One of the hottest videos on Bilibili in the past two weeks is a quasi-serious guide on how to survive as a homeless person, viewed over six million times and briefly ranked No. 2 on the site. Viewers jokingly called it "Youth Study," mimicking the Communist Youth League’s political education program. The Chinese Communist Party has long promoted "positive energy" online, but pessimism is now persistent and pervasive across platforms like Red Note, Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.

Users share dark humor about meager wages, scarce jobs, falling property values, and fear for the future, sometimes hijacking official propaganda for mockery. China’s official youth unemployment rate reached 17.9 percent in July, with over 200 million people in "flexible employment," a vast gig economy. A Red Note hashtag urging tight money control has been viewed nearly 120 million times.

Posts criticizing life choices like buying homes or marrying early gain traction, with one noting those born in the 1980s who followed prescribed paths are "likely the biggest losers." Criticism occasionally extends to Xi Jinping and party rule, as seen in a Douyin comment section where users veiled references to "he" being "in a league of his own." Li Ying, known online as "Teacher Li," runs an uncensored X account monitoring Chinese social media and noted an "exponential" increase in pessimistic and subversive content, saying mocking Xi Jinping comments now "barely even register" due to their frequency.