What are the current situations of those TikTok celebrities who gained millions of followers in 2024?

In the ever-changing Internet era, stories of overnight fame are common, but the current situation of these Douyin celebrities after the popularity fades is rarely known. From Nomi of "Chengdu Disney" to "Kaifeng Wang Po" and Xiang Zuo who became "abstract", the article not only records their glorious moments, but also explores how they face reality behind the spotlight and how they seize the opportunities brought by traffic.

Seven months after becoming famous, Nomi once again returned to "Chengdu Disney".

He was wearing a dark coat and sunglasses, and was surrounded by many fans taking photos. A Chengdu lady recognized him at the scene and shouted out the phrase that had swept the Internet: "Thank God, thank God, I want to diss you."

The phrase "diss you" made "Chengdu Disney" popular, and became one of the most popular memes in 2024. According to Xinbang's Douyin data tool Xindou, Nomi's Douyin account gained millions of followers in three days, and related topics were on the Douyin hot list more than 70 times.

"I couldn't believe it, one million likes, I couldn't sleep, and this state continued until yesterday." Not long ago, in the year-end interview video "The Answer of Time 2024" produced by Douyin, Nomi used the word "incredible" to describe the earth-shaking changes that the traffic brought to him.

The night before he came to Chengdu to shoot the MV for "Thank God and Emperor" in April, he slept on the street to save some hotel money and was bitten by passing ants. Just a few months later, he stood on a bigger stage and had the opportunity to sit on a big sofa and be interviewed.

Throughout 2024, there will be many people like Nomi who are pushed to the high point of traffic, such as "Wang Po of Kaifeng" whose fans increased by 6 million in a month, "Xiang Zuo" who became popular for his "abstract" style, and "Hairstylist Xiaohua" who made a city popular alone.

What are the people who became popular in 2024 doing now? This may be the question that many people are most curious about right now.

As the year draws to a close, with this question in mind, Douyin visited more than a dozen hot figures who were once at the center of the topic storm, recording their changes and insights after returning to their daily lives from the spotlight in the past few months. The collection becomes "The Answer of Time 2024".

In them, we see hesitation about popularity, courage to catch traffic, clarity in returning to normal, and determination to reach higher goals. They are a microcosm of the trend of Internet traffic in 2024. We also sorted out where the popularity comes from and where it goes from these interviews, and re-examined the meaning and value of traffic.

1. "Abstract" dominates the screen in 2024, and abstraction becomes the new "top stream"

If you were to use one word to summarize the Internet in 2024, "abstract" would definitely be the most popular word.

2024 is the "Year of Abstraction", and abstraction has become a new trend. On TikTok, the #abstract# topic has been viewed more than 84.7 billion times, and nearly 3.3 million people have participated in posting videos with the theme of "abstract".

Many "abstract internet celebrities" have been promoted to the new top streamers. According to Xinbang data statistics, among the creators whose followers on Douyin have increased rapidly this year, "Mr. K" and "Pan Hong loves playing with dogs" have soared in popularity due to abstract live broadcasts.

Xiang Zuo, who has been working in the entertainment industry for many years, also achieved "overtaking on the curve" by relying on abstraction at the age of 40, and dominated the hot searches many times.

In September this year, he starred in the Republic of China martial arts film "The Treasure Land in Front of the Door". This film, which has a Douban score of only 5.3 and a box office of only more than 2 million, became famous because of Xiang Zuo's several abstract performances.

For example, in the movie he would slap himself for no apparent reason after saying goodbye to his lover; in another example, he was obsessed with the action of holding his nose bridge with one hand, which appeared abruptly in irrelevant plots many times. The "nose bridge" action has thus become a popular emoticon package, triggering the creation of secondary memes across the entire network, and the related topic has been played more than 500 million times on Douyin.

Faced with overwhelming traffic, Xiang Zuo admitted in "Answer of Time 2024": "In fact, I am very lost and in pain."

Xiang Zuo is eager to prove himself through "The Treasure Land in Front of the Door". He followed in the footsteps of his father Xiang Huaqiang and entered the entertainment industry as a martial arts actor. In the past 20 years, he has not been very smooth in the process of pursuing his dream of the entertainment industry. He has been a supporting actor for many years and has been in seclusion for 7 years to practice kung fu. He has been scarred, his meniscus has been broken, his neck has been broken, and his fingers have been broken, but he still has not received much recognition.

Xiang Zuo was unwilling to live under the shadow of his parents. He devoted a lot of effort to "The Treasure Land in Front of the Door". In addition to acting, he also participated in production, art, costumes, props, etc. The investment in the film did not come mainly from his family, but from people he asked for help from everywhere, asking 200 people in total.

