s Weibo, attacking Wanwan, saying her actions and her fake image were not worthy of rolls-royce. There are even many rolls-royce owners who say they will not buy a rolls-royce again. Rolls-royce officials eventually removed the video of the collaboration and apologized to the public. According to Wanwan’ s interview, Rolls Royce found them during an ongoing Xinjiang-related exhibition at M WOODS art museum. The brand seems to value the couple’s efforts at curating art. But after the video went online, the bad reviews accumulated by Wanwan led to the end of the cooperation between the curators and well-known automobile brands. She was in agony and had no idea why people were abusing her in this manner. On Douban, someone even created a mini game called “composite Big Bowl” using her terrible photographs. “Bowl” is a homonym for her given name “Wan” in Chinese. The game was used to mock her and criticise her. A bad reputation and constant online harassment are becoming her biggest problems, which are really affecting her work and her life. Few brands are coming to her these days, because everyone is afraid of getting in trouble. However, she is unable to flee, since her workplace is social media, as long as she does not disappear from the internet, all the network harassment will not stop.
Reasons
The reasons why Wanwan is in such a miserable situation are complicated. One of the biggest reasons is the collapse of her personas. People are social animal. By performing this self-presentation, a person can create the impression that is attuned to the public’s preferences and expects the expected response from others. On the other hand, people form their own symbols through performance, in order to strengthen their own personality characteristics. Then the persona has appeared (Erving Goffman, 1959). In an era of increasing popularity of social media, these platforms provide a convenient arena for those who want to express themselves. In the beginning, Wanwan has been careful to maintain her persona on social media — naturally beautiful, artistic, highly educated, and from a wealthy family. Everything she owned at the time seemed enviable: a wedding in a European Castle, a big-carat diamond ring, a rich husband, a private art gallery. Some call her the other Wendi Deng Murdoch. She was enjoying the attention from others. However, there are always times when the personas are exposed. Soon, attentive fans find that her real life is not what she shows. Her Columbia University offer was obtained through her married lover, Liu Ye, a well-known artist. And she does not love art as she claims, she just uses it as a means to marry rich people. Her husband was not born into a wealthy family. The couple just created the persona of wealthy young collectors to attract popularity and investment for their art museum. Fans’ anger peaked after a worker accidentally fell from a building due to inadequate safety measures at the gallery, because not only did she not apologize for the worker’s death, instead, it was seen as tarnishing her image and getting in the way of her endorsements. Her reputation has taken a dive. How much her admirers adored her before, and how much they despise her now. The criticism that has ensued is the outcome of her persona’s demise. Another reason is that the anonymity of social media has weakened the netizens’ sense of legal responsibility. Many people believe that they use virtual identities, no matter what they say or do, they do not assume responsibility. As a result, many people vent their feelings on social media. A lot of things they are afraid to say or do in real life, and using the virtual identity, they can expose the most primitive desire. They feel that bullying via social media is more secretive, so they want to release pressure online, or trying to control people. They believe that no one on the Internet knows their true identity, which makes them more reckless and increases the level of bullying(Camachoa ,Hassaneinb and Headb, 2017).
How dose Wanwan deal with online harassment
Wanwan has implemented two steps in order to fight the on-going online abuse from a large number of people. One option is to use the social media function of blocking; the other is to report the post to the social media operation manager and request that it be deleted if it is deemed to be a personal assault. Many people verbally abused Wanwan in comments or private letters, or posted ugly pictures of her. When she sees this, she’ll blacklist the user accounts. So they can’t talk and communicate directly. It’s one of the functions of Weibo. As a social media platform, Weibo with its open nature, enables users to discover discussions on a variety of themes and comment immediately to any postings. This is a unique chance to engage in healthy dialogue, learn about other viewpoints, and find bipartisan solutions to complicated social issues. Sadly, people with opposite perspectives always engage in hostile conduct when they contact with one other(Jhaver, Ghoshal, Bruckman and Gilbert, 2018). Just like the case with Wanwan and who do not agree with her. But blacklists are a good feature for people who are constantly being harassed. Another method is more troublesome, it needs to show my ID to report to the administrator to delete the post. On Douban, the social media platform with the most users who hate Wanwan, Wanwan often reports to the administrator to delete posts. Yet this is like a war with no end in sight. Users keep posting, as if thinking of her as the only joke in their lives. The administrator and Wanwan can’t keep an eye on these people who oppose her all the time. Even if it was deleted, everyone would re-post the dark history of Wanwan. For example, when she was 16 years old, she became a mistress to a well-known painter; for example, she claimed to love small animals but wore chinchilla fur.
At this moment, there is a question: Will people who have exposed their shortcomings in front of the public lose their living space, and do they still have a chance to do good deeds and be recognized? Wanwan is now being counterattacked by vanity. She also said in the interview that no matter what she does now, she will be laughed at and despised by everyone. Is there only one solution which is to disappear from the internet for her? There is a research on online privacy includes the “right to be forgotten.” Verheij thinks that anybody has the right to request that search engines remove negative information about their past, allowing individuals to begin a new life free of disgrace and shame(A.J. Verheij, 2016).But will those who despise Wanwan be willing to let her go?
Conclusion
People desire to be liked and respected. Celebrities often create their own personas in order to get more attention and affection from the public. Platforms, especially in this day and age of social media, offer a handy way for individuals to promote their work and themselves. Following their debunking, however, the audience discovered that they were lying, and the affection for them transformed into hatred. Several negative consequences may follow, including a tarnished reputation, persistent abuse, online harassment, and even cyberbullying. Social media platforms don’t offer a good solution either, they do nothing but block and delete posts. In Wanwan’s case, she was stuck, unable to find a way out. Her mental health has been affected by the constant online harassment. She could do nothing but turn a blind eye to the malicious attacks on her. Perhaps we should consider whether everyone has the right to be forgotten on the internet?
Reference
- Golbeck, J. (2018). Online Harassment. Springer Publishing.
- 网红晚晚：你可以讨厌我，但别毁掉我. (2021, December 13). 腾讯新闻. https://new.qq.com/omn/20211221/20211221A00CYO00.html
- Wolak, J., Mitchell, K. J., & Finkelhor, D. (2007). Does Online Harassment Constitute Bullying? An Exploration of Online Harassment by Known Peers and Online-Only Contacts. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(6), S51–S58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.08.019
- Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Anchor.
- Camacho, S., Hassanein, K., & Head, M. (2018). Cyberbullying impacts on victims’ satisfaction with information and communication technologies: The role of Perceived Cyberbullying Severity. Information & Management, 55(4), 494–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2017.11.004
- Jhaver, S., Ghoshal, S., Bruckman, A., & Gilbert, E. (2018). Online Harassment and Content Moderation. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 25(2), 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1145/3185593
- Verheij, A. (2016). The right to be forgotten – a Dutch perspective. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 30(1–2), 32–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600869.2015.1125156