In order to find out the secrets in the phones of old babies, I studied 100 middle-aged and elderly TikTok accounts

What types of content do middle-aged and elderly users watch on online platforms now? Perhaps we can start with the accounts "@秀才" and "一笑倾城," which have captured a large number of middle-aged and elderly people, and analyze what types of account content will be more attractive to middle-aged and elderly users. Let's take a look at the interpretation of this article.

Recently, due to a news report about a "72-year-old grandmother traveling thousands of miles to meet a male internet celebrity," the discussion about the two internet celebrities, "@秀才" and "一笑倾城," has skyrocketed, and they have been dubbed by netizens as "the dream lovers of 26 million old babies."

According to statistics from the Douyin data tool XinDou under Xinbang, "A Smile That Conquers the City" has 17.17 million Douyin fans, of which 81.48% are male users and 77.75% are users over the age of 40; "@秀才" has 9.72 million Douyin fans, of which 70.44% are female users and 79.8% are users over the age of 40.

One has charmed thousands of aunts, and the other has attracted countless uncles. They can be called "top middle-aged and elderly Internet celebrities." (PS. There is no accurate definition of the age division of middle-aged and elderly people. This article refers to the definition of middle-aged and elderly people in People's Daily and mainly discusses people over 40 years old.)

Why can "@秀才" and "一笑倾城" capture a large number of middle-aged and elderly people? Besides the two top streamers, what do middle-aged and elderly people watch online? Let's talk about this topic today.

1. The top internet celebrity that my parents like looks like this

When you open the Douyin account of “@秀才”, the first thing that comes into view is a man with his hair parted in the middle, wearing a shirt and trousers. Pursing his lips, lifting his hair, smiling, and making a heart shape with his hands are his signature actions. Occasionally, he will hold a thermos cup in his left hand and put his right hand in his trouser pocket, and slowly walk towards you.

After a set of combos, the climax comes with the talent show:

In the green vegetable fields, "@秀才" would pick a few peppers with a basket and make a fiery confession, "It's not my fault that I love you, it's because you're too beautiful."

In the golden wheat fields, "@秀才" would bite an ear of wheat and sing affectionately "The little sister sends her lover to the east gate."

When spring comes and flowers bloom, @秀才” will walk to the rapeseed field, touch the tender yellow rapeseed flowers, and sing “The flowers are blooming, will you come?”

Occasionally, “@秀才” would transform into the “Melancholy Prince” and say to the camera with self-blame, “I think I’m not gentle enough and cannot share your sorrow.”

Since the first video was released on July 3, 2020, all 1,329 videos of "@秀才" have been in this format. Aunts also like this. In the comment area of ​​"@秀才", many aunts left messages such as "秀才弟, I just finished my farm work and picked up my phone to see you" and "I wish you were my husband".

Some aunts simply changed their names to "Scholar's Wife" and left behind sentences like "I wish to be crazy about you all my life, reciting poems for years and missing you deeply."

In order to express their love for @秀才, many aunties also took videos with him. For example, just by collecting videos of aunties and @秀才, "才哥很帅" attracted 190,000 fans.

When @秀才 started live streaming, the aunties kept giving tips. From the avatars on the PK contribution list, we can see that those who gave tips to @秀才 were all aunties who were crazy about love.

Confessing love in the comment section, giving rewards in the live broadcast room, and shooting videos with "@秀才" have become a popular trend among aunties.

If "@秀才" is the "mom killer" and "Jin Dong of internet celebrities", then "一笑倾城" is "Igawa Riyu who is more suitable for the father's physique."

First show your signature smile, squint your eyes, then ask mischievously, "Who said I'm not cute?" and call out affectionately, "Can you hear me when I call you brother?" In the eyes of many uncles, "a smile that can conquer the city" is as beautiful as "first love girl".

Like "@秀才", "一笑倾城," also has the talent of lip syncing. In addition to old songs such as "I Loved You Sincerely", "I Have No Regrets Loving This Life", and "You Are the One in My Dreams", "一笑倾城," occasionally follows the trend and sings a Douyin hit song, such as "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky".

After the song was over, the uncles couldn't wait to leave messages: "You have a lot of soul-enchanting eyes", "You are so cute, brother likes you"... In addition to these fiery confessions, there was also a literary uncle who couldn't help but recite a poem and left the sentence "A smile is worth a lot of gold".

