Improve online content to safeguard seniors

Short video-sharing app Douyin suspended an account called Xiucai, a term used to describe educated youth in ancient China, which had over 10 million followers, on Saturday for "violating self-regulating rules". While tens of thousands of accounts get suspended every year, this one attracted widespread attention because of the unique nature of its followers, mostly middle-aged women.

Reports say over 70 percent of Xiucai's followers were women, and 79.8 percent were women aged above 40. His actions in the video clips he posted, although disliked by a majority of young people judging by the comments they left behind, seemed to appeal to the middle-aged women, so much so that his channel was often flooded with red hearts, signaling love. It has also been reported that a 72-year-old woman travelled more than 1,700 kilometers to his hometown looking for him.

Whether one believes it or not, Xiucai had caught the fancy of many middle-aged and senior women who, according to an earlier report, are no less addicted to video clips, spending more than 10 hours a day on such apps on their smartphones.

In today's modern world where everyone keeps a distance from one another, senior citizens are as lonely as the young.

There is no information yet on what wrong Xiucai had committed or which rule he broke, but reports show many accounts trying to lure senior citizens with content that needs regulation. There were even cases of frauds being committed in which the victims are often senior citizens.

However, suspending such accounts will only temporarily solve the problem. Xiucai's case reminds us how society must care more for the spiritual needs of senior people, who might not be able to enjoy life as conveniently as young people do. Only by enriching the content available online for entire society, senior citizens included, will the problem be solved.