The Chinese government is trying to hijack one of this year's hottest social trends for its own propaganda purposes.To get more
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For months, young people across China have been posting images of
themselves pretending to fall out of cars or trip, spreading their
expensive belongings in front of them, as if they've just casually
fallen out of their pockets.
It's called the "flaunt your wealth" challenge and, although it isn't
clear where it started, it has taken Chinese social media by storm.
It isn't just huge in China -- people across the world including Russia
and Australia have taken the opportunity to show off, under the hashtag
#fallingstars.Originally popular among wealthy Chinese women, the trend
rapidly spread across all parts of society.
"It is no longer just the rich people who are falling off their yachts
or planes. It's people from all professions -- doctors, lawyers,
workers, even babies. It's hilarious," Haiqing Yu, Chinese digital media
expert at Melbourne's RMIT University, told CNN.
But as the viral craze spread from wealthy to ironic posts by regular
internet users, the Chinese government saw an opportunity to hijack the
meme for its own means.
Employees of local government organizations across the country posted
photos of themselves lying on the ground, surrounded by their simple
work tools or the honors they had received for their hard work.This is
the real positive energy of the people," China's Ministry of Emergency
Management posted alongside pictures of firefighters taking the
challenge.
"It is too painful to see that the pursuit of money and power affects
young people now. Only when we support the hardworking young people will
our motherland have hope."
One student at Hainan University lies on the floor surrounded by books
by Karl Marx and Chinese leaders Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.A student
at Hainan University lies among his text books, including works about
Karl Marx, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping
People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party,
compiled a selection of students and government employees "flaunting
their wealth," praising them for knowing what was truly valuable in
life.
"These pictures may seem posed, but they show that the young generation
dare to express themselves ... they flaunt their love and commitment for
work. If everyone is hardworking at the work at hand, it will be the
biggest wealth for the society," the publication's social media post
said.
Yu said the government was using the meme to spread "positive energy," a
propaganda catch phrase used by the Chinese Communist Party to ensure
content on the Chinese internet adheres strictly to "socialist values".
"The flaunting the wealth trend is seen as corrupting by the government to Chinese society, (so instead now) you see a variety of
people from different professions, age groups and of course male and
female doing the same sort of thing," she said.
