China Memes & Viral

Behind The “One Finger Selfie Challenge”

The One Finger Selfie Challenge, a new online trend, has got international media and netizens talking. After the A4 waist and iPhone 6 legs, another Weibo hashtag gives netizens an opportunity to show off their slender bodies.

Published

8 years ago

December 3, 2016

Manya Koetse

After the A4 waist and iPhone6 legs hype, there is a new online challenge in China and beyond where women share risque photos of themselves on social media. The ‘One Finger Selfie Challenge’ comes shortly after Alipay’s social platform sparked controversy in China for the flood of nude pictures. What is up with this nude selfie hype?

UPDATE: All images of the challenge in this article have been removed to stay in compliance with google’s policies, sorry for any inconvenience.

A new online trend has got international media and netizens talking. After the A4 waist and iPhone 6 legs, another Weibo hashtag gives netizens an opportunity to show off their slender bodies.

In the so-called One Finger Selfie Challenge, women take nude photos of themselves through a mirror while covering their private parts with just one finger.

The challenge was triggered by a manga illustration from anime artist Sky-FreeDom, who is active on multiple social media platforms.

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

“One finger is not enough to cover everything..”

The ‘One Finger Selfie’ manga was first posted August 15 of this year on Twitter, where it received over 1800 likes and 800 shares. A day later, the artist also posted it on Japanese online community Pixiv.

On Pixiv, Sky Freedom is known as “Sky” (スカイ). The artist, who describes himself as a Malaysian Chinese cartoonist, is also popular on Weibo as @Sky Freedom (253.170 followers), and has a following of 8580 on Twitter under the @sky_freedom_ handle.

When the ‘One Finger Selfie Challenge’ initially became trending after mid-November, the artist responded with a clear “Hahahahahaha!” on his Weibo account. When the trend spread to more countries like Russia and Australia by late November, the artist reacted surprised but seemed happy about the hype.

“This whole thing makes Sky happy as a child,” one of his fans commented.

Another Weibo user seemed disappointed: “I have tried it but this is not working for me, one finger is not enough to cover everything.”

ONE FINGER COVERS THREE SPOTS

“Why are you willing to sell your morals for a challenge?”

On Sina Weibo, girls are posting nude one finger selfies under the hashtag ‘One Finger Challenge’ (#单指挑战#) or ‘One Finger Covers Three Spots’ (#一指遮三点挑战#).

Although there are many pictures floating around Chinese social media, a great number were taken offline by the time of writing.

Sina Weibo does not allow ‘pornography’ or ‘illegal publications’ (扫黄打非) to be shared on its platform, although it not always clear what the boundaries are.

Many Weibo netizens seem happy with the picture trends. “These girls are pretty cool,” some netizens said.

When others complained that the girls all had small breasts, another commenter said: “They wouldn’t be able to do this challenge if their breasts were bigger.”

Some netizens could not appreciate the challenge: “I hope I won’t see these pictures again on my timeline. I am a bit older, and I don’t understand this hype. Why are you willing to sell your morals for a challenge?”, one female netizen said.

SOCIAL EXHIBITION

“Sending nudes is a way of getting attention and compliments to build self-confidence.”

The One Finger Selfie Challenge is just one among the many selfie trends that have come up on Chinese social media over the past year. There was the collarbone coin challenge, the iPhone6 leg trend, or the A4 waist hype – all big hypes that involved posting selfies with containing (partial) nudity.

Earlier this week, e-finance app Alipay sparked controversy when some of its newly introduced social groups turned into erotic platforms where women posted nudes of themselves.

Why is this kind of social exhibition so ubiquitous on (Chinese) social media? According to recent studies on selfie-sharing, the need to belong and the need for self-representation play an important role in this (Sorokowska et al 2016, 119).

With the sharing of nude selfies, exploring sexuality also plays a role besides the need to ‘fit in.’ Especially for women, sending nudes is a way of getting attention and compliments about their looks to help build self-confidence (ESRC 2016).

In Sexting and Cyberbullying (2014), Shaheen Shariff explains the phenomenon of nude female selfies in the context of popular culture, where powerful female celebrities are marketing the ‘modern woman’ as being strong and sexually assertive. Shariff points out that although many women might feel empowered by sharing their own sexualized images, they often do not realize that they are also sexually objectified through them (2014, 45-46).

But for many netizens, the One Finger Selfie Challenge is also just all about fun. Shortly after women posted their (nearly) nude selfies for the challenge, other netizens responded by interpreting the challenge in their own way, some girls posing with their clothes on. Some male netizens also posted pictures of themselves, many making fun of the challenge.

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“We’re blessed with this challenge on Weibo,” one male netizen responded. Another person said: “I’ve been practicing for half a day now, and did not manage to cover three spots with one finger, but I did manage to cover one spot with three fingers.”

