Wanghong as Social Media Entertainment in China

“Wanghong as Social Media Entertainment in China is the very first academic book that systematically theorizes the phenomenon of internet celebrification in China’s changing cultural economy.”

-          Professor Anthony Fung, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

“Wanghong as Social Media Entertainment in China unravels the multi-layered ecosystem of intermediaries that is reshaping communication in the world’s biggest media market.”


-          Professor Michael Keane, Curtin University


“This book offers a systematic and comprehensive analysis of China’s social media entertainment industries through cultural, creative and social perspectives.”


-          Associate Professor Haiqing Yu, RMIT University




In Chinese, the term wanghong refers to creators, social media entrepreneurs alternatively known as KOLs (key opinion leaders) and zhubo (showroom hosts), influencers and micro-celebrities.  Wanghong also refers to an emerging media ecology in which these creators cultivate online communities for cultural and commercial value by harnessing Chinese social media platforms, like Weibo, WeChat, Douyu, Huya, Bilibili, Douyin, and Kuaishuo.  Framed by the concepts of cultural, creative, and social industries, the book maps the development of wanghong policies and platforms, labor and management, content and culture, as they operate in contrast to its non-Chinese counterpart, social media entertainment, driven by platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitch. As evidenced by the backlash to TikTok, the threat of competition from global wanghong signals advancing platform nationalism.