The short video industry is rapidly rising in China and "Chinese style" is spreading to the world

Su Fu, an international student from Tajikistan, is an "Internet celebrity" on a short video live broadcast platform. He conveys Chinese culture and customs to netizens through funny short videos. The picture shows Su Fu visiting Nanchang Street in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province on January 28. Photo by Zhu Jipeng

In recent years, the short video industry has risen rapidly in China. As of June 2018, the number of users of various popular short video applications reached 594 million, accounting for 74.1% of China's overall Internet users.

The large number, wide range of themes, and ease of dissemination have become the most significant development characteristics of short videos. Public participation and the blooming of a hundred flowers have become important features that distinguish them from traditional forms of expression such as text. In the past, only those who could write could participate in communication. The emergence of short videos has lowered the threshold for people to participate in communication. With a smartphone and some simple operations, one can freely record and present the most ordinary, weird and colorful life scenes.

From auxiliary to mainstream, from edge to core, in the past two years, short videos have become more and more recognized by people, and have become more and more mainstream expression channels. In 2019, Douyin short videos became the exclusive social media communication platform for CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala. On New Year’s Eve, Douyin’s overseas version Tiktok also launched Spring Festival-themed operations overseas. As of January, Douyin has more than 250 million daily active users and more than 500 million monthly active users.

The reason why a short video can quickly gain people's attention and recognition in a short period of time is mainly due to two factors. One is that the emotion conveyed by the work itself can resonate. Another is that the form is simple and easy to understand. Only by simplifying the expression of complex information can people understand, understand and be interested in participating in the expression in the shortest possible time. For example, there are countless ways to use images to show the affection between father and son, but the simplest way of conveying it, when several generations live in the same "frame" and affectionately call "dad" or "mom" one after another, can spread quickly, even cross borders, and resonate around the world.

With the deepening development of the domestic short video market, many content producers have set their sights overseas. Various Chinese short video Internet applications are beginning to move toward overseas markets with rapid momentum, attracting intense attention from users and the media. The reason why Chinese short video products are showing a strong momentum of overseas expansion is that people want to know the stories of ordinary people. They are very interested in how people on another part of the world live, think, and do. This is precisely the Chinese story they want to know most. Take the Spring Festival as an example. Chinese people must rush home to reunite on the Spring Festival. Behind this behavior is the emotion of filial piety and the family culture of reunion, which is the best theme of Chinese stories.

(Compiled by Xu Yingying’s interview)

[Source: People's Daily Online]