Exploring the Creation of Zibo’s Viral City Image
Abstract
Recently, the city of Zibo, known as an “internet-famous city,” has gained massive popularity on social media platforms, attracting a surge of tourists to visit and enjoy its food. Discussions about Zibo have dominated major social platforms, with data consistently ranking high as users spontaneously follow the trending topic, bringing undeniable economic benefits to the city. The development of “Zibo-style traffic” has exceeded expectations, with high levels of interest across platforms and an unusually long-lasting buzz—something rare in previous tourism promotions. Zibo has crafted a model for building a viral city image that aligns with its own growth. This model reflects the characteristics of current online communication trends and offers insights into the future direction of internet dissemination. It serves as an example for other regions to learn from when using internet communication to promote tourism and stimulate economic growth.
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