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

Zheng, Sharon and Xu, Min (2024) From grassroots to celebrities in healthcare– professionality as a new persona in China’s celebrity culture. Celebrity Studies. ISSN 1939-2397

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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.