Chapter 287: Chapter 287: 204 I don't quite understand, but I want to let you know that someone cares about your feelings

“”As for Spring Pavilion Studies… I guess you could say that.” Zhou Lili was taken aback, then continued, “This behavior of writing analytical posts with a magnifying glass seems neurotic, but it actually has a lot of destructive power.”

“The Dou Ban scene plays with conspiracy theories, making up all kinds of identities. For instance, claiming that the post’s author is from xxx agency and has seen what the rival idol was like before they became famous.”

“All sorts of evidence, true or false, logic that connects one point to another. When a deluge of negative posts about a person comes out, that person’s rival idol will start losing fans like crazy.”@@novelbin@@

“Tsk.” Xu Qingyan listened until his teeth felt sour, “Is it really that insane?”

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Spreading yellow rumors is child’s play.” Zhou Lili said, “People who have seen the true face of fandoms can never really like an idol who has a fan circle.”

“Xi Liang’s fans are also terrifying offline. There was this one awards ceremony where Xi Liang’s fans fought with another fan group over a spot that the camera might pan over—pulling hair, slapping faces, ripping dresses.”

“Brother Xu, that sort of thing isn’t even surprising anymore.” Zhou Mian interjected, “Just take the internal fan circles of Xi Liang’s members, they have already split into factions.”

“Among the fans, there are head fans. Each one of these has money and popularity and has a group of regular fans under them. The small fans seek to join the head fans to avoid being bullied.”

“The staff also focus differently on the operations of the idols within Xi Liang, trying to poach head fans from each other. For the smaller fans, the stars are a projection of their fantasies.”

“For some managers and head fans, having thousands of people adore you is very exhilarating. To command with a word, strategize behind the scenes, feeling the power in your hands—it’s hard to give up.”

Hearing this, Xu Qingyan nodded. This was more or less what he had found out. The fan circle had formed an ecosystem, Xi Liang’s fans exceptionally fierce, yet the internal unity was not guaranteed.

“So… are fans the base for the Xi Liang band?”

“I suppose you could say that, since Xi Liang’s fans are not just loyal, they are also willing to spend money on their idols.” Zhou Lili said, “They use real money to prove the commercial value of their idols for the sake of competing for resources.”

“Does everyone really spend money?” Xu Qingyan frowned, asking the most critical question, “Not everyone is willing to spend that much money, right?”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Lili hesitated before answering.

“Brother Xu, don’t underestimate this. I’ve seen fan clubs for even some obscure celebrities manage to raise four hundred thousand for voting campaigns.”

“Celebrities are an outlet for fans’ emotions. Ordinary people project all sorts of fantasies onto celebrities.”

“Some people don’t interact much with others in real life, but once they join a fan group, they’re all brothers and sisters. Everyone works together on a task, and there’s always someone to respond, giving a sense of belonging.”

“Yes, whether it’s manipulating data or developing websites, removing watermarks, Photoshopping, there’s always someone to teach you. As long as you spend money, people will respect you, and they encourage you to spend more.”

“Of course, there are staff in the groups who guide fans to spend money. One typical tactic is called ‘planting a flag,’ like setting a goal.”

“If the fundraising reaches a hundred thousand, someone will contribute ten thousand. If it reaches two hundred thousand, they contribute thirty thousand, and so on. The fans in the group get caught up in the chase, and by the time they realize it, the money has been spent.”

“Is that not just a scam?” Xu Qingyan bluntly said.

“If you really want to say so, it’s not wrong, but it’s legal.” Zhou Lili said something difficult to laugh at, “Some people just love to dig into others’ super topics and watch them ‘plant flags,’ matching funds, and chasing donations.”

“Even watching them undercut each other at the last minute, distributing power in the final hours. When a group of people work together on something, it’s easy to get carried away.”

Over there, Pei Muchan seemed to have finished her call and was walking over.

Xu Qingyan signaled Zhou Mian and his sister to stop, and changed the subject to something lighter to continue the chat. In his mind, he had already roughly grasped the routines, traffic, fans, and commercial value.

The foundation of Xi Liang was just about that, pure and simple capital control.

The fan circle was complex, divided into various head fans and functional fans. Some professional functional fans could even play the game of information asymmetry, extracting substantial benefits to buy sea-view apartments.

These people gathered together, with small fans as the cornerstone, head fans and staff controlling the top. Internal interests colluding, with entertainment companies and capital pulling strings from behind.

Rolling up like a snowball, they harvest the ordinary fans, inducing the fandom to spend money. They keep expanding their influence, feasting on various resources, growing stronger, and harvesting more ordinary fans.

The head fans profit, gaining rights and prestige by spending money. As for the general fans, as they continue to chase after idols, the original intention of idolizing the star gradually shifts away from the star, making them fodder for the circle.

For them, striving together to achieve a goal, banding together to fight against the world gives a spiritual fulfillment.

Rather than idolizing stars and defending them, it’s more about supporting the projection of their own dignity. It’s not hard to understand why some would take loans or even empty their savings to follow a star.

After this analysis, Xu Qingyan also had a clearer understanding of the Xi Liang band.

Knowing both yourself and the enemy will secure victory in a hundred battles. If one naively thinks they can topple Xi Liang by denouncing them with the power of one individual, that would indeed be a bit of a pipe dream.

Over the years, the fan base that the other side has built up with multi-faceted support is financially robust. Even if they usually fight among themselves, they will certainly retaliate when their survival is at stake.

To suppress Xi Liang using external forces, one must either have an equally crazy fan circle to clash with magic, or have undeniable evidence of illegal activity that pierces through many layers of protection.

Both methods are not very realistic if you want to achieve them independently, but if there’s internal collapse….”

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