Public Trust and Online Transparency

Over the course of just two weeks, Guo Meimei was transformed from an entertainer on the fringe of the public consciousness to the focus of domestic and international media. With her skyrocketing fame, Guo Meimei has become the recipient of widespread criticism, even leading to a legal investigation into the financial situation surrounding her online-spawned scandal. The innocents in the Guo Meimei scandal, be they Chinese officials or employees of the Chinese Red Cross (the charitable organization whose financial misappropriation supposedly has made Guo Meimei rich), are at this moment gnashing their teeth in indignant fury at this 20-year-old girl and the storm that her escapades have stirred up. But there is more to the story than rubbernecking and rumor.

(A Photograph from the blog of 'Baby Guo Meimei')

China's netizens are watching intently as the drama unfolds, even making statements like, "Until the questions surrounding Guo Meimei are answered clearly, I won't even be able to make myself go to work." Guo Meimei, during her brief blip in the public eye, has flaunted her self-satisfied nouveau riche lifestyle and subsequently been the recipient of such an acute public backlash that one wonders whether or not she is now repenting the opulent lifestyle that she so happily laid bare on the internet mere days ago.