While factory recruitment has increasingly relied on digital platforms, there has been limited analysis of how factory workers are recruited in platform studies. This article examines a group of unconventional influencers, namely factory workers’ self-branding practices on the Chinese short-video platform Kuaishou. Through a synthesis of online and offline participatory observation and in-depth interviews, this study explores how Chinese worker-influencers interact with job-seekers by fostering digital intimacy to attract followers to work at Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer of electronics. Worker-influencers construct an image of the ideal factory life, yet inadvertently produce false hopes among job-seekers. Consequently, worker-influencers grapple with the challenge of balancing authenticity with an entrepreneurial mindset while meeting the expectations of Kuaishou, Foxconn and their followers. The negotiation of these multifaceted pressures exacerbates the visibility burden experienced by worker-influencers.