"Chasing" Cdramas while being on Weibo is probably a bad idea

So, recently I was motivated enough to create a Weibo account, mostly so I can get a clearer picture of what drama will be airing soon. (PS: This doesn't work - I found out is that platforms may promise you a drama will land on a a certain month, release promotional posters and all, but pull it away at the last minute. )

It was exciting at first, learning more about Chinese entertainment, fandom culture and the actors. I followed c-ent insiders like scriptwriters, and some actor so that I can get updates on their project.

But then it became very annoying.

On Weibo, drama watching threads are dominated by "fan circles", so it has become some sort of competitive sport.

While the powers that be may have taken away the "hottest actors' rating" chart, the fans are still competing; this time they're comparing all kinds of data points instead to show that their 哥哥 (gege) or 姐姐 (jiejie) is the "winner" of the season. And the opposing side will use data to show that their opponents' drama has failed, flopped, tanked etc.

The more I learned about the Chinese entertainment industry and fandom—how everything revolves around traffic, data, looks, and age—the more I felt drained and dispirited about the state of c-entertainment 🥴.

Before, I used to enjoy dramas for what they were: I’d see an interesting synopsis, start watching an episode or two a day, and maybe lurk in discussion threads. I had zero interest in knowing about the actors' personal lives or behind-the-scenes details, and I liked it that way. I sometimes watch a drama years after it ended!

But Weibo sucked me into fandom culture marginally, and even then I suddenly found myself caring too much about whether an actor succeeds (and worrying way too much when gossipers slander them), or worrying whether a drama is performing well compared to others by checking weird data updates like I was some data scientist.

I think Weibo and similar platforms color your perception of dramas in a bad way. They increase your expectations of a drama, makes you weirdly competitive about them, and expose you to a level of toxicity that will quietly affect you.

At the same time, it’s disheartening to see how data-driven and unsustainable the Chinese entertainment ecosystem feels. There's a saying on Chinese socials: "Bad money drives out good money". There's a sense of frustration among plain old viewers who just want Chinese dramas to be high quality; but they feel helpless to do anything against the organized fanaticism of the fans and the traffic-obsessed companies that use them to milk them for money.

Everything revolves around short-term fandom engagement, and it’s hard not to worry about where the industry is headed and being super pessimistic about it.

Anyway, this has been a bit of a slightly pessimistic ramble, but if you’re thinking about using Weibo while watching Chinese dramas, my advice is: don’t. 🤣

It’ll sap the joy out of the experience and make you more negative about cdramas overall.

It's so much healthier and more fun to just enjoy your dramas and occasionally dip into the discussion threads about the drama. PLEASE DON'T BOTHER ABOUT RANKINGS, WHETHER A DRAMA FLOPPED OR NOT.

I mean, what can we do about it, right? ;D

I hope we never bring this "competitiveness" to the sub. I think Cdramas and actors doesn't need to be "popular" to be "worth it", don't you think?