From grassroots to celebrities in healthcare– professionality as a new persona in China’s celebrity culture

ABSTRACT

The global pandemic motivated the emergence of grassroots celebrities in healthcare who led online opinion through their professional insights and sharing of health and medical-related knowledge in China. A certain number of practitioners introduced their professional guidance to general netizens through pay-for-answer subscription with the help of Chinese social media. This article interrogates grassroots celebrities via Zhihu, China’s largest community for questions and answers (CQA). It extends Western-focused scholarship on microcelebrities.

KEYWORDS:

• Zhihu
• grassroots celebrity
• professionality
• healthcare
• pandemic

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Social Science Fund of China [Number: 23BXW093].

Notes on contributors

Shiyu (Sharon) Zheng

Shiyu (Sharon) Zheng, PhD, is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Digital Media and Culture at Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, UK. Her research focuses on gendered/transcultural fandom, celebrity studies/stardom, qualitative research, British/Chinese TV, digital media and cultural policy studies. She has published articles in Digital Journalism, Journalism Studies, Journalism, Journal of Consumer Culture, Media, Culture & Society, Critical Studies in Television, Celebrity Studies, Feminist Media Studies, Qualitative Inquiry, Information, Communication & Society, Cultural Trends, European Journal of Culture Studies, etc.

Min Xu

Min Xu (PhD) is Assistant Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Yangzhou University, China. Her research interests revolve around the intersections of media, gender, and everyday life. She has published in journals such as Media, Culture & Society, Chinese Journal of Communication, Celebrity Studies, and Feminist Media Studies.