How to become a fan-favorite in China(2)

The Story of Nanya姐姐

adoba: It seems like you have created a strong sense of intimacy through constant communication.

Nanya姐姐: Yes indeed. I give out ‘the big sister in your neighborhood’ vibes in my content. My fans are on a rather broad age spectrum. Even elementary school students watch my videos, and I approach them with a friendly impression. I basically have a personality that likes to make other people laugh. There was even a time when I imitated an Asian mom answering the phone while wearing my mother’s clothes. People really enjoy those videos, telling me that they have seen similar situations in Korean dramas. I think the viewers treat me very comfortably when I build up a friendly image by uploading such content and communicating with them.

adoba: What type of videos are popular among your viewers?

Nanya姐姐: I think the key factor is choosing a subject that many people can relate to. For example, if I create content regarding a tea brand ‘Heytea’, an endless discussion takes place amongst viewers. Comment galore!

adoba: So the core aspect of being a creator in China is to create an intimate relationship through communication and empathy.

Nanya姐姐: You’re right on point. I got all sorts of different comments when I uploaded the Heytea video. People were expressing their tastes like ‘You should have tried the other one’ or ‘You missed out on the best one. Definitely try it out next time’. Some even complimented the employee that helped me make my order when I was confused.

adoba: I think all of this could be considered ‘too much labor’ if you do not truly enjoy it. Don’t you get tired of it at some point?

Nanya姐姐: I think you could get worn out if you try to do everything perfectly. I am sure every content creator is full of passion, and the fans will undoubtedly recognize the sincere activities.

My Chinese is far from perfect. I use Google Translate more than you could imagine. I once asked my colleague in graduate school whether he would be offended if I wrote Chinese incorrectly in my subtitles or comments. My friend told me that “People will not think of you as a Korean if your Chinese is perfect. Those errors are what the fans like about you”. It was a massive relief. My fans support and comment on my Chinese skills getting better everyday.

adoba: It’s interesting that even your Chinese skills can be the subject of debate. Chinese people must love communicating.

Nanya姐姐: Exactly. I lamented that my Chinese skills were not improving in my ‘Dongtai(动态: equivalent to YouTube’s community)’ a while back. I attended studies every week but it did not help much. Then, fans made recommendations in my comment section to ‘watch Chinese dramas’ or ‘start dating a Chinese guy’.

adoba: What does it feel like to have that kind of conversation with your Chinese fans?

Nanya姐姐: It feels like I’m listening to my younger siblings, like any older sister would. Probably because I have been doing this for a long time now. Since most of my fans are younger than I am, I try to listen and accept everything they tell me.

[How Nanya姐姐 deals with negative comments]

adoba: You mentioned before that you get a lot of negative comments. How do you deal with them?

Nanya姐姐: There are various types of negative comments. Some people leave lengthy comments giving grounds for critizing me and Korea. I try to write a reply back in those cases, thanking them for watching my video and leaving a comment anyway. Then they answer back by apologizing for being too harsh. Quite a few people started following my channel in this way. On the other hand, some people would just leave short criticisms, which is very tough for me to reply back to.

adoba: What is the difference between those two types of comments?

Nanya姐姐: I think the biggest difference is the scale of interest. I think there’s room for people who view my content and comment on me or Korea to clear up the misunderstandings, even if the comments are negative. They are people who can potentially become my fans if I treat them back with kindness. However, people who leave negative comments without even watching my videos are internet trolls.

adoba: Have you ever been hurt by any of those comments?

Nanya姐姐: I was a bit shocked at first. Some comments can be extremely cruel. I think I heard all the swear words that I could possibly imagine. Some people even degraded my appearance. There was a point when I did not see the purpose of putting up with all that, but now I do not feel anything and it’s something of the past. Those people say mean things without even knowing what kind of person I am. I believe there are people everywhere in the world who like to relieve stress in that way.

adoba: While some fans loved you from the start even to the extent of creating a group chat, there were also a lot of negative comments that went to the extreme.

