Chinese social media star vanishes as Internet fame soars
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China’s latest Internet sensation, The Washington Post reported, has been called the Vagrant Master and Master Shen on the Chinese Internet.
His real name is Shen Wei; he is 52 and a vagabond.
And now, as his social media star has risen, he has vanished. The Post said he's been offline for more than a week, after being spotted guided into a white Mercedes and declaring that he was going "to seek refuge."
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The Post reported that his every word has been recorded by live-streamers, shared across social media in the form of 15-to-30-second videos and closely watched and analyzed by millions.
He wasn’t a fan of his fame.
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“I hate the Internet,” Shen said. “The Internet has brought me nothing but trouble.”
Shen was found on social media by an audience a bit too shocked someone like him was capable of quoting Aristotle, Confucius and Dante.
He was homeless and appeared with uncombed hair, soiled clothes and unwashed beard.
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He became an antihero to an audience attempting to climb social and economic ladders.
Touched by fame, Shen quickly rejected the spotlight.
“I know people are treating me like a monkey,” Shen said. “Nobody came to see me with a pure heart.”
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China has almost 830 million Internet users, and more than 70 percent of them now use short-video or live-streaming applications.
By 2020, the short-video sector is expected to exceed $5 billion in market value.
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So alas, for now, in the world’s second-largest economy, Shen will no longer contribute.