Refined Algorithm Vs. Vulgar Image: Disassemble the Representations of Chinese Working-class Youths Through Online Platform

• In Event: Platform Practices and Predictive Seeing 1

Abstract

The video-clip sharing application Kwai is among the most popular mobile applications in China with over 400 million users, and a large proportion of them are consisted of young working-class users. Regarded as the platform first commonly accepted and shared by Chinese working-class youths, Kwai is always criticized by the public for the emphasis of displaying vulgar visual representations generated by users themselves. However, on the other hand, the platform claims that its “objective” algorithm is an accurate representation of the structure of Chinese young population, and the affordance of the platform is only “technical” and “value free” in the user-generated content. Therefore, using a combined method of online ethnography data crawling, the study aims to investigate how working-class youths represent themselves visually on this platform, and how the affordance of the platform infiltrates into the process. Arguing that both human and non-human actors are incorporated into the emerging assemblage of the visual representation of Chinese working-class youths, the study aims at providing another chance to reflect on the intricately mutual relationships among the developing media technology, the cultural artifacts, the identities of netizens, and the social contexts.

Author

• Jiaxi Hou, University of Tokyo