An epic generational clash waged on Chinese social media has come to a close, with the mostly older fans of 40-year-old singer Jay Chou declaring digital victory over the largely Gen Z followers of young vocalist Cai Xukun.
中国社交媒体上一场史诗般的代际之争划上句点,在这场数据之战中,40岁歌手周杰伦的夕阳红粉丝们战胜了以Z世代为主的年轻歌手蔡徐坤的粉丝。
Early Sunday morning, a screenshot posted to Chou's official Weibo fan account showed the musician topping the platform's list of "super topics". Cai, the 21-year-old Chinese mainland entertainer who formerly occupied the No. 1 spot, now trails in second place, with a lower tally of the "influencer power" that the site uses to determine the rankings.
周日(7月21日)凌晨,周杰伦官方微博粉丝账号上的截图显示,他已高居微博超级话题榜榜首。21岁的大陆艺人蔡徐坤此前排名第一,现在排名第二。微博平台用“超话影响力”来决定这一排行。
"Beijing Time 00:30 on July 21, a record!" reads the text included alongside the screenshot in Sunday's post, referring to the exact time that Chou landed his highest-ever position in the rankings. "How strong is this No. 1?! We've achieved it."
该截图的配文写道:“北京时间7月21日凌晨00:30,创记录!”这里指的是周杰伦首次登上最高排名的确切时间。“排名第一有多强?我们已经做到了。”
"I've been seeing people saying that it's difficult to buy his tickets," reads a supposed screenshot of the now-deleted Douban post, referring to Chou. "But after I looked into it, I found that he couldn't even make it onto Weibo's super topic list."
一张豆瓣帖子的截图上写道:“我一直看到有人说他票难买,但是我查了查,他微博超话排名都上不了。”如今这个帖子已被删除。
In the days since the claim was first issued, it has ruffled the feathers of Chou's devoted followers. The singer has been a household name in the Chinese-speaking world since the release of his album "Jay" in 2000. Once described by a 2003 Time magazine article as Asia's hottest pop star, Chou has given fewer performances since his 2015 marriage.
这个帖子首次发布以来,激怒了周杰伦忠实的追随者。自2000年发行专辑《Jay》以来,周杰伦在华语世界已经家喻户晓。《时代》杂志2003年的一篇文章曾将周杰伦描述为亚洲最炙手可热的流行歌手,但自2015年结婚以来,周杰伦的演出次数有所减少。
But the singer's fans refused to take such an affront — even one issued by a random Douban user — in stride. Instead, many hoped to defy the Douban post by boosting Chou's place on Weibo's ranking of super topics, a feat that can be accomplished with enough posts and other activity on the platform. This goal, in turn, soon put the top-ranked Cai Xukun in their crosshairs.
但是周杰伦的粉丝们无法对这样的侮辱泰然处之,即使是一个豆瓣用户随意发布的帖子。相反,很多人希望通过提升周杰伦在微博上的超级话题排名来挑战这个帖子,用户可以通过在微博上发布足够多的帖子和完成其他任务来实现超话排名提升。他们很快把排名第一的蔡徐坤当成目标。
The unlikely success of the campaign has inspired rejoicing among Chou's fans, with prominent public figures who support the Taiwan musician declaring their satisfaction at overtaking the young upstart Cai.
这场活动的意外成功让周杰伦的粉丝们欢欣鼓舞,支持这位台湾音乐人的知名公众人物宣称,他们对周杰伦的超话排名超越年轻新秀蔡徐坤感到满意。
"I joined the craze with a bunch of middle-aged and older people to help Jay Chou top the list," wrote Yue Shenshan, a well-known Beijing-based lawyer, in a Weibo post Sunday morning. Born in 1978, Yue poked fun at himself for being a member of an older generation warring against the teenagers and young adults that comprise the majority of Cai's fan base. But at the same time, he justified his participation in the online battle, which he says demonstrates the staying power of his beloved singer.
北京知名律师岳屾山周日上午在微博上写道:“作为老年人,昨天跟着一帮中老年人凑热闹给周董打榜。”岳屾山出生于1978年,他对自己参与周杰伦的夕阳红粉丝团,对阵以青少年和年轻人为主打的蔡徐坤粉丝团表达了自嘲。但与此同时,他也说明了自己参与这场网络之争的正当理由,也就是展现出他所喜爱的歌手的持久影响力。
"As an old person, I needed to prove to the young generation that it's not because Jay Chou has no influence, nor because his fans are not passionate," Yue wrote, referencing common-sense explanations that might explain Chou's absence from Weibo's top rankings. "It's just they don't care about (social media) traffic."
岳屾山引用了一些常识性的解释来说明周杰伦此前为什么没有登上微博超话的榜首。他写道:“作为中老年人需要给年轻人说明一个事实,不是周董没有影响力,也不是粉丝不给力,只是都没有把(社交媒体)流量当回事。”