His disappointment was that he worked hard on a movie, but in the end, all that was seen was an action. But Xiang Zuo also knew that popularity was precious, and it was "a gift from God that cannot be bought with any amount of money."

He did not deny that he wanted to continue his current popularity, so he took the initiative to play the "Xiang Zuo looks to the right and forward" meme, and took the initiative to shoot a video with "Li Ruru" imitating the meme. It received more than 2.5 million likes on Douyin, and he also appeared in the videos of creators who spoofed him.

Apart from the nose bridge, Xiang Zuo hopes to bring more happiness to everyone: "I don't want to be so restrained anymore. In the entertainment industry, I should entertain everyone, not be pretentious."

He has loved fashion since he was a child, so he dresses up when he appears in public now, sometimes wearing some "strange clothes", such as a deep V bathrobe from Xiang Tai's wardrobe, or a pink lace dress. When he was interviewed by "The Answer to Time 2024", he also wore two small braids, an orange woolen hat, and an orange camisole, cosplaying as Arale in "Dr. IQ".

Others say that he is taking "abstraction" to the extreme, but Xiang Zuo has his own clarity.

His goal has never been to become an internet celebrity who only knows how to play abstract games to attract attention, but to become a kung fu superstar like Bruce Lee and Jet Li, even if he is an "abstract" kung fu superstar.

The popularity of the Internet can, to a certain extent, feed back into his film career. At least now he has finally been noticed by many people and has the opportunity to choose his job, getting closer to his dream step by step.

Xiang Zuo knows that he is not a talented actor, but he believes that he can become a good actor through hard work. He accepts the fact that he may never be able to match the achievements of his parents, but acceptance does not mean compromise. Even at the age of 80, Xiang Zuo is still willing to continue working hard for his goals.

2. The number of followers increased by one million in 3 days. All overnight successes have traces to follow.

In fact, before becoming the "top abstract star", Xiang Zuo could not be considered an "anonymous person" on the Internet. Even if netizens did not know him, they knew of his existence to some extent. His already high level of recognition, coupled with the contrast of suddenly letting go of himself and doing abstract things, pushed his popularity to continue to rise.

But in the past 2024, we have seen not only cases like "Xiang Zuo", but also many people who became famous overnight because of some accidental opportunity, from no such person to millions or even tens of millions of Douyin fans.

Some people would say that they are lucky and were hit by traffic, but from most of the past cases of fame, we find that traffic does not come out of thin air, and all overnight fame has "traces to follow."

Just like the "Kaifeng Wang Po" who became popular in March this year, she turned the tourist attractions of Kaifeng Wansui Mountain Scenic Area into an offline "If You Are the One", and her Douyin followers increased by more than 6 million in one month.

"Kaifeng Wang Po" did not appear suddenly. The actress Zhao Mei, who is 61 years old this year, liked performing when she was young. She started to be an extra in the scenic area two years ago. At that time, she performed one show in the morning and one in the afternoon, and also toured in between. She always looks full of energy on the stage. She never preaches about marriage and love like an elder to the younger generation, but is full of tolerance and empathy, bringing a lot of joy to the audience.

After watching "The Answer to Time 2024", we realized that she is actually a "hard worker". For the sake of stage effect, Zhao Mei did not go to the toilet during the performance and wore diapers on stage. When she was interviewed, her voice was hoarse because she was shouting during the performance. She would not rest if she had a minor illness or pain. The only time she had to get an IV this year was because she had a fever of 38.6 degrees.

After becoming famous, Nomi often heard comments like "lucky" and "good at freeloading".

When asked this question again, he did not deny that he was lucky, but emphasized, "I also have talent. So many people saw me, and the MV design is also very good. If you have the ability, you can go and take advantage of it. That's all I can say."

Nomi talked about his past. He had been a delivery man, worked as a security guard, drove an excavator, worked in an electronics factory, and broke a finger in an accident while working as a scaffolder. When he was the poorest, he couldn't even afford a pack of cigarettes for 14.9 yuan.

However, even if he earns 2,000 yuan a month, Nomi is willing to spend money to go to the recording studio for better song effects, and the mixing costs 500 to 600 yuan each time. At the age of 19, he wrote a song called "Life" based on his past experiences. The lyrics say "At a young age, I have already been riddled with holes" and "Dreams of you always make me puzzled, sometimes close and sometimes far away."

The popularity of "Thank God, Thank God, I want to diss you" turned bad times around for him. In three days, his Douyin followers increased by one million, and as of now, he has 2.9 million Douyin fans. He has fans, a stage, and a better life.

