Volume 1, Issue 2 - Themed Issue: TikTok, Short Video Apps and Global Communication

The popularity of TikTok has sparked short video studies in global academia. Whereas in China, the market for short video platforms is already matured, which has seen numerous research publications. However, an overall review of short video research is still absent. Using the methods of science mapping and thematic analysis, we summarized the research and review articles from Web of Science Core Collection and CNKI (CSSCI and CSCD) from the past two decades. The main findings are: 1) There are four main stages in the development of short video studies and each of them is tightly related to the market growth; 2) Four main perspectives (media, economic, cultural and discursive) of short video studies with 12 clusters of core issues have emerged, and the visibility that short videos bring to ordinary people is the fundamental viewpoint of many studies; 3) Currently, the short video studies are going broader and deeper, attracting scholars from different academic backgrounds, and multiple methods are applied in the studies; 4) The papers from WoS and CNKI share some similarities but show more differences in the research issues, subjects and methods. We pointed out the limitations of present studies and possibilities of future research.

Purpose This study uses TikTok as a novel medium to extend the literature on online activism. It adds to the emergent body of knowledge about playful political participation among youth. It also explores how creative micro-videos can be a force to create momentum and shape opinions around social and political topics. Design/methodology/approach A content analysis of 203 TikTok videos reflecting the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict that took place in Sheikh Jarrah in 2021, was used to understand the extent to which TikTok’s platform’s affordances were used and examine the message frames that emerged when online users disseminated messages of affect and solidarity with the Palestinians during the Sheikh Jarrah incident. Findings The study showed that TikTok affordances encourage virality and creative crafting of direct and indirect political content, making the platform a space for political expression, mobilization, and online activism. The affordances used during the TikTok Intifada were visibility, editability, association, and persistence. The two most prominent frames were the use of hashtags to promote the cause, followed by direct political content. Practical implications Researchers are given guidance on how TikTok design elements are now allowing a very young segment of users to become producers of political content in a way where messages are creatively crafted using the platform’s affordances. Social implications This study captured social media activism among a young segment of users on a playful platform. Youth are now able to raise awareness and call to action by capitalizing on platform affordances to create and spread content about a cause. Originality/value Using the connective-collective approach, this work adds a unique dimension to the literature on how TikTok is becoming a novel space for the emergence of grassroot movements among a very young segment of users and how hard political content has been adapted to fit the playful nature of this dynamic platform. The work also takes lead into studying the Palestinian Intifada in a virtual context, where an unusual activism frame emerged due to the nature of TikTok as a micro-video and innovative platform.

Purpose Due to existing Disney fandom and the increased popularity of online travel documentation, there is an opportunity to study brand internationalization, online video culture, and fandom. There are questions of whether video based social media allows for more humane representations of cultural others and to what extent the topic of content shapes representation. Methodology In this study, an inductive qualitative method is applied to top YouTube travel videos and TikToks to analyze how non-Chinese visitors to Shanghai Disneyland represent their experience and mediate cultural difference. Findings Videos often exhibit the technologically advanced attractions of the park, inspiring awe and envy in comments. A minority of videos discuss the behavior of Chinese guests and mark them as non-normative and different from expected Disney guest behavior. However, there are differences in representation on YouTube and TikTok from sub-genres, comments, gazes, and closeness to brand. Practical implications Brands entering the Chinese market must also be aware of how their accommodations appear to loyal non-Chinese online fandoms. This study shows how reoccurring tropes of travel writing influence online travel media, which also shapes perceptions of China, and is reinforced by platform incentives for controversy and sampling diverse cultures. Social implications Technological awe and critiques of guest behavior are structured by Disney fan culture, which includes a possessive protectiveness over the brand due to its close association with identity. These elements play out slightly differently on the platforms of YouTube and TikTok. Top YouTube videos tend to feature outward-focusing gazes, whether they are disembodied ride-throughs or cultural “education.” Top TikToks turn the gaze inward and focus on experience. Value This study contrasts use of two major platforms, YouTube and TikTok, to examine mediation of Shanghai Disneyland. Studies contrasting platform use of the same topic are rare, as is the area of focus. This study shows the usefulness of comparing platforms on the same topic.

Purpose This cross-cultural comparison study between China and the US aimed to examine the short video-sharing social media platform, TikTok/Douyin, particularly its use in the two countries. Because China and the US have some evident differences in cultural values, they are ideal for cross-cultural comparison between Western and Asian countries. Other than knowing the platform itself, how people use it, and their influencer video use, the study further explored how cultural values influenced user behaviors on TikTok/Douyin. Design/methodology/approach Two survey studies were conducted in each country. The questionnaire asked the same question but in two language versions—Chinese and English. Questions asked about participants’ demographic information, TikTok/Douyin use preference, influencer preference, and cultural values. Findings In general, Chinese participants had a more extended time experience of using Douyin, and they spent more time on Douyin every day. Participants had a different preference for influencers’ expertise on each platform. US participants favored music influencers while Chinese participants favored food influencers. Moreover, Chinese participants were more likely to be persuaded by influencers to make purchase decisions than US participants. Besides, Chinese participants claimed a higher individualism score and a lower power distance score than US participants, which contradicts with Hofstede’s original cultural scores for each country. Practical implications Marketing practitioners should consider the demographic characteristics and use preferences of TikTok and Douyin users for their marketing practices. Moreover, the cultural scores (individualism and power distance) have changed between Chinese and US participants compared to original Hofstede’s cultural scores. Besides, the study confirmed that cultural values influenced users’ TikTok/Douyin use in some conditions. Therefore, practitioners should apply the new findings when making decisions when considering cultural differences. Originality/value This is the first study to compare TikTok/Douyin use between the US and China and enhanced our understanding of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. Furthermore, it demonstrates helpful and detailed information on the general platform use and how it is influenced by the cultural differences between the two countries.

