Jackie Chan is seen in a photobooth promoting a special screening of 'Chinese Zodiac'. (Photo : Getty Images/Stuart C. Wilson)
Is Chinese actor Jackie Chan slowly losing his appeal to fans or are death rumors killing his career?
A month after he was listed by China Philanthropist magazine as the second most charitable Chinese celebrity, the actor landed second place again on a new study of the most popular Hong Kong stars in social media.
The South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday of the release of the study conducted by Alive Not Dead, an online artist community, and Lamplight Analytics, a social media data analyst. G.E.M., a pop star, edged Chan. After the action star came actor Donnie Yen, singer-actor Shawn Yue and singer Denise Ho.
The basis of the rankings were how effective the artists were on Facebook and Instagram, the most popular social media platforms in Hong Kong. It also considered how frequently they were mentioned online and the extent they engaged followers through shares and comments.
Between engagement and mentions, Lamplight CEO Sam Olsen said that engagement is the better measure of popularity. He explained, “For the stars, engaged fans are passionate fans – they are the ones that attend your concerts, buy your music and watch your movies.”
G.E.M. got a score of 100, Chan 63, Yen 61, Yue 60 and Ho 59. The popularity of G.E.M. is likely because she goes beyond mainstream music. According to China Christian Daily, she recently joined a charity as a music teacher volunteer in the Xiang River Village of Hengyang, Hunan Province. It was her first public service activity in the mainland.
The Christian singer designed music courses for the kids, taught them how to perform vocal exercise and sing, and crafted a vocal method that mixed singing and playing with guitar. But she did not just taught music, she also picked vegetables, chopped wood and played games with the children.
Chan is playing too with the kids, but not physically. Rather, he is a character in video games such as the Jackie Chan Stuntmaster 100% Part 2 – China Town Level 2.