Some people commented that Nomi has changed a lot compared to his simple appearance a few months ago. Indeed, his clothes are more refined and he is more confident. But in "Answer of Time 2024", Nomi is still the stubborn and stubborn one, and he is not even good at disguising himself in front of the camera.

No matter how others see him, he will tell everyone directly: "I am not a rapper, I am not an internet celebrity, I am an artist." Because only artists can impress everyone and describe the stories of many people, just like his most admired Stephen Chow.

Now Nomi seems to be a little closer to her dream of becoming an artist.

3. There is more than one way to handle the overwhelming traffic

After becoming famous, what next? This is a classic question that troubles many creators.

Although most people know that it is difficult to maintain traffic at its peak, they will still try their best to continue the popularity. After all, something is better than nothing.

A senior MCN operator pointed out that many celebrities don’t know where to go next. All they know is the content of the few minutes when they became popular, so they will cling to this label and try to "copy" it.

However, we found that blindly "imitating yourself" may cause aesthetic fatigue to the audience, while continuous innovation and exploration of new routes may help the account "keep fresh".

In "The Answer of Time 2024", Qin Xinyu proved the feasibility of this approach through practice.

Many people first got to know him through the "rights protection divine song" "Give me back my mother's nose". In July this year, Qin Xinyu, who had a failed nose plastic surgery, failed to protect his rights. In anger, he used AI to generate a song "Give me back my mother's nose~Give me back my small upturned nose". The lyrics sang in a loop, brainwashing countless netizens and setting off a wave of imitations.

As of now, the related terms #还我妈生鼻# have been played more than 240 million times on Douyin, and Qin Xinyu’s Douyin fans have increased from 530,000 to 1.7 million.

After gaining popularity, Qin Xinyu did not continue on this path of funny and ghostly videos. Although his nose has not been repaired, he did not want to affect more people after achieving his rights protection goal, so he returned to his parents in the countryside with this wave of traffic and started filming a vlog of returning to the village.

He said the song "Give My Mom a Nose" was a turning point in his life, and that the failed plastic surgery on his nose was good luck for his fortune, but being with his parents was his "ideal life."

At the beginning, he worked hard outside and made funny videos on the Internet because he wanted to make money to treat his mother who suffered from diabetes and help improve the living conditions of his family.

Now that he has a choice, Qin Xinyu has returned to the village where he grew up. Some people questioned whether he could get used to it, but Qin Xinyu just said, "I'll stay here forever."

This is true. In the vlog of his return to the village, he was very skillful in doing farm work, cleaning the house, cleaning the chicken coop, and working in the fields all day long like a spinning top. Sometimes he would broadcast live, with hundreds of thousands of people watching him breaking corn under the scorching sun, or driving a tractor with a crazy clockwork, or drinking beer and eating buns in front of the hut, and training the puppy Egg Yolk. It was a completely idyllic rural scene.

Qin Xinyu's account traffic did not plummet because he stopped using the "Give My Mom a Nose" meme, but instead ushered in a new wave of peaks. New Douyin data shows that after releasing the vlog of returning to the village, Qin Xinyu's Douyin followers increased by nearly 2 million, and the number of video likes also far exceeded before.

He has become the "other people's child" in the village. He is able to renovate his family's house, treat his mother's illness, and help his parents take wedding photos to fulfill their dreams. Qin Xinyu also wants to help the villagers get rich together. Although this is difficult, "but I think I can do it, and I really can."

Back to the original question: What are the people who became popular in 2024 doing now?

From "The Answer of Time 2024", we can get a glimpse of something - becoming famous is just the beginning.

Everyone's popularity is driven by a variety of factors, such as personal hard work, long-term accumulation of efforts, social emotional waves, outstanding content quality, or unique personal style and charm, etc.

However, fans and traffic are fluid. Becoming famous is an opportunity, but not the foundation for success.

Xinbang has observed that most celebrities whose popularity can transcend time periods will continue to transform in line with the direction of the times.

Just like "Li Ruru", who has been popular for 6 years, from the "Mrs. He and Mrs. Zhong" series of videos in 2019 to this year's "Singer" and "Goodbye Lover" imitation series of videos, she has continued to produce high-quality works. She is considered to have "no creative bottleneck" and has accumulated nearly 25 million fans on Douyin.

The founder of an MCN also said that the so-called life cycle of internet celebrities is not accurate. There are many experts on the platform who have been popular for several years. Whether they can continue to be popular depends on whether they are willing to work tirelessly and persist in polishing the content.

Those who have become the focus of traffic in 2024, when the temporary excitement fades, may need to think more about long-termism in the next step, so that they can get closer to their dreams. They have more choices than in the past, and changes are still happening.

Author | Truffle Editor | Xiaoba