This chapter considers how the wanghong industry is “going out” transnationally, regionally, or globally. Wanghong platforms, we argue, represent the most successful of many attempts for Chinese culture to go out, and thus compete against the United States-driven social media entertainment industry and the platforms it operates on. But the backlash against the take-up of particularly TikTok signals rising platform nationalism, and undermines the possibility of a global creator culture that transcends national borders, geography, and cultural differences. It is the wanghong industry, having produced a successful proof of concept for Chinese cultural going out, that now sits at the leading edge of concerns for the future prospects of globalizing popular culture.
Global Wanghong