Nanya姐姐: I think it was inevitable. I am a foreigner to Chinese fans, and they need time to figure out what kind of person I am. Since I upload a lot of reaction videos, they would have wanted to check if I was creating that content out of genuine love for the country and the culture. In the beginning, people often made sarcastic comments like ‘Did you come to China for the money?’ or ‘How much did you earn today?’.

However, I think Chinese fans are gradually recognizing my sincerity as I continue. I see people standing up for me rather than making sarcastic comments.

[The driving factor of Nanya姐姐’s success, who is heading for 1 million subscribers in China]

adoba: It seems like there were lots of twists and turns before becoming who you are now. Have you ever felt like giving up?

Nanya姐姐: There was a time when I felt uploading videos was too much when I had a lot going on with my main job. I recall it being around the middle of 2019, when COVID-19 was about to hit. I did not have many followers back then and I was communicating with them through ‘WeChat(a Chinese messenger service)’. I told fans that “I am sorry but I cannot keep uploading more videos”, and that “I should quit because there’s too much going on in my real life and not that many people are tuning in to my channel”.

But to my surprise, everyone was against the idea. I asked why I should keep uploading videos. One fan told me that he watches my videos every night before going to bed. Even though I barely uploaded one video per week, he told me that we would re-watch my old content because it was fun to watch. He found my silly actions contrast to my strong impression highly entertaining, as well as me drooling at a handsome guy all the time.

Another person who opposed it was someone who was financially unstable, but he also told me that he enjoys watching my videos. He said that he lived vicariously through watching me travel all around China and enjoy the delicious food.

Also, there was one fan who saw a lot of potential in me and my channel. I had around 7,000 subscribers, and he promised to keep supporting me until I reached 1 million. I’m still not sure where his confidence came from, but his comment made me burst into tears. I withdrew any intention of closing my channel, and promised that I would keep uploading if even a single person kept watching my videos.

adoba: The last person almost seems like a fortune teller. How are those fans doing now?

Nanya姐姐: They still keep making fun of me every now and then😅 If I can’t reply back due to my busy schedules, they urge me to write back to them. Thanks to them, I was able to overcome difficult times.

adoba: It’s remarkable how quickly your channel grew considering that was only 2 years ago. What was the trigger?

Nanya姐姐: There was one video that totally blew up. I sat down with my little brother and his friends and showed him a drag queen. Their reaction at first was “She looks stunning”, then I told them at the end of the video that the person was actually a man. They were surprised for real. That expression that they showed at that time won sympathy from many people. The number of views skyrocketed to 5 million as well.

Since the event, I created lots of similar content. I watched a video of a beautiful girl once while filming. She was very cute, but the video suddenly started zooming into her body full of huge muscles. I was so surprised and the realest of reactions came out. This video blew up as well, getting over 20 million views. If that kind of video goes viral, you can get over 170,000 followers in a single month. From that point on, I was so motivated and committed that I started uploading content on a daily basis.

[Wrapping up the interview…]

adoba: Finally, it would be great if you could give some advice for those who are thinking about becoming a content creator, as a major foreign creator in Chinese platforms.

Nanya姐姐: It’s important to throw away the idea of preparing too perfectly. The creator market has now entered a fairly mature stage and it is much harder to succeed than it was before. However, I still think it is very important to start without being too stressed out in the process of preparing.

I started at a late stage of my life without much knowledge at the time. Even my Chinese was far from fluent. I still use awkward expressions even with the help of a translator, but I do not have any problems with communication. I was able to generate meaningful outcomes this way, and I am positive that other people will do even better. It all requires a series of trials and errors.

adoba: Thank you for your sincere words. I hope a lot more people start creating content after finding out about you. You don’t have to do it full-time, it can just be one of your hobbies.

Nanya姐姐: Exactly 😊 It does not necessarily have to be YouTube. You can consider being active on Chinese platforms just like me, so I hope people keep the possibility open.

Link to Nanya姐姐’s channels

Douyin(抖音) Channel URL

bilibili(哔哩哔哩) Channel URL

Weibo(微博) Channel URL

Xigua Video(西瓜) Channel URL

Xiaohongshu(小红书) Channel URL