Scholars call for wanghong to be studied as a field in its own right

Two researchers argue that wanghong, China’s internet celebrities, deserve recognition as a field of inquiry with conceptual independence, rather than being treated as a peripheral topic within creator and influencer studies. In a comment article published in Creator and Influencer Studies in April 2026, Jian Xu and Crystal Abidin advocate for greater conceptual and vocabulary diversity in the emerging field.

The authors propose that wanghong offer a productive analytical lens for researchers. They contend that wanghong should not be understood solely as platform-bound actors. Instead, they argue, these figures must be situated within wider social, cultural, and political contexts.

Central to their argument is the examination of what they describe as the “relationality”, “articulations”, and “entanglements” of wanghong with other social domains, as well as the consequences of these connections. This framing, the authors suggest, moves analysis beyond the platforms on which wanghong produce content and toward the broader networks and institutions they interact with.

The article also points to a possible future direction for the field: conceptualising wanghong as method, though the authors specify this should occur under particular conditions. The comment is published as open access and appears in the first volume of the journal, which lists creator and influencer studies among its core concerns.

As a scholarly advocacy piece, the article sets out a position for how researchers might approach wanghong as a subject of study, rather than reporting new empirical findings. Its argument contributes to ongoing debates about how the study of internet fame, particularly in the Chinese context, should be organised conceptually within the broader and rapidly developing field of creator and influencer research.

Subject of Research: A scholarly argument for establishing wanghong as an independent field of research within creator and influencer studies.

Article Title: Wanghong as a field of research: a scholarly advocacy

Article References: Xu, J., & Abidin, C. (2026). Wanghong as a field of research: a scholarly advocacy. Creator and Influencer Studies, 1(1), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44538-026-00002-z

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s44538-026-00002-z

Keywords: wanghong, creator and influencer studies, internet celebrities, China, social media, platform studies, relationality, scholarly advocacy, comment article, open access, field, research