"I don't necessarily believe in it, but I don't not believe in it either, and when I'm served a video that begins with a person saying "Stop scrolling! This week is important," I will stop scrolling and pay attention to find out how and why this week is important. Please tell me how the stars have foretold the argument I'll have with a family member this week. Yes, I will take a warm bath with herbs and essential oils to cleanse my system before eclipse season."
"Every January and February, I'm served a sprinkling of Chinese Zodiac astrology in the weeks leading up to Lunar New Year; this is because my algorithms all know I'm Korean. It's never as ubiquitous in my feed as Western astrology content, but there's reliably a steady trickle of videos explaining the energy of the new year. This year is completely different, though. The trickle is a flood, because it seems the whites have discovered Lunar New Year, big time."
Western astrological readings frequently populate social feeds and prompt viewers to pause, engage, and perform small rituals. Chinese Zodiac astrology appears annually before Lunar New Year, often as a modest, algorithm-driven stream because of user demographics. This year the volume of Lunar New Year content surged as influencers and non-Asian creators embraced and explained traditions, including references to the year of the fire horse and lifestyle rituals. The surge emphasizes performative adoption: outsider creators recommend bathing, timing hair washes, and exhort viewers to 'step into' energies, while comments reveal enthusiastic assimilation by many non-Asian users.
Read at Defector
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