We see the rural as backward

When we think of tech, we often think of cities. When we think of the countryside,  it's a place that's lacking tech and digital media literacy.

• Yet there are places like the pearl-producing towns of Zhejiang and places in rural Indiana, where online pearl parties flourish.
• Rural families manufacture for online lifestyle brands in the US.
• Influencers in rural China make live stream videos of themselves eating chilli peppers, picking tea or hunting bamboo rats.
• There are pockets of e-commerce that are sourced from rural manufacturers in China, made by families.