Exploring Propaganda Strategies for Mass Culture in the Short Video Era

Author Affiliation: Pingyi County Bureau of Culture and Tourism, Linyi City, Shandong Province, Linyi, Shandong 273300

Abstract

[Purpose] This study investigates appropriate propaganda strategies for mass culture construction in the current era of short video prevalence, examining the role of short videos in advancing mass culture construction and distilling practical propaganda guidelines to contribute insights for the vigorous development of mass culture. [Method] This paper primarily employs a comprehensive literature analysis method to conduct an in-depth study of mass culture propaganda in the short video era. [Results] The findings reveal that with the rapid development of internet technology, short videos have gradually penetrated the core domain of public culture construction. These platforms have created new pathways and models for cultural dissemination through their operational convenience, interactivity, and engaging content. [Conclusion] In the short video era, mass culture construction faces both unprecedented opportunities and certain challenges. Relevant organizations and practitioners must fully leverage the positive role of short videos and implement efficient cultural propaganda work from multiple dimensions to build a more robust mass culture system and facilitate the smooth development of mass culture initiatives.

Keywords: short video; mass culture; propaganda strategy; propaganda effectiveness; interactivity

1. Definition of Mass Culture

Mass culture refers to cultural phenomena and activities created, enjoyed, and transmitted by the broad populace in their daily practices within specific social and historical contexts [1]. This concept encompasses a wide range of content, including folk art, traditional customs, festival celebrations, folk literature creation, music performances, dance, drama, quyi (traditional Chinese performing arts), and handicraft production. These cultural expressions not only possess strong ethnic and local characteristics but also constitute an indispensable component of national culture, vividly reflecting people's lifestyles, values, and aesthetic orientations. The essential features of mass culture lie in its broad popular foundation and high degree of participation. Unlike the exclusive domain of cultural elites, mass culture represents a shared achievement shaped collectively by ordinary citizens. Such cultural activities emphasize popularization and entertainment functions, addressing people's spiritual and cultural needs while enhancing their quality of life [2]. Simultaneously, mass culture serves as a powerful social medium for cohesion, promoting mutual understanding among different social strata, reducing divisions, and jointly contributing to the construction of a harmonious society [4]. On the path of cultural industry development, mass culture has become a new engine for stimulating industrial vitality and driving economic growth through its continuously expanding demand and increasing diversity and specialization of activities.

1.1 The Importance of Mass Culture Construction

The development of mass culture occupies a central position in promoting social and cultural progress. It not only demonstrates the cultural soft power and confidence of a nation or region but also constitutes the foundation for ethnic cultural inheritance and innovation [3]. Mass culture activities effectively preserve and disseminate excellent national cultural traditions, revitalizing them in contemporary society while providing rich nourishment for people's inner worlds, enhancing citizens' cultural appreciation and comprehensive qualities, and facilitating the holistic development of individuals.

1.2 The Rise of Short Video Platforms and Their Impact on Mass Culture

The rapid advancement of internet technology has driven the swift emergence of short video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou, which have become core elements in mass cultural life [5]. Their appearance has not only greatly expanded the expressive techniques and dissemination pathways of mass culture but also provided ordinary people with a vast space to showcase their personalities and share their daily lives, significantly lowering the barriers to cultural creation and dissemination. People can create content anytime and anywhere, whether recording daily trivia, performing talents, or sharing creative works, all of which stimulate public enthusiasm for cultural activities. The interactive features of short video platforms enhance public participation and sense of belonging, as audiences communicate with creators through likes, comments, and shares, constructing a new and tighter-knit cultural exchange circle [6]. Platform algorithms enable quality content to quickly go viral, allowing excellent culture to achieve broader dissemination and recognition. However, short video platforms also face challenges such as inconsistent content quality and increased difficulty in copyright protection. In response, industry and regulatory agencies must work together to guide these platforms toward healthy development and contribute to the prosperity of mass culture.

2. Characteristics and Advantages of Short Videos in Mass Culture

2.1 Characteristics of Short Videos and Their Application in Mass Culture

As an emerging media form, short videos have been rapidly embraced by the public due to their concise and powerful format, rapid dissemination, and high interactivity, becoming part of cultural life [7]. Platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou provide venues for self-expression and life sharing for the broad populace, with diverse content spanning daily life, food and travel, talent performances, and nearly every corner of mass cultural life [8]. In the domain of mass culture, short video applications manifest primarily in several aspects. First, as an information carrier, short videos enable the public to quickly grasp current affairs, cultural activities, and policies and regulations through intuitive and visual means [1]. Second, short video platforms serve as bridges for cross-regional and cross-cultural communication, where people from different regions and ethnic groups share their native cultures, promoting cultural exchange and integration. Third, short videos are increasingly applied in educational work, disseminating scientific knowledge, traditional culture, and arts education through engaging teaching videos to help enhance public cultural literacy [9]. Finally, short videos provide people with space to showcase their personalities and creativity, not only facilitating individual talent display but also providing platforms for sharing life innovations, enriching the diversity of mass culture.