Purpose This article explores how platforms reorganize our sense of everyday life. The platformization of everyday life means a changing relation to what we do in our daily lives, not only in China, but in every country in which digital platforms are becoming more relevant by the day. Using TikTok in China as our point of departure, we discuss the role of platform time and the abstracted audience. Design/methodology/approach This study is a collaboration between Douyin of ByteDance, whose headquarters are in Beijing, and a team of researchers. Users with more than 10,000 followers were identified so as to select users who had sufficient activities and strong motivation to operate their short video channel. A survey questionnaire was sent to these users during one week in July 2019, and 2375 users responded to the survey. For this paper, after briefly reading the survey results, we selected 50 users for in-depth interviews. The users gave their consent to disclose their identity. In the process, ByteDance helped contact these users. Findings Based on the data, we discuss two concepts, abstract audiences and platform time, which helped us to understand platform–labor relations. We argue that while there is the illusion that audiences are closer than ever to the content creator in terms of engagement, at the same time, they are abstracted through platform analytics, meaning that they are reduced to statistics provided to content creators. Originality/value Rather than being liberated, creators are restricted by a new form of time that offers the possibilities of freedom within the confines of the platform. Rather than having fixed working hours, creators are self-regulating as streaming hours and upload times demand certain patterns to increase one’s following and make a living, while as creators, they must also try to understand their audience and the platform algorithm.

Purpose The purpose of this empirical study is to examine how Chinese rural female vloggers present and express themselves online when they are increasingly exposed to the Internet, and to analyze the motivations of their self-expression and whether the media images on the Internet correctly reflect the real life of rural women in China. Design/methodology/approach We conducted content analysis and case studies on 30 rural female vloggers and 2580 videos selected from Xi Gua Video, one of the most popular video platforms in China. The English name of Xi Gua Video is Watermelon Video. It belongs to the same company as Douyin(the Chinese version of Tik Tok) and has a large number of creators. There is a Rural category in Xi Gua Video which shows its importance to the video platform. Findings Married women are the mainstay of rural female vloggers, and they tend to use unique username settings. Among different avatars, a confident smile is the mainstream. The themes of the videos mainly center on rural family life. Based on the analysis of the video themes, we speculated that whatever techniques rural women take for video shooting, their image formation is still subject to the gaze of men and the patriarchal social order. In general, they are still disciplined, though their self-awareness has already begun to awaken. Research implications The research unveils the gendered frame behind the rural-related short videos in contemporary China. It can also help the rural female vloggers identify themselves. Practical implications Internet policymakers can guide the dissemination of short videos of rural women based on this research, thereby improving the status and lives of rural women. Originality/value This is an empirical study to examine the rural Chinese female vloggers’ attitude and cognitive competence based on the feminist theory.

Ever since the mid-nineties, Internet-related communication research has been a growing field in Hungary. Notwithstanding, scholars have so far failed to deliver a systematic overview regarding the historical and topical trends defining the field. To mend this gap, we provide a systematic literature review concerning the main trends and developments of Hungarian online media research as indicated by the most influential journals of the field between 1995 and 2021. Given its historical legacy, Hungary serves as an indicative case study from the socialist and post-socialist Central and Eastern European region, where following the repressive political regime of the Soviet Union, the development of social scientific fields was rendered virtually impossible for decades. In this study, the major research traditions of the field – new media and the Internet; information society; inequalities and the digital divide; education and digital literacy; e-governance; social media; video games; Big Data; algorithms and artificial intelligence – as well as their historical development are assessed. Furthermore, we formulate reflections regarding the results with a high emphasis on current internationalization processes in the region, as well as the prospects of Hungarian communication research within the context of these changes and of the historical-cultural legacies of the country.

This study aims to measure the effects of exposure to a YouTube platform, the Moshaya Family Channel, on the socialization of children. We monitored the content provided by the channel and how children are affected by it in terms of moral and behavioral aspects, specifically the impacts of their repeated exposure to the programs on their life satisfaction. This needed to be studied due to the increase in views and subscriptions to the channel, and children’s level of attachment to the presented content. This research uses the survey method. An online questionnaire was used to obtain information from a study sample of 338 Saudi mothers whose children are watching “The Moshaya Family Channel.” Children’s ages ranged from 5 to 13 years old. The most important result is that a big proportion of children have the awareness of terms like subscribe, share, like and views. The reason for that is due to their being influenced by the idea of popularity and their desire to make their own YouTube channel. The research also found that a big proportion of children preferred prank content in the channel and described it as interesting, which pushed them to imitate these pranks in their lives. The research found that most mothers don’t like their children to watch the channel because it incites the child to prank others and prompts buying behavior in children. This confirms the role played by new media platforms, especially YouTube, which result in children acquiring values not only for entertainment, but also a tool for learning, communication and entertainment.