I saw netizens circulating this yesterday: the influencer “I’m Serious” (超認真少年) publicized private conversations with a school regarding a lecture invitation. He claimed it was a “PR crisis” he had to resolve himself, but in reality, he turned it into a public shaming session.
Wait, if you hadn’t publicized the conversation, who would have known? How did it suddenly become a “PR crisis”?
Even if the teacher mentioned using the exchange as a teaching example to show students how to communicate politely, it doesn’t mean they would have used the influencer’s real name. If he didn’t want his name associated with it, he could have just told the teacher directly.
Couldn’t he?
Personally, I don’t think the influencer’s actions were commendable in this situation. What was originally a private dialogue was unnecessarily escalated to a public online trial. If he was truly dissatisfied with the teacher’s remarks, why didn’t he communicate that directly within the conversation?
It feels like the influencer rejected dialogue from the start, adopted a confrontational stance, and went online to air his grievances.
After the incident fermented among netizens, the school’s administration predictably folded and issued a soft apology. Even the teacher expressed surprise afterward, stating their original intention wasn’t to “scold” the influencer.
Looking at the leaked messages, it seems the teacher simply didn’t know how to talk to the “new generation.” I’m sure many bosses and managers today can relate to that feeling 😂.
However, a teacher’s calling is to educate when something seems incorrect, even if the person isn’t their student. This is a matter of mindset. What we should really discuss is whether the teacher’s points were valid and if there was something to be learned from them.
In my view, the teacher didn’t commit a massive error. Who defined that communication apps can be casual, while only emails need to be formal? If we wanted to be truly formal, shouldn’t a registered official document have been sent for the influencer to decide whether to accept?
The teacher’s discourse was formal from the beginning, and the influencer was responding via an account with a high public profile. When the teacher felt their formal request was dismissed with just a few words, they naturally felt a need to “educate,” likely with the hope that the other party could improve.
This incident reveals that the influencer’s PR style caters perfectly to his target audience. It feels like those viewers will never miss an opportunity to attack any “authority” that once restricted them. As a result, critical thinking is tossed aside; no one examines the content of the teacher’s argument. It simply devolves into a critique of the “teacher” or “school” status.
When the influencer claims he is being “emotionally blackmailed” and declares he will never give a lecture at that school as long as he is active, isn’t that a form of emotional blackmail itself? It’s no wonder modern netizens love using “magic to defeat magic” rather than seeking to solve actual problems.
This reminds me of how, every so often, student clubs send abrupt emails to our company’s inbox. Using the “casual tone” that the influencer thinks is appropriate for messaging apps, they immediately demand sponsorships, leaving everyone here quite puzzled.
I actually wish that teacher from Heping High School would go and educate those university students on how to make requests properly when navigating the professional world.