2.2 Advantages of Short Videos in Mass Culture Construction

Short videos demonstrate numerous benefits in promoting mass culture construction. First, their low-threshold characteristic makes them easily accessible to anyone, allowing users to conveniently create and share videos even without professional film production skills, greatly lowering the barriers to mass participation in cultural creation [10]. Second, the rapid dissemination capability of short videos makes them prone to becoming focal points, enabling them to gather substantial attention within extremely short timeframes and effectively expanding the influence of mass culture. Third, interactive features such as comments, likes, and shares on short video platforms break the limitations of one-way communication, promoting exchanges between audiences and creators and injecting vitality into mass cultural activities. Finally, thanks to the widespread popularization of smartphones and mobile internet, short video viewing and creation have transcended demographic and geographical boundaries, reaching numerous people including those in rural and remote areas, thereby facilitating the broad dissemination of mass culture [11]. Additionally, short video platforms gather diverse creators whose rich content satisfies the cultural needs of different groups, demonstrating the diversity and inclusiveness of mass culture. As an emerging cultural expression form, short videos not only add connotation and variety to mass culture but also play a crucial role in promoting its popularization and development.

3. Current Situation and Problems in Mass Culture Construction in the Short Video Era

3.1 Current State of Mass Culture Construction

In the current era of short video popularity, mass culture construction demonstrates unprecedented vitality. The widespread use of smartphones and mobile internet has made short video platforms deeply integrated into people's daily lives, becoming important venues for expression and sharing [12]. These new media provide the public with channels to showcase personal emotions, creativity, and disseminate culture, not only allowing people to find space for self-expression in short video creation but also giving them opportunities to engage in broader cultural interactions. Short video content encompasses a wide range of topics, including traditional arts, folk crafts, and displays of regional characteristic culture, enriching public cultural life and promoting diversified development and innovation in culture. Relying on algorithmic recommendation mechanisms, short video platforms enable quality cultural content to quickly gain popularity, forming focal points of attention and enhancing public enthusiasm for participating in cultural construction [13].

3.2 Problems of Short Videos in Mass Culture Construction

While short video platforms have played a positive role in expanding the boundaries of mass culture construction, numerous problems have emerged during their development. Driven by the pursuit of high traffic and attention, the quality of some short video content is concerning, with rough production and vulgar content occasionally appearing, bringing negative impacts to the cultural environment [14]. The commercialization trend of platforms may lead to homogenization of cultural content, as creators often fall into repetitive production patterns driven by market demands and algorithmic recommendations, lacking innovative spirit. Furthermore, the rapid consumption characteristic of short videos makes it difficult to conduct in-depth exploration and sustained attention to valuable cultural content, thereby limiting the function of cultural inheritance and education. Notably, weak copyright protection is also a major challenge, as infringement of original creators' rights occurs frequently, undermining creators' enthusiasm [15].

3.3 Analysis of Factors Affecting Short Video Propaganda Effectiveness

The propaganda effectiveness of short videos is constrained by numerous variables. Content quality is paramount, as finely crafted, creative, and valuable content better captures audience attention and achieves excellent dissemination results. Dissemination methods also occupy a crucial position, with details such as video titles, cover designs, and tag usage often determining whether short videos can stand out in the ocean of information and stimulate users' desire to click. Platform algorithmic recommendation mechanisms directly influence video exposure, as those favored by algorithms naturally receive more display opportunities [16]. Interactive behaviors among users, such as likes, comments, and shares, also serve as important measures for evaluating short video propaganda effectiveness, as frequent interactions often indicate broader dissemination. Additionally, timeliness and the ability to capture hot events help enhance short videos' attention and dissemination power, as closely following social hotspots or current affairs contributes to increased visibility.

4. Propaganda Strategies for Mass Culture Construction in the Short Video Era

4.1 Content Innovation: Creating Attractive Short Video Content

In the current context of short video popularity, content quality is particularly crucial. To capture public attention and gain their following, the key lies in creating novel, entertaining, and valuable content. First, content must closely align with people's daily lives, reflecting their needs and interests. This can manifest as modern interpretations of traditional culture or sharing practical life tips and skills [17]. For instance, short videos demonstrating how to apply traditional handicrafts to create modern fashion accessories or introducing simple home organization tricks not only provide practical utility but also arouse audience interest and emotional resonance. Content should cleverly integrate creative and humorous elements to make it more attractive and enhance viewing pleasure. Creativity can be expressed through unique filming techniques, innovative editing methods, or unexpected content combinations, while humor can be displayed through cleverly designed dialogue, exaggerated performances, or witty plotlines. For example, using humorous skits to present daily troubles in a comedic manner allows audiences to relieve stress through laughter and makes them more willing to share such content with others. Furthermore, combining hot events and social issues to produce short videos with depth and warmth can stimulate audience resonance and strengthen their sense of participation and belonging [18]. Popular events and social issues often attract high public attention, and using short videos to provide in-depth interpretation and commentary on these topics not only captures audience attention but also ignites their thinking and discussion. For instance, launching a series of short videos combining real cases, expert interviews, and data analysis on topics such as environmental protection, education, and health can provide insightful information and viewpoints, guiding audiences toward deeper reflection.

