A Chinese woman’s true identity was exposed after a live-streaming glitch revealed that she was in her 50s rather than the young woman she portrayed online.
Qiaobiluo Dianxia has a following of 130,000 on Chinese live streaming platform DouYou. Fans were misled on her appearance since they could donate to streamers without seeing their faces, The Paper via AsiaOne reported on Tuesday, July 30.
Qiaobiluo would choose either to show herself only from the neck down—with the camera angled to her chest—or with an anime image over her face. She would also post pictures that showed a slim, fair-skinned woman, leading fans to assume that this was her true appearance.
By keeping her identity a mystery, the video gamer stoked her followers’ curiosity. She offered to meet them for 100,000 yuan (around P740,000) and said she would show her face if she had 100,000 followers.
However, a glitch on a July 25 live stream would out her, surprising her fans and even herself. She was chatting with another streamer when suddenly she no longer had an image covering her face.
For some minutes, Qiaobiluo was oblivious as her fellow streamer was unsure how to tell her about the situation. When she realized that she had been exposed, she admitted that she is 58 years old and has one child.
Qiaobiluo was bashed for her deception or “catfishing,” a term used to describe making a fake online identity to deceive victims. Meanwhile, others mocked the followers who threw money at her without knowing her true identity.
Although the glitch has cost her some dissatisfied followers, her following has now jumped to over 400,000. She has been commended for her charming, youthful voice and is now fondly called “Granny.” Niña V. Guno /ra
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