At the time, Tan Zhouhai was used to his videos getting dozens, sometimes hundreds, of likes from viewers on Chinese social media. That changed when he uploaded a video of his 83-year-old grandfather dancing to the popular song "Little Apple" and got 10,000 likes.
Inspired by this unexpected success, Tan Zhouhai asked his grandfather to perform regularly for his account, Rural Fatty Sea. The video shows the 30-year-old cooking for an old man who doesn't have a single tooth. He wears a pair of round sunglasses for comic effect. The account now has 1.6 million followers and has amassed more than 2 million likes. Tan Zhou Hai said, "Before my grandfather joined, my account was just an ordinary food account that was obscure online. After my grandfather appeared, my videos showed filial piety, affection and companionship. Many of my fans said they were touched. They said they liked my grandfather and thought he was cute."
China's two largest short-video apps, Jittery and Shutterbug, both have more than 400 million active users. More than 70 percent of users are under the age of 35, with about a third of them between the ages of 24 and 30, said Yu Siyao (于思瑶), an analyst at the Toupao Research Institute. "Videos with appearances by young people's fathers or grandfathers tend to get a lot of likes and comments. This category of Netflix brings freshness and surprise to viewers because of the contrast in it one by one they are older in caries but not old at all in heart." She added that there is a deep-rooted impression that the elderly are slow and sickly, leading boring lives and being left behind by fashion and new technology.
A 99-year-old Internet celebrity nicknamed "Eating Grandma" has 6.6 million followers in the city of Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan province. In her videos, she eats everything from hot pot and sweets to burgers, accompanied by wine. She also chooses exotic foods, including cola and durian.
Other internet celebrities include 79-year-old "Grandma Wang", who only wears high heels and is known for her figure and elegant fashionable clothes, and 80-year-old "Yao Yang's Grandpa", who shares interesting stories about his daily life in Northeastern dialect. ". They have 16 million and nearly 13 million followers, respectively.
Jiang Minci, an 89-year-old retired railroad engineer from the southern city of Guangzhou, has rapidly gained popularity over the past four months after posting short videos on the major social media site Beili Beili. The videos, which recount her early life and show her cooking local delicacies, are often peppered with pop-up "Hello, grandma!" of greetings.
"I am happy to interact with young people. I feel their energy and feel younger than before, like I have more grandchildren." She said she became interested in short videos after seeing her 16-year-old grandson watching them online and laughing. She decided to share her life experiences with young people. With the help of her grandson, she spends about three hours preparing each video. But Jiang Minci, who communicates with friends through WeChat and pays for purchases through web applications, said she is learning video editing skills and will soon no longer need her grandson's help.
Chen Duan, a digital economy expert at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said technological developments have made it easier for older people to use digital tools, turning more of them into fans and bloggers of short videos. "Not every elderly person can become popular online. It depends on their media awareness, how they feel in front of the camera and acting skills."