Have you seen her? "iPhone Girl", the now infamous Chinese iPhone factory worker is being hunted down by China's "human flesh search engine", a virtual mob in hot pursuit of FoxConn's unofficial micro-celebrity. iPhone Girl burst onto the scene when an iPhone owner in Britain posted photos on the MacRumors website with claims he discovered her picture accidentally left on the home screen of his new iPhone 3G direct from the FoxConn factory.
Within hours after her photo hit MacRumors "iPhone Girl" became an internet sensation. Setting in motion a frenzy of media interest that has been rapidly building into a pop culture Tsunami of sorts. Chinese internet users are now determined to reveal the young girl's identity in order to gain her story first hand. Throngs of obsessed followers are desperate to hear from their "Little China doll" turned internet icon.
"The term "human flesh search engine" refers to this type of mob reaction by China's so-called netizens (internet citizens) pooling their collective resources in order to track someone down." reported by The Sydney Morning Herald.
The found photos, clearly show a young woman smiling, neatly draped in a pink striped factory uniform, complete with matching pink cap and white rubber gloves. She flashes the camera a peace sign as she leans over what appears to be an iPhone assembly line. The supposed 'test photos' were to be removed before the phone was boxed and shipped.
The Herald is also reporting that over 20 million searches for the term "iPhone girl" have been recorded on Google's Chinese search site, google.cn. The domain iphonegirl.net and iphonegirl.cn have been snatched up by web meisters looking for a way to cash in on the micro-celebrity of iPhone Girl.
Some commenter's posted concerns early on that the young woman would be fired after FoxConn officials realized her photo had become an international iPhone affair. That's not the case according to a FoxConn spokesman. FoxConn is Apple's company of choice in China used to assemble its iPods and iPhones. FoxConn's main factories are based in the Bao'an district of Shenzhen, the booming city next door to Hong Kong.
"Small mistakes are unavoidable," FoxConn spokesman Liu Kun said. "I would call this a beautiful mistake."
Is iPhone Girl destined to become China's working class hero? Is she an iconic vision of hope and courage for young Chinese women everywhere? Maybe not. But it may be a good idea to buy the tee shirt anyhow. Everybody loves a good, relevant tee shirt.
[via The Sydney Morning Herald]
She's a Chinese pixie spreading international warmth with her bright smile and playful ways. I like the idea that it was spontaneous. The guy that got that particular iPhone was really lucky. I can only hope that the young lady is not harmed in any way by the mobs that are trying to track her down.
I guess the idea of an "iPhone Girl of the Month" is out of the question. I'll bet some of those Chinese factory girls from the rural districts sure look kinda sweet.
Posted by: Constable Odo | August 28, 2008 at 08:09 AM
she looks nice and pretty young girl, now i knew that iphone were being produced with a smile... i wish that my iphone now was made and done with her touch....
Posted by: milung | August 28, 2008 at 09:06 PM
she's cute ha? i like her smile. may this time media and scouting ads looking her.....
Posted by: larry | August 28, 2008 at 11:57 PM
iPhone Girl is clever Chinese Government propaganda.
Happy Chinese factory worker. Good working conditions. Healthy morale.
Posted by: Flatulous | August 30, 2008 at 09:25 AM
Yes! Exactly. Propaganda to show the factory in good conditions. With a pretty little worker.
Posted by: Dyson | November 06, 2008 at 06:08 AM
Can't you tell when someone is happy, they are happy, you can't fake this shyt, you azzholes
Posted by: jeff | July 04, 2009 at 04:08 PM