The Opportunities and Challenges of Short Video Platforms as a New Position in Public Diplomacy
Abstract
In the current digital era, with the continuous popularity and development of short videos, those short video platforms have become a daily online living areas for internet users, like entertainment or even education. Leading short video giant firms like TikTok have already transformed the modes of communication and cross-cultural exchange in the digital age, through lightweight features, lower communication and dissemination barriers. This study focuses on the social phenomenon of intercultural exchange via short videos on the internet. By distributing questionnaires to users from different countries and regions and conducting multiple statistical surveys, it aims to verify and confirm that short video platforms, supported by government policies and strategies and driven primarily by the netizens, will become an important emerging arena for global communication and even for China's public diplomacy. After collecting and analyzing 200 questionnaires distributed in different platforms, the study demonstrates that the majority of netizens with diverse demographics recognize the increasing number of overseas users sharing videos of other cultures, such frequency to get access to those exotic culture records especially about Chinese ones has become apparently enhanced and they hold an open and positive attitude toward exchanges between users from different cultures. They also acknowledge the significant role of short videos in enhancing overseas audiences' understanding of Chinese civilization, corroborating the conclusion that under the reasonable guidance of governments, short video platforms will become a significant approach for public diplomacy.
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