Chinese Town Mayors Livestreaming on Douyin: Labor, Platform, and Urban Political-economic Cultures
Abstract Code: 11434

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many mayors of towns in China started live streaming on Douyin to sell local agricultural and sideline products, and become internet influencers (“Wanghong”) in the digital spectacle. Rooted in a 12-month digital ethnography study and in-depth interviews with their followers, this study answers how these political influencers impinge on political communication ecology and socio-political cultures in contemporary urban China. In the perspective of relational labor, this paper aims at exploring the modality of “wanghong” politicians and examine the entanglements among political influencers, audiences, platforms, and the China Communist Party. Specifically, we look at the role of the platform in urban political economy by examining digital consumptions, including gifting and purchasing through the platforms. Moreover, at the hinge of larger power apparatuses, the paper studies how these politicians-live streamers use TikTok as a means to convey propaganda and becomes a public demonstration of authority. From a media study perspective, the preliminary findings demonstrate gender differences in the expectation and perception of relational labor as a concomitant of “internet celebrity urbanism” in general. Noticeably, relational labor has expanded beyond the point of individuals and crowds. These town mayors become a representation of the CCP on TikTok, help to maintain public-party relations, and promote communist ideologies by showing their reliable personalities.