4.2 Platform Selection: Rational Utilization of Different Short Video Platform Characteristics

In the current wave of digitalization, short video platforms have become the main battlefield for brand promotion and content marketing. Different platforms gather distinct audience groups with varying content preferences, making it essential to understand these nuances to develop effective cultural promotion strategies. Taking Douyin and Kuaishou as examples, although both belong to the short video domain, they differ in user characteristics and content orientation. Douyin's audience tends to be younger, eager to pursue novel and cutting-edge content and preferring rapid information reception. The platform's content is typically more dazzling and creative. Accordingly, brand promotion on Douyin should cleverly integrate innovative and fashionable elements, leveraging platform-specific features such as challenges and topic tags to firmly capture young users' attention [19]. Challenges can stimulate user participation enthusiasm, while topic tags facilitate content diffusion and discovery, allowing brands to quickly enhance their visibility and influence among young demographics. Kuaishou users, conversely, value content authenticity and closeness to life, with platform content typically being more simple and unadorned, reflecting real-life experiences. Therefore, promotion on Kuaishou should emphasize personalized and approachable brand images. Utilizing Kuaishou's live-streaming interaction features for real-time communication with users, answering questions, and showcasing products can enhance user participation and loyalty. Additionally, Kuaishou video content should focus more on narrative quality and emotional resonance to shorten the psychological distance with audiences. Whether on Douyin, Kuaishou, or other short video platforms, promotion strategy formulation must be tailored around target group characteristics.

4.3 Strengthening Interaction: Enhancing Public Participation and Interactivity

The interactivity of short video platforms serves as one of their core competitive advantages, capable of awakening users' creative passion while building tight connections among them and fostering an active community environment. To fully leverage this advantage, platforms can implement a series of strategies to stimulate user content creation and sharing. For instance, regularly planning online activities and topic challenges that align with current hotspots, festivals, or specific themes can motivate users to create around these topics, such as a "family reunion" video challenge during the Spring Festival that invites users to share warm holiday moments and family joys. Implementing a question-and-answer reward mechanism allows users to gain not only enjoyment from interaction but also gifts or coupons from the platform, thereby enhancing their participation enthusiasm. Q&A interaction sessions are equally essential, as platforms can regularly invite celebrities or industry experts for online exchanges, giving users opportunities for direct dialogue. Simultaneously introducing user voting mechanisms for selecting the best works on popular topics or video content can effectively enhance users' sense of participation and belonging, increasing user loyalty and activity [20]. By constructing community forms such as fan groups and interest groups, connections among users can be further strengthened. In these communities, members can not only exchange works and creative experiences but also organize offline gatherings, building a tight-knit community network.

4.4 Cross-boundary Cooperation: Collaborating Across Different Fields to Expand Mass Culture

Promoting mass culture development requires actively engaging in cross-boundary cooperation. This can enrich mass culture expression forms and expand its dissemination channels through collaboration with institutions in education, tourism, technology, and other fields, thereby attracting public participants from different backgrounds and interests. First, involvement from educational institutions can add knowledge and academic dimensions to mass culture. For example, jointly producing educational videos with museums not only popularizes historical knowledge but also attracts young people's interest through vivid multimedia methods, with these materials being incorporated into school curricula as important teaching resources for traditional culture. Second, collaboration with the tourism industry can facilitate the promotion of local culture by closely integrating cultural promotion with tourism development, such as planning local characteristic cultural tourism routes and festival activities that showcase local culture to tourists through lively and interactive forms. This not only enhances cultural visibility but also promotes local economic growth. Finally, cooperation with technology enterprises can create highly interactive applications that enhance the efficiency of mass culture dissemination and public participation through modern technological means. For instance, designing a cultural exploration application incorporating virtual reality technology allows users to personally experience historical scenes and traditional craft processes. This unique dissemination method will stimulate interest among young demographics and endow traditional culture with new vitality.

Short videos, as an emerging product of the current era, have injected vitality into mass culture construction while presenting unprecedented opportunities and challenges. The rational utilization of short video platforms, supplemented by innovative promotion methods, will significantly enhance the strength and reach of mass culture dissemination. The strategic recommendations proposed in this study aim to contribute insights for the vigorous development of mass culture and strive to promote its continuous advancement within the short video trend. Looking ahead, it is necessary to closely monitor the evolution of short video technology, continuously refine and improve propaganda methods, and assist mass culture construction in reaching new heights.

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Author Biography: Guo Zhaolai (1972—), male, Han ethnicity, from Pingyi County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, holds a bachelor's degree from Shandong Radio and Television University, with research interests in mass culture.

Executive Editor: Li Yansong