"Enough! Enough news impact!" Huang He said to himself as the second day concluded. Unfortunately, things didn't end on the third day; the trend seemed to be intensifying.
Because even the proud CCTV reported on this news on the third day, reminding everyone that online friendships have risks and require caution, warning against being defrauded of money and sex.
On this day, major newspapers across the country also began to follow suit. Although Long Xue had organized over 30 newspapers nationwide to report on it, when almost all newspapers in the country, over 400 in total, reported on this news, Huang He felt numb. Even Long Xue, a seasoned media professional, exclaimed in disbelief.
Because newspapers rely on text, they could write more content. And newspapers generally disliked the internet, especially nascent online media. Thus, they began to unreservedly attack the behavior of online dating, claiming that online dating meant men seeking men, and handsome men seeking ugly men.
Some media outlets also delved deeper, discovering that the QQ software used by these two individuals was how they met, utilizing QQ's "Flying Pigeon Sending" function.
The most absurd was Shandong Television. They went undercover to an internet café, secretly filmed users who were chatting, and then obtained their profile information. They discovered that 60% of these male users had filled in their gender as female.
As a result, Shandong Satellite TV aired a news report titled "60% of Female Netizens Online Are Actually Male? The Online World Needs Discernment, Beware of Deception," which once again ignited a new frenzy, garnering significant attention and creating a heated discussion in the media.
Although many discerning individuals realized that the editor's math skills were definitely taught by a语文 teacher, the audience simply loved watching such news. Especially parents who abhorred their children going online, they would tell their children that their female net friends were definitely male.
Following suit, many media outlets began investigating the actual gender of netizens, arriving at one shocking conclusion after another, as if there were no women online at all, only pure men.
In an era where most people did not understand the internet and everyone naively believed that female characters meant female players, the impact of this news was devastating. It was said that many male users became disheartened and stopped online chatting, focusing instead on playing games.
In just five days, online social networking was slandered in various media outlets to be worse than dog droppings on the side of the road. Everyone could curse online social networking and spit.
For a time, online social networking became the most vehemently criticized topic in all of society.
"This indicates that the public's attention to the internet is very high, and there is a lot of suspicion towards the invisible, intangible friends on the other side of the internet, which is why it has such a significant social impact!" Long Xue analyzed from a professional perspective, facing the rampant situation that even the instigator, Huang He, could no longer control.
"Chairman, I suggest we temporarily halt our next course of action. After all, the current public opinion is at a sensitive point, and it's best for us not to act during this period!" Long Xue suggested.
"No!" Huang He shook his head. "We're already on the verge of launching; we have to go through with it. Moreover, this public opinion storm not only harms Tengda but also poses a fatal danger to us. However, the greater the risk, the greater the opportunity. This is precisely the time for us to break through our difficulties!"
In fact, Tengda was the first to feel the impact.
After the previous incident with oo, they were severely disciplined by Brother Ma. Now, QQ's marketing department absolutely dared not underestimate any domestic ripple. The day after the news broke, relevant information was immediately placed on Brother Ma's desk. Brother Ma even went home to watch television for the first time in a while because of it.
However, even Brother Ma himself did not expect this public opinion storm to come so quickly. Suddenly, it seemed like the whole world was discussing online chatting, and as the medium for two men chatting, QQ naturally became the target. Countless media outlets began to fiercely criticize QQ.
Well, QQ was not yet the "father" of most domestic media at this time. The mainstream media across the country held negative views of the internet and spared no effort in criticizing it. As a result, QQ was badly cursed. At its worst, Tengda and QQ were criticized by over five hundred media outlets nationwide in a single day. Many people also called Tengda's customer service to curse, making the customer service ladies cry.
Everyone at Tengda was extremely anxious. Brother Ma hadn't slept more than three hours in three days, constantly researching how to resolve this public relations crisis. They hadn't been this stressed even when dealing with the threat of oo.
Unfortunately, all of Tengda's efforts were in vain. Tengda issued two statements consecutively, but they either fell on deaf ears or resulted in more severe criticism.
Tengda wanted to pay to resolve the issue, but seeing the vast number of media outlets nationwide, they despaired and gave up.
After all, at this time, Tengda only knew how to play tricks online. Facing the mainstream media in reality, Tengda, which had only been established for just over two years, had no experience.
If this were Tengda in 2021, they would only need to issue a statement of less than 200 words stating that everything was unrelated to them, and then the entire Tengda would not need to do anything extra. They would just wait for time, the heat to die down, and everything would naturally pass.
In fact, facing such a situation, lying flat and remaining silent is the best response. Only a fool would bother to clarify themselves, as netizens' memory only lasts three days – this is a recognized truth among all future online public relations professionals.
Fortunately, after issuing two useless announcements that only attracted more scolding, Tengda finally understood the truth that time is the best public relations. They decided to completely lie flat and do nothing, allowing others to curse until everything calmed down.
Of course, the cursing still had to be done.
"Could this be oo's doing?" Li Dan, the head of the public relations department, had an even more tragic experience, having not slept more than 2 hours for four days. With dark circles under his eyes, he cursed all possible masterminds.
"It's impossible for it to be them. They wouldn't do such a thing!" Brother Ma said from the side, shaking his head. "The media is mainly targeting online social networking. oo is also affected. They wouldn't be foolish enough to destroy the entire industry! It would bring them no benefit." xxs
"That's true. Such a large scale would cost at least tens of millions, how could they have so much money!" Li Dan also nodded, then dismissed the idea of a mastermind.
This absolutely could not have been done by the oo group; they wouldn't have the ability.
"Boss, bad news! The Focus Interview program group called. They want to interview you!" Just as one crisis subsided, Brother Ma received news that almost made him faint.