– By Manya Koetse
Follow on Twitter or Like on Facebook

References

ESRC. 2016. “Why are young people sharing nude selfies?” Economic and Social Research Council, November 3 http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-events-and-publications/news/news-items/why-are-young-people-sharing-nude-selfies/ [3.12.16].

Shariff, Shaheen. 2014 (2012). Sexting and Cyberbullying: Defining the Line for Digitally Empowered Kids. Cambridge University Press.

Sorokowska, A., Oleszkiewicz, A., Frackowiak, T., Pisanski, K., Chmiel, A., & Sorokowski, P. 2016. “Selfies and personality: Who posts self-portrait photographs?” Personality and Individual Differences, 90, 119–123.

Related Topics:China sexuality china women

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Manya Koetse

Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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China Memes & Viral

“Bye Bye Biden”: Biden’s Many Nicknames in Chinese

Throughout the years, Biden has received many nicknames on Chinese social media.

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Manya Koetse

Our Weibo phrase of the week is Bye Bye Biden (bài bài Bàidēng 拜拜拜登). As news of Biden dropping out of the presidential race went viral on Weibo early Monday local time, it’s time to reflect on some of the popular nicknames and phrases given to US President Joe Biden on Chinese social media.

🔹 Biden in Chinese: Bàidēng 拜登

Biden in Chinese is generally written pronounced and written as Bàidēng 拜登. Although the character 拜 (bài) means “to pay respect, to worship” and 登 (dēng) means “to ascend, to climb,” they’re used here primarily for their phonetic similarity. The characters chosen are neutral to avoid any negative implications in the official translation of Biden’s name.

Why are non-Chinese names translated into Chinese at all? With English and Chinese being vastly different languages with entirely different phonetics and scripts, most Chinese people find it difficult to pronounce a foreign name written in English. Writing foreign names in Chinese not only standardizes them but also makes pronunciation and memorization easier for Chinese speakers.

🔹 Bye Biden: Bài Bài Bàidēng 拜拜拜登

Because Biden is Bàidēng, and the Chinese for ‘bye bye’ is written as bài bài 拜拜, some netizens quickly created the wordplay “bài bài Bàidēng” 拜拜拜登 (“bye bye Biden”) upon hearing that Biden would not seek reelection. Try saying it out loud—it almost sounds like you’re stammering.

🔹 Old Joe: Lǎo Dēng Dēng 老登登

Another common farewell greeting to Biden seen online is “bài bài lǎo dēng dēng” 拜拜老登登, which sounds cute due to the repetition of sounds.

“Old Biden” or “lǎo dēng dēng” 老登登 is a common online nickname for Biden in Chinese. The reduplication of the 登 (dēng) makes it sound playful and affectionate, while the “old” prefix is commonly used when referring to someone older. It’s similar to calling someone “Old Joe” in English.

🔹 Biden Variations: 拜灯, 白等, 败蹬

Let’s look at some other ways Biden is nicknamed online:

Besides the official way of writing Biden with the 拜登 Bàidēng characters, there are also other variations:

拜灯: bài dēng
白等: bái děng
败蹬: bài dèng

These alternative ways of writing Biden’s name are not neutral. Although the first variation is not necessarily negative (using the formal Biden 拜 bài character but with ‘Light’ 灯 dēng instead of the other 登 ‘dēng’), the other two variations are usually used in more negative contexts.

In 白等 (bái děng), the first character 白 (bái) means “white,” which can evoke associations with old age due to white hair (白发). The character 等 (děng) means “to wait,” and the combination can imply being old and sluggish.

败蹬 (bài dèng) is typically used by netizens to reflect negative sentiments towards the American president. The characters separately mean 败 (bài): “to be defeated,” “to fail,” and 蹬 (dèng): “to step on,” “to kick.” This would never be used by official media and is also often used by netizens to circumvent censorship around a Biden-related topic.

🔹 Revive the Country Biden: Bài Zhènhuá 拜振华

Then there is 拜振华 Bài Zhènhuá: revive the country Biden

In recent years, Biden has come to be referred to with the Chinese nickname “Revive the Country Biden,” also translatable as ‘Thriving China Biden’. This nickname has circulated online since 2020 and matches one previously given to former President Trump, namely “Build the Country Trump” (Chuān Jiànguó 川建国).

The idea behind these humorous monikers is that both Trump and Biden are seen as benefitting China by doing a poor job in running the United States and dealing with China.

🔹 Sleepy King: Shuì wáng 睡王

Shuì wáng 睡王, Sleepy King, is another common nickname, similar to the English “Sleepy Joe.” During and after the 2020 American presidential elections, there were numerous discussions on Chinese social media about ‘Trump versus Biden.’ Many saw it as a contest between the ‘King of Knowing’ (懂王) and the ‘Sleepy King’ (睡王).

