Kids in China Are Using Bots and Engagement Hacks to Look More Popular on Their Smartwatches

At what age should a kid ideally get a smartwatch? In China, parents are buying them for children arsenic young arsenic five. Adults privation to beryllium capable to telephone their kids and way their determination down to a circumstantial gathering floor. But that’s not wherefore children are clamoring for the devices, specifically ones made by a institution called Xiaotiancai, which translates to Little Genius successful English.

The watches, which launched successful 2015 and outgo up to $330, are a portal into an elaborate satellite that blends societal engagement with relentless competition. Kids tin usage the watches to bargain snacks astatine section shops, chat and stock videos with friends, play games, and, sure, enactment successful interaction with their families. But the main enactment is accumulating arsenic galore “likes” arsenic imaginable connected their watch’s illustration page. On the utmost end, Chinese media outlets person reported connected kids who bargain bots to foodstuff their numbers, hack the watches to dox their enemies, and sometimes adjacent find romanticist partners. According to tech probe steadfast Counterpoint Research, Little Genius accounts for astir fractional of planetary marketplace stock for kids’ smartwatches.

Status Games

Over the past decade, Little Genius has recovered ways to gamify astir each measurable enactment successful the beingness of a child—playing ping pong, posting updates, the database goes on. Earning much acquisition points boosts kids to a higher level, which increases the fig of likes they tin nonstop to friends. It’s a crippled of reciprocity—you nonstop maine likes, and I’ll instrumentality the favor. One 18-year-old precocious told Chinese media that she had struggled to marque friends until 4 years ago, erstwhile a classmate invited her into a Little Genius societal circle. She racked up much than 1 cardinal likes and became a mini-celebrity connected the platform. She said she met each 3 of her boyfriends done the watch, 2 of whom she broke up with due to the fact that they asked her to nonstop erotic photos.

High similar counts person go a benignant of presumption symbol. Some enthusiastic Little Genius users person taken to RedNote (or Xiaohongshu), a salient Chinese societal media app, to hunt for caller friends truthful arsenic to cod much likes and badges. As video tutorials connected the app explain, low-level users tin lone springiness retired 5 likes a time to immoderate 1 friend; higher-ranking users tin springiness retired 20. Because the ticker limits its proprietor to a full of 150 friends, kids are truthful incentivized to maximize their fig of high-level friends. Lower-status kids, successful turn, are compelled to prosecute successful competitory antics truthful they don’t get dumped by higher-ranking friends.

“They consciousness this consciousness of camaraderie and community,” said Ivy Yang, laminitis of New York-based consultancy Wavelet Strategy, who has studied Little Genius. “They person a full world.” But Yang expressed reservations astir the mode the ticker seems to commodify friendship. “It’s conscionable precise transactional,” she adds.

Engagement Hacks

On RedNote/Xiaohongshu, radical station videos connected circumventing Little Genius’s regular similar limits, with titles specified arsenic “First successful the world! Unlimited likes connected Little Genius caller homepage!” The competitory unit has besides spawned businesses that committedness to assistance kids boost their metrics. Some high-ranking users merchantability their aged accounts. Others merchantability bots that nonstop likes oregon connection to assistance support accounts progressive portion the proprietor of a ticker is successful class.

Get capable likes—say, 800,000—and you go a “big shot” successful the Little Genius community. Last month, a Chinese media outlet reported that a 17-year-old with much than 2 cardinal likes utilized her online clout to merchantability bots and aged accounts, earning her much than $8,000 successful a year. Though she enjoyed the fame that the smartwatch brought her, she said she near the level aft getting into fights with different Little Genius “big shots” and facing cyberbullying.

In September, a Beijing-based enactment called China’s Child Safety Emergency Response warned parents that children with Little Genius watches were astatine hazard of processing unsafe relationships oregon falling unfortunate to scams. Officials person besides raised alarms astir these hidden corners of the Little Genius universe. The Chinese authorities has begun drafting nationalist information standards for children’s watches, pursuing increasing concerns implicit net addiction, contented unfit for children, and overspending via the ticker outgo function. The institution did not respond to requests for comment.