How a Minneapolis boy became a Chinese internet superstar

Gavin is:
• funny 😀
• eight years old 😎
• living in Minneapolis 😉🇺🇸
• a viral sensation in China 😍🇨🇳

[tap to expand] https://t.co/UfN1Yqyh1I pic.twitter.com/biqFDtl2XZ

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 2, 2019

There’s nothing but irony in the BBC’s video about a Minneapolis kid who has become a sensation in China because people there don’t like to say what they really think.

Gavin Thomas joined the Chinese social media network, Weibo, last year and now his various expressions are used in memes across the country.

The kid goes to China now and he’s a star.

This, a gecko on his forehead, is the moment when his internet fame took off.

His images are spread by WeChat, according to CNN. He’s known as the “fake smile” boy because of his “forced, but polite” smile, which CNN described as a “social lubricant.”

(h/t: Sam Benshoof, Paul Tosto)