Town Mayors Become “Wanghong” Live-streamers on TikTok: Relational Labor, Platform, and Urban Political-economic Culture in China
Topics: Media and Communication
, Cultural and Political Ecology
, China
Keywords: relational labor, live streaming, political influencers, TikTok, China
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 67
Authors:
Jing Cai, American University
Yue Liang, University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Abstract
Live streaming has demonstrated its exuberance during the past few years, but politicians seem out of the stage. The pandemic brought a spotlight on them: many mayors of towns in China started live streaming on Chinese TikTok (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.
Town Mayors Become “Wanghong” Live-streamers on TikTok: Relational Labor, Platform, and Urban Political-economic Culture in China
Category
Virtual Paper Abstract
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