From the People's Daily app.

And this is Story in the Story.

Being given exaggerated compliments online is fast becoming a trend, especially among young people, but critics say it’s not necessarily a good thing. 

Kuakua groups are the latest social media craze among young Chinese. Users, mostly college students and new entrants to the workplace, reject external critiques or self-criticism and generously fire compliments at each other. 

Kua means to praise. 

However, critics say young people who chase exaggerated compliments don't deserve them because they are shallow and vain, and the groups cannot help to deal with problems. 

Moreover, some people have complained that the compliments on kuakua groups are cut-and-paste cliches that lack creativity. 

There is even heated debate between Peking and Tsinghua universities, China's most-prominent schools, about whether kuakua or penpen groups - pen means to scold - are good for young people. 

Today's Story in the Story looks at the phenomenon of kuakua groups and whether they have a long-term future.

(Photo: Agencies) 

Just about anything can be praised. Simply capitalizing the first letter of a sentence in English will prompt exaggerated claims of literary talent and grammatical brilliance, while irregular punctuation may win over-the-top compliments. For example, three exclamation marks are apparently enough to indicate that someone is "deeply passionate". 

"I don't know how to revise my paper. Give me praise, please!" Hu Meng wrote on a kuakua group for members of his college on WeChat. As a second-year graduate student at Nanjing University in Jiangsu province, Hu is working on two papers, including his graduation thesis. 

His post quickly attracted a reply: "This is awesome! It means your paper is so perfect that nothing needs to be changed. Well done!" In a short space of time, he received many similar compliments. 

The notice board for one online kuakua group is typical. It discourages sarcasm or bickering, saying, "Only praise is allowed here." 

Jia Zhe, who set up a kuakua group for his alma mater, Central China Normal University in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, said the most active members usually excel at culture and literature, and prove it by citing the classics and using rhetorical flourishes such as metaphor and traditional rhyming lists. 

"Being able to offer praise creatively is actually a kind of skill," Jia said, adding that kuakua groups are most popular among students at high-ranking colleges because they provide a platform for members to display their linguistic talent. 

Some observers play down criticism of the groups, saying they are harmless and can be helpful. 

Gao Wenbin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Psychology, said there is no need to excessively criticize kuakua groups because "by nature, humans are prone to seeking compliments."

(Photo: Agencies)

Deng Jianguo, an associate professor at Fudan School of Journalism in Shanghai, believes tradition may have played a role in the groups' emergence. 

Traditionally, Chinese are reluctant to praise others, while a belief in success and progress leads parents and teachers to set very high standards for children, and they are concerned that complacency may lead to setbacks. 

"It's hard to receive compliments in the real world, even for good work," Deng said. 

Sun Jiashan, a researcher at the Chinese National Academy of Arts, said college graduates born after 1985 are under great pressure because the slowing economy is making it increasingly difficult for them to find suitable jobs. 

"As a kind of subcultural platform popular among the young, the kuakua phenomenon can be seen as an outlet to vent their anxieties and frustration," he said. 

For his part, Gao believes the fascination with exaggerated compliments is more about having fun or venting emotion than seeking concrete suggestions and help. 

It seems that both points of view are valid. 

Curiously, for the most part, support is offered by group members who have never met, which is contrary to the popular belief that people require encouragement and praise from family, friends and acquaintances. 

With the exception of certain topics, the members express their feelings freely in the virtual world rather than sharing them with even their closest friends. 

Kuakua groups are widely believed to have originated on Douban, an online platform that features some online communities in which people share their sorrows and pain and receive consolation. 

Despite their evident warmth, Gao believes kuakua groups will be a short-lived phenomenon because family and friends are irreplaceable. 

Moreover, praise can already be purchased from e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, which provide outsiders with access to kuakua groups at prices ranging from 1 yuan (14 cents) to hundreds of yuan. 

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Brian Lowe, Lance Crayon, and Chelle Wenqian Zeng. Music by: bensound.com. Text from China Daily.)