[ CHINESE INTERNET CULTURE ][ ATTENTION ECONOMY ]
Low-effort video or audio content — a familiar show rewatched for the tenth time, a casual livestream, background chatter — consumed passively while eating a meal alone, functioning as a kind of digital side dish rather than something actively watched.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
"吃饭的时候随便找了个老剧当电子榨菜。"
LORE & ORIGIN
Chinese internet term literally meaning "electronic pickled vegetables," comparing undemanding background content to zhacai (a common, cheap pickled-vegetable side dish eaten alongside a simple meal) — content that exists purely to make solitary eating feel less empty, not to be genuinely engaged with.
FIRST SEEN
2020
PEAK POPULARITY
2026 (Chinese Internet Canon)
CURRENT STATUS
Mainstream Slang
Related To:
EQUIVALENT CONCEPTS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
AURA IMPACT ⓘ
+1 AURA
TREND STATUS
↑ HIGH RISING FAST · MODERATE
CULTURE CATEGORY
[ CHINESE INTERNET CULTURE ][ ATTENTION ECONOMY ]
RELATED TERMS
MENTIONS OVER TIME
2023202420252026
RELATED SEARCHES
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TOP PLATFORMS
TikTok
52%
YouTube
20%
Twitter / X
14%
Reddit
9%
Others
5%
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