The strange case of fans creating celebrities

John Lennon, formerly of the Beatles, was shot by a crazed fan on Dec 8, 1980, reflecting the ugliest side of the mostly intense, sometimes intractable, relationship between fans and their idols.

About 40 years later, the crazed love for their idol has prompted Chinese fans to defend a celebrity in a bizarre way. Provoked by the query of a fan of Cai Xukun, a young Chinese online celebrity, that Jay Chou, a veteran Chinese pop singer, doesn't enjoy huge online traffic and popularity, Chou's fans have massed together on Weibo, Chinese version of Twitter, to push him up to the top of a list that ranks celebrities according to their popularity on the platform and is often used by companies to measure the commercial appeal of stars.

What the battle between the young and old generations of Chinese fans reveals is much more than a brute contest of devotion to their respective idols. It also shows a certain number of people's suppressed indignation at the so-called "online traffic stars" who boast of huge influence online - but have few or no defining works to show - thanks to their diehard fans' concerted actions and propaganda.