During Internet celebrity Toyz’s (劉偉健) visit to fellow Internet celebrity Chao-ge’s (超哥) Japanese restaurant not long ago, the former repeatedly criticized the food quality when recording a live stream and was assaulted and injured by the latter outside the restaurant.
Later that night, Toyz went to a police station, accusing Chao-ge of “attempted murder.” After questioning, Chao-ge was taken to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for further questioning on multiple charges, including assault, intimidation, attempted murder and even organized crime. He was released on bail of NT$50,000.
Surprisingly, when leaving the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, Chao-ge told the media that it was wrong to hit someone, but that he would still hit Toyz again if he could turn back time, showing no remorse. The e-celeb obviously crossed the line.
‘SUPERPIE’
Chao-ge has gained fame on the Internet by running his YouTube channel “Superpie” (超派人生), which has turned the term “superpie” — known as “chao pai” (超派) in Chinese, literally “chao clan” or “chao style” — into a popular buzzword in Taiwan.
Originally, the meaning of “chao pai,” pronounced “tshiau phainn” in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), was “super bad” or “super fierce,” but as the term has gained popularity, it has come to be used in different contexts and can also be used to describe something impressive.
In his videos, Chao-ge often greets the audience with “chao pai,” and some people have followed suit by trying to add the term to their daily expressions as a special way of greeting people.
However, with closer observation of the live stream at the restaurant, Chao-ge went too far, as he kept swearing and shouting like a hoodlum. Did he think he was acting in a mafia movie and should call his gang to help him? It seems like he can no longer distinguish between reality and the cyberworld. The rationalization of such violent crimes is setting a terrible example for young Taiwanese.
In 1944, Columbia University sociologist Paul Lazarsfeld coined the term “opinion leader” to refer to a group of people who are far more familiar with media than others; these people become influential community celebrities, while most people start turning to them for new media content.
From studies, it could be concluded that an “opinion leader” refers to a person in a group who has gained others’ trust or has become the object of consultation due to some qualities or abilities. Such qualities enable an opinion leader to frequently and effectively influence other group members’ opinions or attitudes.
FOUR TYPES
In 2004, academics Sabine Trepte and Helmut Scherer categorized opinion leaders into four types using opinion leadership and product knowledge: informed opinion leaders, dazzlers, silent experts, as well as inerts — not-informed and non-opinion-leading — and they explored the media habits of these four types of people.
From Chao-ge’s rationalization of his violence and apparent criminal act, he is clearly unqualified to be an online opinion leader and his behavior is leading to more violence in society. After his arrest, some people joked online that they would not dare to leave bad reviews lower than two stars on the restaurant’s social media pages. Apart from this, do most people know they have been supporting a violent e-celeb?
Knight Chang is a political worker and has a doctorate in education.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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