Exploring the Internet Celebrity City: Social Media and Urban Space in China

Abstract

“Internet celebrity space” offers a fresh perspective for studying urban spaces in the mobile Internet era as a new visual consumption space. The term "Internet celebrity," or wanghong in Chinese, is utilized in modern Chinese media to refer to celebrities and the specific cultural and consumption trends linked to them. This concept has surfaced alongside the growth of e-commerce platforms, with the recognition that wanghong often engages in promoting products, services, or lifestyles to their followers. The internet celebrity spaces, or wanghong spaces, can elevate the popularity of certain areas and influence local neighborhoods, communities, and economies. Internet celebrity urbanism involves broadening this trend from certain locations to greater scales, encompassing entire districts or extending this status through urban scale. This thesis explores the impact of internet celebrity spaces in China. It is divided into three parts: Firstly, it demonstrates the phenomenon and background: study investigates the way Internet Celebrity spaces are represented in social media. Then, the studies focus on exploring the latest research and analyzing the research perspectives and methods to anchor the author’s research questions with appropriate approaches. Lastly, the influence of Internet Celebrity spaces is discussed through examining the case in Shanghai by observing internet celebrity spaces’ influence on street activity. With the analysis and conclusion, suggestions for future development are given.