Short and sweet, the new craze for the video generation
INTEGRATING INTO CHINA
Gu Jie, an associate professor in the faculty of journalism and communication at the Communication University of China, says that the increasing media literacy of netizens means short videos should abide by certain standards and the quality needs to be improved.
"The market needs a balance between demotic and high-quality content," he says, adding that entertainment and sincerity should be equally valued.
Gu says vlogs open a window for introverted Chinese people to express themselves and the internet provides users with a virtual space where they feel free to do so. Vloggers should try to find a balance between following their personal style and satisfying the audience, between self-expression and attracting attention.
For many Chinese, the vlog is a still new concept, one that originated in the West. In North America, for example, people got into the habit of doing home videos long ago and they are eager to share, says Sun Dongshan, adding that vlogs are an "inevitable product" of the culture there.
Overseas vlogs often last six to seven minutes, or even more than 10 minutes, but Chinese consumers seem to have an appetite for videos of three minutes or even shorter, seeking out bite-size entertainment.
However, the concept of the vlog has yet to spread to all Chinese.
"The best way to spread the idea of vlogging is for people like me to keep making better videos and getting more fans," says Flypig, a vlogger and founder of a video clip app.
People need to see more Chinese vlogs, the professional type you see on YouTube, before they pick up on the trend, he says.
"We have provided a lot easy-to-use mobile tools for newcomers who want to try vlogging, and made a lot of efforts to monetize the most popular content and make vlogging a better eco-system," Flypig says.
"We have lowered the threshold and we've built up a platform where people like to share their vlogs", he says, adding that viewers get a notification when their favorite vlogger uploads a video.
According to Hans, the content specialist, the success of a video depends on the content rather than its form. Quality matters more than whether it is a vlog or some other kind of video.
But he thinks platforms have a responsibility to give more feedback to video makers, especially data about how many views their vlogs have had, and advice on improving their videos and getting more attention.
Related:
