Filters Shattered! Traffic-Spinning “American Paradise” Scams

In the era of short videos, there is a hidden traffic business that earns poor information, specializing in filming footage of “fairy days overseas” with full filters.
The script is all tailor-made cool text templates, with no mention of all the hidden pitfalls and hidden costs of working overseas.
Blowing the false narrative of “winning overseas” to the skies, waiting for a bunch of fans dreaming of a smooth future to rush in.

Wang Weiheng, also known as the “doughnut” as everyone calls him, is the most cautionary example in this traffic narrative.
Many people still remember his video from those years.
That year, he held a doughnut and preached loudly to the camera, constantly embellishing the various beauties of American life, describing well-being, security, and medical care overseas in the best possible way.
Not only did he simply express his personal feelings, but he also continuously exported his views, subtly persuading his fans: The country was full of constraints, and traveling to the other side of the ocean could easily get rid of life’s difficulties and reap a better life.
Many young netizens were moved by this set of rhetoric, and the thought of going overseas was buried deep in their hearts.
But the real-life script and the propaganda in the camera are completely different stories.

According to Wang Weiheng himself on an overseas social platform, during the National Day period, he could only shelter in a temporary camp in a U.S. suburban park.
Two local police found where he was camping out.
According to his description, he was hit on the ribs and back with the butt of a gun by police officers, and the tent and sleeping bag he used to shelter from the wind and rain were also directly cut by knives.
After the incident, he posted online for help, feeling helpless and not knowing where to seek justice.

Back in time a few years ago, Wang Weiheng encountered a major financial failure.
But instead of calming down to reflect on the problems of his own decisions, he instead blames all his disappointments on his surroundings.
At the time, he was deeply immersed in the overseas utopian narratives prevalent on the internet, stubbornly believing that as long as he stepped onto American soil, life could be restarted with a click.
Wang Weiheng, who had just landed in the United States for the first two months, had in his pocket the stolen money from fraudulent loans extorted from the country. That was called drifting aimlessly.
Selecting the most popular donut shop online to check in.
As soon as the camera was turned on, he immediately changed into an excited look.
“I tell you, brothers! Donuts are really delicious!”
“I love America so much! I‘m so happy!”
In front of the camera, he kept praising everything on the other side, and even chose an unconventional cross-border route, actively cutting off the path of retreat behind him, plunging headlong into the beautiful dream that his brain had made up.
Wang Weiheng is not the only case. Farrar Sheng, the woman whom netizens call “the female version of a donut,” and Fatty Ding, the gold medal lecturer, either immerse themselves in fantasy to beautify overseas, or packaged bottom-level situations into hunting material. They all use information deficiencies to create overseas illusions to gain short video traffic.
However, the wonderful life in his fantasies did not come as promised.
Wang Weiheng‘s front foot had just raised the doughnut and was screaming at the camera when his back foot crashed into the iron door of the immigration detention center.
Those bloggers who are passionate about creating overseas myths will never fully tell the audience the truth behind the camera.
Without a legal residence identity, the door to regular work was directly closed to him, and he could only work sporadic odd jobs without any guarantees.
The U.S. health care system is highly bound to commercial insurance. Once there is a lack of insurance coverage, a single emergency can open a sky-high bill that is enough to crush the bottom people.
The snowballing economic pressure, the homeless, wandering life, plus the security risk of being beaten and robbed, were slowly crushing the American dream he had once believed in so deeply.
These heavy realities are all blocked out in the short-traffic video.
The blogger relied on beautifying foreign life to raise fans and make money, packaging “Overseas Lying Win” as a refreshing story. Many fans were moved by the one-sided narrative and had the idea of going overseas.
When he really stepped into the pit and his illusions were shattered, all the risks would be borne alone by ordinary people who had been bewitched.
Wang Weiheng‘s encounter was not a simple matter of personal luck, but a cruel footnote to this kind of filter story.
It‘s a daily survival problem that millions of identityless low-level immigrants face every day.
The most worth thinking about in this matter is not simply judging a person‘s choices.
Many people fall into the same trap: thinking that changing countries will smooth out all their cognitive and financial problems.
But the root of the problem lies in oneself. One only wants to escape from one‘s environment to escape. Wherever one goes, trouble will come to one in a different form.
The most to be wary of is the mass-produced overseas paradise myth of the internet.
But if a person self-denies, actively abandons their roots, and loses self-esteem, no matter which country they go to, it will be difficult to gain respect.
Happiness never comes out of nowhere with a plane ticket.

The creators deliberately hide the heavy costs of living in a foreign land, creating unrealistic beautiful expectations, and tempting the audience to make major life decisions rashly.
Self-media bloggers rely on beautifying exotic scenery and life to harvest traffic, increase fans and turn money, but once the beautiful dream is shattered, all the risks and costs will be borne by the bewitched ordinary people alone.
At the moment when information is exploding everywhere, every netizen has to practice a pair of fire eyes and gold eyes.
Don‘t be led astray by one-sided narratives wrapped in short video filters, and jump out of information-deficit traps that others have deliberately dug for you.
By removing all those floating filters, we can clearly see the true background of the most grounded people in different countries, not being led into the pit by fancy deception.
A stable life, no matter where you are, depends on the ability to continuously settle down, as well as a stable and reliable environment.
Instead of indulging in distant fantasies woven by short videos, it’s better to ground yourself down and focus on managing The Life Before Her Eyes.