Inrecentyears,onlineshortvideosdevelopedswiftly,andreceivedwideattentionduetotheirextensiveimpacts.ChinaInternetNetworkInformationCenter'sneweststatisticalreportillustratedthat,uptoJune2020,thenumberofChinesenetizenshadreached940million,andshortvideousershadreached818million,accountingfor87%ofallinternetusers.Inourcountry’sAppusagedurations,onlinevideos(includingshortvideos)rankedsecond,accountingfor12.8%ofduration,onlybehindinstantmessaging(13.7%).Asacontentforminducedbythedigitalage,onlineshortvideosgraduallydevelopedintoanewnarrativeform,informationsource,modeoftransmission,self-expressionandcommunicationspace.Itgeneratesandshapesnewcognitivepsychology,aestheticexperience,valuepreferences.Withinit,thereareconveniencesandopportunities,aswellasrisksandchallenges.Comparedtotraditionalprofessionallong-videoproductions,thethresholdandbudgetformakingshortvideosislower,whichincreasesboththeopportunitiesforandformsofthegeneralpublic'sself-expressionandsocialparticipation.Shortvideosgivefullplaytotheadvantagesofaudio-visuallanguage,advanceplotdevelopmentandexpressopinionsinanextremelyshortamountoftime.Thepresentedcontentsareintuitiveandvivid,withstrongerexpressiveforceandinfectivity,whichcaneasilymobilizeuseremotionsandtriggerresonance,andformastrongersocialmobilizationability.Theintuitiveandconcretecontentpresentationofshortvideosiseasytocomprehend,whichcanfacilitatethepromotionandpopularizationofknowledgeinformationinawiderrangeofpopulations.Inaddition,shortvideosonthemobilesinternetcanbewatchedinmoreflexibletimesandsettings,whichcanfilluppeople'sfragmentedtimes,andenrichpeople'sspiritualandculturallives.Therapiddevelopmentandwidepopularityofshortvideosalsotriggeredanxietyovertheirnegativeimpacts.Duetotimelimit,shortvideostendtonotgointoin-depthexplorationandreflection.Someone-sidedandshallowcontentswillletaudiencesoverlooktheessenceofthecontentsandthedeepconnotationsoftheinformation.Theshortvideoformneedstorapidlyattractandgraspaudiences.Someshortvideosthatfocusexcessivelyoncreatinginstantimpactstendtogiveuponthecompletenessandprecisenessofcontents,andcaninfluencepeople'saestheticpursuit,andgiverisetodesiresforstimulation.Accompanyingthecontinuedincreaseinthethresholdvalueofasenseofjoy,thiscanresultinariseinboredom,andcausepeopletobecomemorerestless,disheartened,andfeelasenseofemptiness.Shortvideosareoriginallysupposedtofilluppeople'sfragmentedtime.However,theycanunconsciouslycausepeopletolosefocus,andmakeitharderforthemtoconcentrateonin-depththinking.Inaddition,sincethethresholdforproductionislow,thecontentsofshortvideosvaryinquality.Whilethequickinformationdisseminationcanlowerthethresholdforaccessinginformation,atthesametime,usersarealsolikelytobemisledbyinformationthatistakenoutofcontextorevenfalse.Drivenbycommercialfactors,certainshortvideocreatorswillpurposelytwistthelogicorfacttogainmorepopularity,andtransmitimpropervalues.Asawayofcommunication,onlineshortvideoscoexistwithotherformsofmediacommunications.Shortandlongvideos,onlineaudio-visualsandimage-textreadingcangohandinhandbutalsoneedintrospection,guidance,andregulation.Peopleshouldrationallyusethedouble-edgedswordofthedigitalage,drawonitsadvantagesandavoiddisadvantages.Weneedtofacetherealitythatweareincreasinglyimmersedintoadigitalizedlife,reflectandremindourselvesthatweneedtofirmlygetholdofourlives,reasonablydistributeourtimeandarrangeshortvideousage.Asshortvideosgraduallyreachsophistication,qualitycontentswillstillbeitscorecompetitiveness.Shortvideocreatorsmusthavequalitycontentinordertogenuinelygainaudienceapproval.Mainstreammediashouldalsoactivelyuseshortvideostocommunicate,givefullplaytotheiradvantagesincontentqualityanddepth,andestablishthevalsuesstandardsinthecommunicativefieldofshortvideos.Regardingtheflourishingshortvideoindustry,thereshouldbeanintegrationofplatformself-disciplineandcooperation,tobetterleadthebenigndevelopmentofshortvideocommunication,andpushforinnovation.ContributedbyJiangQiaolei,associateprofessoratTsinghuaUniversitySchoolofJournalismandCommunication,DeputyDirectorattheCenterforIntelligenceMediaResearch,atTsinghuaUniversitySchoolofJournalismandCommunicationTranslatedbyZhangJunye