ChineseshortvideouploaderLiZiqi'snumberofinternationalfanshassetnewrecord.OnFebruary2,GuinnessWorldRecordsannouncedonWeibothatwith14millionYouTubesubscribers,Lirefreshedtherecordforthe"Chinesechannelhavingthemostsubscribers."InDecember2019,Libecamefamousontheinternet.Withinamonth,WeChatOfficialAccountarticlesrelatedtoLireached64,000,andthethreeChinesecharactersof"LiZiqi"quicklyenteredkeyboardinputmethods.Bytracinginformation,peoplefoundoutthatinrecentyears,shehasgainedasignificantfollowingonbothBilibili,Weibo,andWechat.Intheinternationalcommunity,thenumberofherfanshadmatchedthatCNN(CableNewsNetwork)foratime.Interestingly,thistime,therecordshebrokewasalsoherownGuinnessWorldRecordfromsixmonthsago.Soonafterwards,Li’snamewasrepeatedlybroughtuponpublicopinionplatforms,theculturalphenomenonshecreatedwasdiscussedfromeveryangle.Thequalityofdiscussionsevidentlysurpassedregularpublicdiscussions.Whatisdifferentfromoneyearagoisthatpeoplearenolongerconcernedwithwhetherhervideosrepresent"reallife"orhowtheteambehindherisoperating.Whatismostimportantisthatthischangedidnotcomefrompeoplehavingfound"yes"or"no"answers,butbecausetheproblemsthemselvesnolongermatter.Inotherwords,withthearrivaloftheshortvideoage,peopleformedanewperceptionregardingthe"reality"ofshortvideos.Peoplehavegraduallyacceptedthattherearerigorousteamsthatoperatelikemediainstitutionsbehindbloggersorvloggersonsocialmedia.The"views"and"opinions"inthesevideosarepushedaftermeticulousresearchoftheirtargetaudiences,dataanalysis,andIPimages.Similarly,thepopularityofshortvideosisbecausewhattheypresentisn’toriginalorcoarsereality,butanidealizedrealitythroughcameralensfilters.Theyextractedandreorganizedelementsfromordinarypeople'slives,theyarelikeVRequipmentthatcanallowpeopletoseewhatismore"real"andexcitingthanwhatpeoplecanseewiththeirnakedeyes.Thecharacteristicsofshortvideoscanbesummarizedas:non-fictionalandstorytelling.Thetwovocabulary,whicharecontradictoryintraditionalcreativeprocesses,shapedthekeyattractionofshortvideos.Intheshortvideoera,itisimportanttosufficientlyusethischaracteristictotellculturalstoriesandeffectivelyexportone'sculture.WecanseehowLiZiqi'sfoodandculturevideosusethis:TheychooseruralsettingsinChina,uselongtakestoshowtheprotagonistwork,whichisnon-fictional;atthesametime,theyeditedvisualelementsfromtheruralareasthroughtheprotagonist'sactions--pickbambooshoots,brewwine,makeclothesandsoon.Theymakeaconstructiveruralnarrativewhichisnotlimitedtoanyspecificlocationsortime.However,itispreciselythislackofspecificlocationsthatcreatestheimpressionofitbeinga"hometown".Itblurredspecifictimes,andallowedaudiencestoseethisasthefactualexpressionofactualChineseruralculturallives.LikemainstreamcommentsonLiZiqi'svideoswhenshefirstgainedrecognition,thisisagoodwayoftransmittingChineseculture.Afteroneyear,thismethodandthepatternsbehindshortvideomediaprovedtheyareworthbeingfullyemployedinnarratingculturalstoriesandChinesestories,sincevisualcommunicationisageneraltrendwhichisirreversible.Shortvideoswithgrandthemesusuallyfailduetotheir"hurrytobringoutfactsandreasons".This"hurriedness"isbothinconflictwiththe"non-fictional"characteristicofshortvideosanditsstorytelling,whichcanimpedecommunication.Therefore,shortvideocreationscateringtowardstellingculturalstorieshavetopresentalaid-back,livingreality,andhavetothrowawayintentionality,restraintheurgetoexpress,andimproveontheirstories.Asidefromindividualcreations,shortvideoplatformsshouldalsopayattentiontoandencourageexcellentcreators.Mainstreamplatformscanbuildconnectionswiththeinterestsofshortvideocreators,encouragetheoneswhoareskilledatcreatingChineseanimetokeeptheirstyleandtheoneslikingACGtochoosethemesthattheyvalue.Intheinternetagewhereallthingsgrow,thecreatorswhogrowbythemselvesareunconsciouslytakingtheleadinexploringthecharacteristicsofnewmedia.However,theyhavenotbeenabletoconductresearchorformknowledge.Thistaskislefttothethinkersofculturalconstruction.ContributedbyLiuWenjiaTranslatedbyZhangJunye