An In Depth Study of Short Web Series in Mainland China - KuaiShou
Shuming Zhang
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/pmcs.v5i2.1814
Keywords: short web series, digital media, media development, uses and gratifications, audience psychology
Abstract
Witnessing the boom of the short web series that has been developing rapidly in these 4 years since 2019, this essay takes KuaiShou, one of the most popular Chinese short video platforms, as an example to analyze how and why the short web series become so popular among Chinese audiences from the 4 key perspectives of visual media in Chinese society, which are technology, media organization and its industry, market, and regulation. This essay analyzes the Internet technology as well as the hardware contributions to the rise of KuaiShou’s short web series, the relationship among the KuaiShou platform, short web series production studios and advertisers, how KuaiShou’s short web series meets with audiences’ characteristics, and how government’s censorship regulation as well as supportive policies affect the short web series production. This essay also discusses KuaiShou’s overall valuable practice in the short web series development and gives some advice of quality improvement on KuaiShou’s further development and competitiveness improvement of the short web ser ies.
References
1]Zhang, J. (2022, September 26). KuaiShou short web series deliver high scores in the summer: 50+ fi ne short web series online, and 22 short web series
broke 100 million. BiaNews. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from http://www.bianews.com/news/details?id=135719
[2]Trustdata mobile big data monitoring platform. (2022). MAU (in million) and year-on-year change of mainstream short video applications in June 2022.
Trustdata. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from http://www.itrustdata.com/#service
[3]Theatre-KuaiShou. (2022). Kuaishou. https://www.kuaishou.com/theater/0
[4]Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1973). Uses and Gratifi cations Research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509. https://doi.org/10.1086/268109