Do you want to become City Bro, or be held hostage by traffic?

Everyone, let's talk about the pressure and hope of this city, Shanghai, and also about my excitement, anxiety, and confusion after suddenly becoming 'City Bro.' During the chat, the host talked about his experience of coming to Shanghai in 2010. At that time, he was very lonely and wanted to keep a Husky or an Alaskan Malamute, but he only got off work in the early morning every day and had no conditions at all to care for a dog, so in the end he had to keep a cat. The restrictions of the city sometimes even decide for you what kind of pet you can keep. But the city also gives people more opportunities. What is truly difficult is not whether the city has pressure, but whether one can find time to rest, recover, and think clearly about what one really wants. Shanghai's work culture rarely leaves such blank space. If people do not stop to recharge, they easily project all their problems onto the environment. I used to always see myself as an artist and an improv comedian, but recently, because of the phrase 'City不City啊，好City啊,' I suddenly went viral, and new pressure came along with it. I worry about whether I will become a 'One Trick Pony,' with only this one move left. There is an Indian worker in Singapore who became famous for asking in Cantonese, 'Drink tea or not,' and was called Tea Bro. Later, it seemed he could only repeat that sentence. A meme can push a person up, and it can also lock a person in place. I hope to keep exploring and use my past experience in content and performance to find the next path, rather than being trapped forever under the label City. The most terrifying thing about social media is that it easily turns people into products. Some MCNs make many streamers read the same script and act out the same plot, and whoever becomes popular is made to copy it endlessly. What the algorithm rewards is not a complete person, but a certain performance that works. I both want to be myself and have to serve the users who follow me. How to form a healthy relationship between freedom and demand is really difficult. The rewards of traffic are also very much like addiction. The first time you suddenly go viral, you will keep waiting for the next time. My ideal self would think that if a work brings happiness to a few hundred people, a few hundred likes are already worth it; my real self, however, will ask why it is not a few thousand or tens of thousands. Streamers like IShowSpeed were noticed because of anger and exaggerated performances, and later he kept smashing mice and keyboards. Chinese netizens call him 'Hyperthyroidism Bro.' The more popular the persona becomes, the easier it is for the persona to shape the person in return. I also talked about this with my friend Nina. She said creators have to keep exploring which side of themselves the audience actually wants to see. We recently met in Beijing. We had originally said we would drink douzhi, but in the end we did not get to. The audience may like a persona for a while, but after watching for too long, they will get tired of it. The problem is, I do not know whether everyone wants to see the real me or another more fun persona. On Xiaohongshu, attention sometimes falls more easily on the person themselves; Douyin often prefers a meme or a series. Many people are not following me, but the City series. It is not easy to shift from following a meme to following the creator themselves. People who slowly accumulate followers do not fluctuate as much, while someone like me who suddenly goes viral has to endure a stronger sense of落差. So what I can do is still to keep exploring, to separate work from fun again, and to leave myself time to rest and think. The internet allows people to create in big cities, small cities, or even small towns, but no matter where you are, you must first protect your complete self. Becoming City Bro is an opportunity, and I do not want it to become a prison of traffic.