Fang Xingdong, Xieyongqi, Zhang Wenyi
Journalism Evolution. 2024, 13(5): 53-65.
Looking back on the road of China’s Internet for 30 years, Internet celebrities provide us with a unique perspective. Since the Internet entered China in the 1990s, the ups and downs of Internet celebrities have formed a unique landscape in China’s Internet history. The development of Internet celebrities shows obvious stages, each stage with the change of technology, Internet celebrities also show different generational characteristics and rules. From the 1990s to the 2020s, there was the first generation of Internet celebrities in the era of the combination of Internet and traditional media, the second generation of Internet celebrities in the era of Web 2.0 netizens becoming the main body, the third generation of Internet celebrities with national mobilization power in the mobile era, and the fourth generation of Internet celebrities in the combination of video and algorithm, real and virtual integration. Meanwhile, the production mode and value realization have also undergone corresponding changes. The phenomenon of Internet celebrity is the reaction and reflection of social transformation, cultural change and social psychology, and the economy of Internet celebrity formed by it is also closely related to the change of economic structure. In general, although Internet celebrities have been pushed to the top of the wave by the Internet for a long or short time, and can not be summarized as a representative of the spirit of The Times, it does write the evolution of Internet technology and application, highlighting the unique influence and communication power of the Internet, reflecting the change of social communication mechanism, and also reflecting the changes and trends of China’s social reform and social psychology.
