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| Yu Menglong’s Sudden Passing Leaves Digital Questions Behind |
The late Chinese actor Alan Yu (Yu Menglong), who sadly passed away on 11 September after a fall from a building, continues to command the spotlight online.
Instead of fading away, his Weibo account has gained even more attention in the weeks following his death.
Between mid-September and the beginning of October, his follower count shot up by an impressive 1.71 million – rising from around 26 million to over 27.7 million by 2 October.
It’s a jump that has left many fans both touched and puzzled, with some saying it feels like a collective act of remembrance, while others wonder why the numbers keep climbing so sharply.
What has added another layer of concern is Weibo’s automatic system: Alan Yu’s account has been set to “visible for six months”.
This means that unless someone manages his profile, all his posts, photos, and memories will vanish half a year after his passing.
Fans have responded quickly, saving screenshots and backing up his posts as a way of holding on to him in the digital space.
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But things got stranger at the end of September when netizens noticed his Weibo account appearing “online” briefly on the 29th.
The status quickly disappeared, but screenshots spread across the internet.
Some speculated that someone else might be logging in to his profile, while others pointed to possible glitches.
The mystery deepened when fans recalled that just hours before his death, on 10 September around 9:30 pm, Alan Yu’s Super Topic page also showed him as “active”.
These details have kept discussions alive, fuelling speculation about who had access to his account during his final hours and whether the activity since is accidental or intentional.
For his fans, though, the numbers and the speculation only underline how deeply loved he was.
Even in his absence, people continue to follow, remember, and protect the digital traces he left behind.
The whole situation has also opened up a wider conversation in China about what happens to our social media accounts after death – and how fragile or permanent an online legacy really is.