"This is too earthy and greasy. Why would aunties and uncles like it?"

Young people do not understand the popularity of "@秀才" and "一笑倾城," and a large number of people flocked to the comment area and live broadcast room of "@秀才" and "一笑倾城," leaving messages such as "Be careful with your pension," "Don't spend my living expenses," "Be careful or I'll take a screenshot and send it to your spouse," and "I'm here to arrest my mom"...

In the minds of young people, "@秀才" and "一笑倾城" seem to have become real-life succubi, and the aunties and uncles have become Internet naive people who need to obediently hand over their retirement money. For a time, the young people's meme comments even overshadowed the normal comments of the aunties and uncles.

But if you think about it carefully, compared with the young people who chase after idols and give rewards to internet celebrities, there is no essential difference between the aunts and uncles who chase after "@秀才" and "一笑倾城."

Young people may think that "@秀才" and "一笑倾城" are not like the internet celebrities they understand, and are a bit rustic, but this is more like a difference in aesthetics.

For example, the three accounts of "Hua Suihua," "Nie Xiaoyu," and "A Smile Allures the City" have more than 80% male fans, but because of their different styles, they are more popular with users of different age groups. Among them, "Hua Suihua" has 50.23% fans aged 18-23, "Nie Xiaoyu" has 62.25% users aged 24-40, and "A Smile Allures the City" has 44.55% users aged 50 and above.

People of different ages have different preferences. In the eyes of the uncles, "a smile that can conquer the world" is "pure natural beauty".

Similarly, young girls can shout to their idols, "I want to give birth to a baby for you," and aunties can leave messages like "It would be nice if Xiucai was my husband." Young people can get emotional comfort from their idols, and in the comment section of "@秀才," aunties often confide details of their lives, such as having just done a day of farm work, having recently had a quarrel with their husband, or someone at home being sick.

As for consumption, the main income of "@秀才" and "一笑倾城" is live broadcast rewards. According to Xindou statistics, the cumulative number of live broadcast viewers of "@秀才" exceeded 11.32 million in the past 30 days, and the cumulative number of live broadcast viewers of "一笑倾城" exceeded 15.16 million. From the perspective of monetization, no violations have been found in the two.

Regarding the slightly excited young people, the self-media person "Xiaosheng Bibi" posted: "Young people watch short videos every day to watch young ladies dancing and muscular men posing, so why can't the elderly watch Jin Dong bite his lips? As long as they don't waste their pension, what's wrong with having some fun? Don't young people spend more than them?"

As some netizens commented: You may not understand, but you must respect.

2. Besides “@秀才” and “一笑倾城”, what else do parents like to watch?

Young people may think that accounts like “@秀才” and “一笑倾城” are too magical, but in fact, there are many such accounts on Douyin, which has 600 million daily active users.

Recently, the editorial department of Xinbang referred to the fan portraits of "@秀才" and "一笑倾城," and counted the accounts in which users over 40 years old account for more than 60% of Douyin, and sorted out the "Top 100 Middle-aged and Elderly Accounts with the Most Followers on Douyin" (hereinafter referred to as the "list"). It was found that there are at least 20 middle-aged and elderly accounts with more than 10 million fans, and the number of fans of all accounts in the "list" is more than 5 million.

(PS. Among the accounts that meet the screening criteria, there are some official accounts of major TV stations, such as "Thank You for Coming" and "Liaoning Radio and Television Station Liaoning Voice", which are not within the scope of discussion because they are not replicable for ordinary creators. In addition, there are a large number of film and television editing accounts, which are not within the scope of discussion because of their large number and copyright violations.)

So, what are parents watching? Based on the "list", the editorial department of Xinbang has sorted out 5 types of accounts.

First, positive energy jokes.

"Positive energy" is the key to understanding the content preferences of middle-aged and elderly people. In the "list", the core theme of 18 accounts including "Erdan's" and "Ni Kesong" is "positive energy".

"Erdan's" mainly shoots positive energy short dramas, and the topics include virtuous mothers and filial sons, health is a blessing, treating daughters-in-law well, elderly people having a place to rely on, family responsibilities, etc.

On April 28, Erdan's video was released, "Mother's Love is Selfless", telling the story of a mother who worked hard to send her daughter to college, but in the end she found that her daughter was unwilling to recognize her mother even in person in order to marry a good husband. Fortunately, her daughter's fiancé was sensible and made her realize her mistake, and the ending was a happy one.

