From ‘wanghong’ to ‘wanghong thinking’: New research agenda and critical reflection

This essay critically reviews the existing research on wanghong studies in China. It advocates that wanghong studies should go beyond its dominant disciplines in ‘platform studies’ and ‘(digital) labour studies’ to embrace ‘celebrity studies’ and ‘China studies’. It proposes the innovative concept of ‘wanghong thinking’, which refers to the mindset that guides the experiments of the Chinese Communist Party in incorporating the popular wanghong culture, logic and economic model to achieve various social, political and economic objectives. Finally, the essay offers critical reflection on the ‘online-traffic-enabled’ social governance and economic development in China’s wanghong era.