These nicknames were attributed to Trump, who frequently boasted about his unparalleled understanding of various matters, and Biden, who gained notoriety for being older and tired. Viral videos, some manipulated, showed him nodding off or seemingly disoriented. The name ‘Sleepy King’ then stuck.

🔹 Grandpa Biden: Bài Yéyé 拜爷爷

Throughout the years, Biden has also been nicknamed Bài yéyé 拜爷爷, “Grandpa Biden.” This is usually more affectionate, though it emphasizes his age—Trump is not much younger than Biden and is not nicknamed ‘Grandpa Trump.’

Another similar nickname is lǎo bái 老白, “Old White,” referring to Biden’s age and white hair. 白 (bái, white) can also be a surname in Chinese. This nickname makes it seem like Biden is an old, familiar friend.

On Weibo, many speculate that American Vice President Kamala Harris will be the new candidate for the Democrats, especially since she’s been endorsed by Biden. Many have little confidence that she can compete against Trump. Her Chinese name is Kǎmǎlā Hālǐsī 卡玛拉·哈里斯, commonly referred to as ‘Harris’ (Hālǐsī).

In light of the latest developments, some netizens jokingly write: “Bye bye Biden, Ha ha ha, Harris.” (Bài bài, Bàidēng. Hā hā hā, Hālǐsī 拜拜，拜登。哈哈哈，哈里斯). With a new Democratic candidate entering the presidential race, we can expect a fresh batch of creative nicknames to join the mix on Chinese social media.

Want to read more? Also read: Why Trump has Two Different Names in Chinese.

By Manya Koetse

Follow @whatsonweibo

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China Memes & Viral

Enjoying the ‘Sea’ in Beijing’s Ditan Park

This “seaview” spot in Beijing’s Ditan Park has become a new ‘check-in spot’ among Chinese Xiaohongshu users and influencers.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 15, 2024

Manya Koetse

“‘The sea in Ditan Park’ is a perfect example of how Xiaohongshu netizens use their imagination to change the world,” a recent viral post on Weibo said (“地坛的海”完全可以入选《红薯人用想象力颠覆世界》的案例合集了”).

The post included screenshots of the Xiaohongshu app where users share their snaps of the supposed seaview in Beijing’s Ditan Park (地坛公园).

Ditan, the Temple of Earth Park, is one of the city’s biggest public parks with tree-lined paths and green gardens in Beijing, not too far from the Lama Temple in Dongcheng District, within the Second Ring Road.

On lifestyle and social media platform Xiaohongshu, users have recently been sharing tips on where and how to get the best seaview in the park, finding a moment of tranquility in the hustle and bustle of Beijing city life.

Post on Xiaohongshu to get the seaview in Ditan Park.

But there is something peculiar about this trend. There is no sea in Ditan Park, nor anywhere else in Beijing, for that matter, as the city is located inland.

The ‘seaview’ trend comes from the view of one of the park’s stone walls. In the late afternoon, somewhere around 16pm, when the sun is not too bright, the light creates an optical illusion from a certain viewpoint in the park, making the wall behind the bench look like water.

You do have to capture the right light at the right moment, or else the effect is non-existent.

Some photos taken at other times of the day clearly show the brick wall, which actually doesn’t look like a sea at all.

Although the ‘seaview in Ditan’ trend is popular among many Xiaohongshu users and influencers who flock to the spot to get that perfect picture, there are also some social media commenters who criticize the trend of netizens always looking for the next “check-in spot” (打卡点).

There are also other spots popular on social media that look like impressive areas but are actually just optical illusions. Here are some examples:

One Weibo user suggested that this trend is actually not about people appreciating the beauty around them, but more about chasing the next social media hype.

The Ditan seaview trend is not entirely new. In May of this year, Beijing government already published a post about the “sea” in Ditan becoming more popular among social media users who especially came to the park for the special spot.

The Beijing Tourism Bureau previously referred to the spot as “the sea at Ditan Park that even Shi Tiesheng didn’t discover” (#在地坛拍到了史铁生都没发现的海#).

Shi Tiesheng (1951–2010) is a famous Chinese author from Beijing whose most well-known work, “Me and Ditan,” reflects on his experiences and contemplations in Ditan Park. At the age of 21, Shi Tiesheng suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Ditan Park became a place for him to ponder life, time, and nature. Despite the author’s deep connection with the park, he never described seeing a “sea” in the walls.

Shi Tiesheng in Ditan Park.

If you are visiting Ditan Park and would like to check out the ‘sea’ yourself in the late afternoon, there are guides on Xiaohongshu explaining the route to the viewpoint. But it should not be too difficult to find this summer—just follow the crowds.