Why is Zhang Jike so popular?

Although Zhang Jike's boast of "the more he looks, the better he looks" is just a joke, it is undeniable that with the rediscovery of past video and text materials, a growing army of fans has It proves that Zhang Jike is indeed "better looking the more you look at him" - as a multi-faceted being, appearance is only the first aspect that everyone sees.

Netizen Opinion: Get rid of passive weakness

Two months have passed since the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. During this period, Zhang Jike’s name still stands tenaciously in the eyes of netizens and continues to appear. Go on hot searches and become a hot topic.

Nowadays, netizens are no longer focused on his achievements like they were too, but are appreciating his fierceness on the field, and even the moment when he cursed, calling him "a little Tibetan mastiff every day." ".

Netizens used words so blatantly to praise Zhang Jike for swearing. This would have been unthinkable in the past two years. It is very likely that the media would label him as inappropriate as Zhang Jike.

On the surface, a large number of female fans are so impressed by "masculinity" that they ignore the quality of athletes; in fact, this has nothing to do with biological sex, but is determined by individual power and social status.

In terms of the expression and checks and balances of discourse power, there have always been two systems: "official" and "private". The development and growth of new media technology has made it possible for the originally weak civil discourse power to compete with mainstream media.

The research of Harry Mastin and Maricek shows that advantaged groups emphasize rules, principles, control and rationality, while disadvantaged groups emphasize relationships and sympathy. If the mainstream media is scrutinizing, then netizens are curious. Zhang Jike's seemingly unruly and unruly qualities are far more interesting to them than his achievements.

Convergence Psychology: Obtaining Vicarious Satisfaction

At this Rio Olympics, Zhang Jike had a fierce battle with South Korean player Jung Young-sik. In the first half, the two people's head-to-head backhand ability made people excited. Very impressed. After the game, Zhang Jike's classic backhand twisting play aroused imitation among netizens, and fans looked forward to practicing the same explosive punch. Imitation of the people you like is the most direct manifestation of the "goal identification" psychology.

Looking at the fundamental psychology of fans, it is not that they like to imitate that leads to similarity, but that their persistent pursuit of the person they love, appreciate and admire, that is, the object of psychological identification, itself comes from the irresistible "Convergence psychology": People will have a preference for objects that have the same or similar characteristics as themselves.

In 2003, he emerged as a youngster and entered the Shandong Provincial Team at the age of 12 and the national team at the age of 15, winning the Asian Youth Championship team championship. In 2004, he was "demoted" from the national team to the provincial team for two years for violating discipline.

In 2006, he returned to the national team and served as a sparring partner for Wang Hao and Ma Lin.

In the 2008 National Championships, he defeated three Olympic champions: Ma Lin, Wang Liqin and Wang Hao. In 2009, he was in a sluggish state. He refused the coach's timeout instruction on the court and was severely reprimanded by Liu Guoliang in front of the entire team and the media. He lost the opportunity to participate in the two West Asian Opens and failed to qualify for the Yokohama World Table Tennis Championships singles.

In 2011, he made his first singles appearance at the World Table Tennis Championships in Rotterdam, defeating Wang Hao and winning his first world championship. In 2012, he defeated Wang Hao at the London Olympics and set the fastest personal record for winning a Grand Slam, becoming the third person in the history of men's table tennis to win a Grand Slam.

In 2013, at the Qatar Open, he strained his waist muscles and announced his retirement; at the Table Tennis National Games, he strained his right shoulder and missed the Grand Slam. In 2014, he defeated Malone in the World Cup and was only one Olympic gold medal away from the second Grand Slam. 2016? Lost to Ma Long in the men's singles competition at the Rio Olympics and finished second.

People are eager for success and want to get ahead, but they can easily fall into the comfort mode of not making progress. Unlike ordinary people who have limited abilities in all aspects, Zhang Jike has reached the "success" standard that everyone agrees is difficult to achieve. Through Zhang Jike, people's desires for social achievement and status can be vicariously satisfied.

Robert S. Woodworth, who proposed the concept of drive in 1918, said that although organisms have innate mechanisms to engage in some activities, these mechanisms will not function until stimulated by a driving force. is enabled. The lack of driving force is exactly what leads to the embarrassing situation of table tennis in China.

When shaping strong people, people often break away from the scope of human nature and give them a mythical color. The Chinese table tennis team is regarded as an invincible team, but every success has further marginalized table tennis in China. When victory becomes the norm, the audience loses interest.

When netizens pay attention to Zhang Jike, they can find that just like they are overwhelmed by trivial things in life, Zhang Jike often falls into disadvantageous situations. Within the team, individual success is full of variables. Driven by the unknown and challenging nature of the game, viewing interest will naturally increase simultaneously.

Zhang Jike, who is "getting better and better looking", is also facing many doubts: Even as the main labor force of the third table tennis business, he cannot avoid many activities that are unhelpful to athletes, excessive entertainment and It is consumerist in nature, and netizens’ attention to athletes also seems to penetrate into their private lives. When Zhang Jike has gained a certain amount of influence capital through intensive exposure, will table tennis become a popular interest again?

In fact, the search popularity for table tennis on the Internet returned to almost stagnant water after the Rio Olympics.

Not only that, the 2016 Table Tennis Super League, which just opened on October 15, still has no one interested in the overall title. In comparison, the Chinese football market, which has always been notorious, is booming: the Chinese Super League in 2016 has a rough calculation of at least 500 million in sponsorship fees and 1 billion in copyright fees.

The reason behind the sponsorship and "streaking" of the Table Tennis Super League is the fact that the table tennis world cannot quickly produce more "Zhang Jike" on a large scale. The only one who is "getting better and better looking" is Zhang Jike.