As of press time, Erdan’s number of fans has reached 14.3 million.

Just as complaining about parents and original families is the traffic code that attracts young people, hoping that children will be filial and the family will be happy is also the expectation of middle-aged and elderly people.

In addition, accounts such as "Chocolate, Little Lemon" have also attracted a lot of fans by sharing "social truths" such as "Dogs look down on people, and dogs bully poor people", and emotional chicken soup such as "When a man drinks frequently, he is definitely not drinking alcohol, but heartache".

Young people will crazily like the post "Ladies, stay away from scumbags", and middle-aged and elderly people will also enthusiastically discuss these "positive energy" golden sentences.

Second, appearance and talent.

Videos about appearance and talent are the key to seeing the hearts of middle-aged and elderly people. In the list, 20 accounts including "一笑倾城," "@秀才," and "被加妹" mainly display their appearance and talent.

In terms of appearance, as mentioned in the above discussion of "@秀才" and "一笑倾城," the aesthetic tastes of middle-aged and elderly people are different from those of young people. The "抱抱917" and "孤单的人" on the list are internet celebrities with looks that are more suitable for the physique of old babies.

In terms of talent, it can be found from the accounts on the list that middle-aged and elderly people prefer folk talents and crosstalk sketches. For example, "Yang Ge" mainly imitates Xiao Shenyang, and "Mr. Bean" is a folk comedian whose performance style is similar to that of Northeast Errenzhuan.

Young people will look at handsome men and beautiful women and listen to pop songs, and middle-aged and elderly people also gain emotional comfort from "confidants" and the simple joy of enjoying performances from these accounts.

Third, sharing life.

Life-sharing videos are a mirror that helps us understand the elderly. In the list, the number of life-sharing accounts is the largest, with 31 accounts.

"En Shao" mainly shares the happy daily life of a mother and son. The background is funny, but the background is a rural area. "Master Liu • The most beautiful couple on the construction site" mainly shares the story of a couple who improved their lives through live streaming. The background is inspirational, but the background is a construction site.

In addition, middle-aged and elderly people also have their own Li Ziqi, such as "@小敏" with 15.12 million fans and "听听" with 8.37 million fans. Take "听听" as an example. They both create a clean and dreamy rural life. Li Ziqi and others talk about escaping from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and young people returning to their hometowns to find inner peace, but "听听" tells more stories between neighbors and the ups and downs encountered by people who stay in their hometowns.

It can be found that simplicity and rurality are the main labels of these accounts, which may also be related to the childhood memories of middle-aged and elderly people. Before China's large-scale urbanization, most of them lived in rural areas.

Of course, this does not mean that middle-aged and elderly people have no desire for a refined life. Among the life-sharing accounts, the core content of 10 accounts is to share various refined lives.

"Longmei" and "Xiamen Finland" are accounts opened by two tour guides. Their daily content is to introduce various travel stories at scenic spots such as the Presidential Palace in Nanjing and the Peace Hotel in Shanghai. With these contents, the two accounts have attracted 7.1 million and 6.25 million fans respectively.

The 2023 China Future Consumer Report: Generations calls Generation X (people born between 1965 and 1979) the "generation of material wealth accumulation." Middle-aged and elderly people may have more time and money to travel. A reference data is that last year, the number of users over 60 years old on Ctrip's platform reached tens of millions.

Source: "2023 China Future Consumer Report: Generation Edition"

Similarly, Zhou Lijun, president of Yiche Research Institute, once said that around 2026, the largest group of car buyers in China's auto market will be middle-aged (old) people in big cities, accounting for 40%. Recently, Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, also said that the main consumers in the auto market are still middle-aged and elderly people. "The wealth accumulated by middle-aged and elderly people is unprecedented and will never be surpassed."

Perhaps for this reason, the core fans of car bloggers such as "Jiufang Lili", "Mr. Ye's vlog", "Wo Shi Fanfan" and "Yu Ning Cici" are all users over 40 years old.

It is worth noting that in order to acquire middle-aged and elderly users faster, some operators choose to attract fans with positive energy short dramas first, and then change the content to promote cars, such as "Liu Yifei" with 5.58 million fans.

