Written by Olie Ma
KISS KISS speaks to influencer couple Whitney Lyu and Brian Ma about sharing their love on social media.
In an era where relationships are increasingly lived on camera, romance is no longer private. For couple creators, intimacy can also become collaboration. Love becomes less about gentle words, quick cuddles, and discrete romantic gestures, instead becoming a series of schedules, roles, edits, and decisions about what belongs online and what stays off-screen. When a relationship overlaps with content-making, a question emerges: How does love change when two people are also building something together in public? Whitney Lyu has around 80k followers across REDnote, YouTube, and Instagram. KISS KISS caught up with Lyu 25, and Brian Ma 31, a New York–based couple, who have been together for six years. Whitney, originally from Jiangsu China, moved to the US for university. Brian is a Chinese American, born and raised in the US. Over the past few years, their channels have documented not only everyday life as a dual-income couple with a dog, but also the small negotiations of a relationship shaped by shared heritage and different cultural instincts.
Here they log on for a chat with KISS KISS to explain how they make it work…
KISS KISS Magazine: What made you start this account as a couple? How did it begin?
Whitney: Honestly, he didn’t really pay attention at first. I’d just tell him if something was interesting, but he didn’t manage the account or check comments.
After we moved to New York, I started posting more. Back then it was mostly food, because New York has so many good restaurants.
One time, I posted a video about Brian speaking Chinese in a clumsy way with no editing, no subtitles, no music, nothing. It just blew up and now it has 36.8k likes on REDNote. I was like, maybe people actually like this, so we kept it going.
KISS KISS Magazine: At what point did you start feeling like this channel could be something you keep doing long-term?
Whitney: We try to make what people want to watch, but it still has to reflect real life. We can’t really do something that’s fully planned. Sometimes we see other couples and get inspired, then we make a simpler version, but we always add our own touch. It has to feel natural.
KISS KISS Magazine: Where do ideas usually come from? Do you sit down and brainstorm?
Whitney: It depends on what’s in my album. If I have clips that feel worth posting, I will edit and post them. If there’s nothing, I won’t force it. But I do feel pressure if we don’t post for a few days. That’s my own problem. We don’t really have a strict schedule unless it’s a collaboration.
KISS KISS Magazine: Your content is really varied. Vlogs, Chinese-learning games, sit-down chats, and your cute dog Lilo. How do you decide what to post next?
Whitney: If we’re going out, travelling, doing something special, I’ll record. If it’s just work and walking the dog, I don’t think it’s worth filming. It’s not like I’m taking out my phone all day, every day, but trips and planned days, yes, I’ll definitely record.
KISS KISS Magazine: What content do you each enjoy making most?
Brian: I like talking about serious cultural topics and I like to play Chinese-learning games.
Whitney: He likes deep talking videos, but I ‘d like to make less of those videos. Sometimes it doesn’t feel ‘safe’ online because people can get uncomfortable and argue. Personally, I love the content where we go back to China. People like watching an American-born Chinese experience China and see the differences. It’s all very natural, so I enjoy editing it.
KISS KISS Magazine: Does filming change your daily life as a couple?
Whitney: One hundred per cent. When something is happening, you must grab the phone, open the camera, and set it up in a good position. It’s a waste of time, and it can stop you from enjoying the moment. Recording is always in the back of my mind, so it can feel stressful. But once I finish editing and post, I get this sense of accomplishment.
Brian: Sometimes it’s fun. It’s also a good memory for us. Like one day when we’re old, we can watch it back.
KISS KISS Magazine: When you share your relationship online, people can leave harsh comments or over-interpret tiny expressions. How do you deal with negative reactions?
Whitney: Brian doesn’t really get involved. He can’t even read most of it, it would take him several business days. If something is genuinely funny or positive, I will tell him. If it is negative, I usually won’t. Sometimes in my head I want to clap back, but I do not actually fight strangers online. The hardest part is finding the balance between sharing yourself and not saying too much. If you share nothing, you become like a robot, just “I did this today, I did that today,” and it is hard to connect with people.
But if you share too much, it can be risky. I try to share feelings without oversharing. If I have time, I check the comments. If I don’t, I just leave it. It can affect my mood, of course, but it does not affect our relationship. Arguing with people you do not know is pointless and there are many people who genuinely like us. Sometimes we meet followers in real life and they tell us they love our content, so that is what we focus on.
KISS KISS Magazine: Where do you draw the line? What feels okay to share, and what stays private?
Brian: I am open to sharing thoughts, feelings, opinions, and ideas, but if it is personal information that could actually affect our daily life, I don’t want to share that.
Whitney: A simple example is location. If we are filming a word-guessing video and he says the exact neighbourhood name, I will stop him, because then people will know where we live. I won’t put private information online. Everyday life, us having fun, what we did that day, that is fine. It brings people happiness, people enjoy watching.
Our focus is not “making people know us” as private individuals. We care more about whether the content is entertaining and whether people learn something like cultural differences here and there.
KISS KISS Magazine: At home, what language do you use most? And does language affect how you argue, comfort each other, or make up?
Whitney: In the very beginning, it was hard. I had to use a translator to talk in English. Later, he started learning Chinese, but we still use English more. He told me I sometimes assume he understands every Chinese word, but he actually understands maybe 30 per cent. So English is easier for serious conversations.
When we fought at the beginning, I understood everything he said, but I couldn’t say everything back because my English was poor. Now we can do everything in English. If I can’t find a word, he tells me, just describe it the best you can. There’s always a way to express it.
KISS KISS Magazine: Looking back from dating, long-distance, to marriage, what brought you closer?
Whitney: During Covid we had one year of long-distance. We didn’t see each other at all, and we didn’t even talk that much. It was crazy, but we didn’t have a big crisis. We just did our own thing, and when I came back, he came to meet me. It felt like
mutual effort.
Brian: I can’t really give relationship advice, but recognising each other’s effort matters. When you feel the weight of it, that’s what keeps people together. For me it was also making a decision and committing to it.