Comparison of the content before and after "Liu Yifei"

Fourth, valuable knowledge.

Middle-aged and elderly people also have a need for knowledge, and 13 accounts on the “list” are knowledge-rich accounts.

From "Hao Ge Teaches Cooking" which teaches cooking to "Dr. Wang of Cardiovascular Disease" which talks about medical science, from "A Red Star" which talks about modern history to "An Lan" which talks about Chinese studies, to "Pan Lu 💃 Says" which analyzes family legal disputes, the scope of attention of middle-aged and elderly people is very broad.

The difference is that the focus of middle-aged and elderly people is very different from that of young people. Taking food accounts as an example, young people like food bloggers who are good at making things happen and attract attention, such as "Mianyang Cuisine" and "Nanxiang Doesn't Like to Eat", but middle-aged and elderly people need simple and easy-to-operate home cooking tutorials.

Fifth, selling goods through e-commerce.

Middle-aged and elderly people not only have content needs, but also shopping needs. In the list, there are 13 typical e-commerce accounts.

According to the 2022 China Short Video Live E-commerce Development Insights released by QuestMobile, 36.3% of live streaming users on Douyin and Kuaishou are over 41 years old. Among them, users over 51 years old account for 18.9%, and nearly 30% of users have a monthly online spending power of over 2,000 yuan. The 2023 China Future Consumer Report: Generations also shows that there are currently about 330 million people in Generation X in China, and they account for 34% of the wealth with 23% of the population.

Source: "2023 China Future Consumer Report: Generation Edition"

The consumption power of middle-aged and elderly people should not be underestimated.

"Xiu En Women's Clothing" mainly sells original women's clothing, and the average customer order value is mostly between 100 and 300 yuan. According to Xin Dou data statistics, "Xiu En Women's Clothing" is estimated to have brought in goods worth between 50 million and 75 million yuan in the past 90 days.

"Anran Beauty - Dianti Brand Manager" mainly sells beauty and skin care products. According to Xin Dou data statistics, "Xiu En Women's Wear" is estimated to have brought in goods between 75 million and 100 million yuan in the past 30 days, among which the lotion with the highest sales volume is 3,899 yuan per customer.

Image source: New Dou

It should be emphasized that 85.07% of the fans of "Xiu En Women's Wear" are female, and 79.42% of the fans of "An Ran Beauty-Dian Di Brand Manager" are female. There are not many accounts with many male fans and high sales in the list. From the perspective of monetization, middle-aged and elderly women have greater potential.

The list also includes accounts that mainly promote low-priced daily necessities. Among them, "Ruqi Haowu" is estimated to bring in 5 million to 7.5 million yuan in sales in the past 90 days; "Qitong Haowu" is estimated to bring in 1 million to 2.5 million yuan in sales in the past 90 days.

It is worth noting that these accounts have a large number of works, with the highest number being 40,000, and the number of likes being extremely low, with the lowest being in the single digit. Sales rely on quantity to win. Combined with the historical data of Xindou, some accounts have also adjusted their operating content. Referring to "Liu Yifei", it may not be impossible to attract fans by relying on film and television clips, positive energy short plays and other content first, and then adjust the content to promote sales.

3. Conclusion

Overall, from the popularity of "@秀才" and "一笑倾城" to the existence of a large number of middle-aged and elderly accounts, it proves that middle-aged and elderly users have a strong demand for content consumption. The sales performance of accounts such as "袖恩女装" and "安然美妆-迪安蒂品牌主人" also verifies the good consumption potential of middle-aged and elderly users. Judging from the professional level of short video production and live streaming, the competition intensity of the middle-aged and elderly content track is not high, and there is still a lot of room for development.

As early as a few years ago, many institutions predicted that the middle-aged and elderly market would be a trillion-level consumer market. In recent years, middle-aged and elderly content platforms such as Tangdou and Meipian have also appeared on the market. As the aging trend in China becomes more and more obvious, there will inevitably be more and more middle-aged and elderly business cases.

Image source: Xiaomi App Store

Internet celebrities like “@秀才” and “一笑倾城” are just the beginning. As our understanding of middle-aged and elderly people deepens, there will inevitably be more content creators with better quality content and more scientific monetization.

Author: Yun Feiyang; Editor: Truffle; Proofreader: Xiaoba

Source: Newrank (ID: newrankcn)