The making of a livestreaming village: algorithmic practices and place-making in North Xiazhu

abstract

This case study of North Xiazhu Village in China examines how algorithmic practices and the construction of physical and symbolical places mutually shape and constitute one another in the context of a new phenomenon: livestreaming villages. Such villages have emerged as a result of the widespread popularity of social media featuring algorithmic recommendations. Algorithmic practices—defined as users’ individual or collective strategies and actions in response to the algorithmic mechanisms that distribute traffic—have become key variables in the place-making of livestreaming villages. By analyzing how algorithmic practices are formed, implemented, shared, organized, and interwoven with place-making, this paper seeks to examine how the traditional village of North Xiazhu has transformed into a livestreaming village. Meanwhile, this paper seeks to broaden our understanding of the social opportunities facilitated by new technologies, recognizing the constitutive role of algorithmic practices in the making of places and communities.

Keywords:

• livestreaming village
• algorithmic practices
• place-making
• short video platform
• community

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to express sincere appreciation to Lu Ye, Li Qin, and Gao Xueying for their support in the fieldwork and revision of this paper. In addition, the author greatly appreciates the reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions for improving this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interests were reported by the author.

Notes

1 The content providers of short video platforms display a wide variety of performances. For example, Kuaishou now has more than 40 content categories, including 600 subcategories and 80,000 points of interest. There are also various ways for content providers to make money through short video platforms, such as online endorsements, selling goods through livestreaming, virtual gifts from fans, and platform rewards based on view count.

2 Zhubos include short video vloggers and livestreamers. On short video platforms, independent content providers often play both roles, shooting and uploading short videos as well as livestreams.

3 The supply chain refers to the distributors of zhubos, who wholesale goods from factories and sell samples from stores in livestreaming villages.

4 The blessing bag is a common technical function of short video and livestreaming platforms. Zhubos can distribute a certain number of vouchers by setting up a blessing bag. Then, viewers who watch their livestreams can receive these vouchers after completing certain operations.

5 Traffic is purchased when users pay for their own or others’ short videos or livestreams to gain recommendations on a platform. Short video-sharing and livestreaming platforms provide official channels to purchase traffic.

6 These villages include Haitou Town of Lianyungang City, Wanggongzhuang Village of Shangqiu City, and Tongerbao Town of Liaoyang City.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Major Project of Humanities and Social Sciences Key Research Base of the Ministry of Education in China, entitled Urban People’s Mass Media Behavior and Geospatial in the Age of Digital Mobile (No. 17JJD860001).

Notes on contributors

Chuyao Lai

Chuyao Lai is a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Communication at East China University of Political Science and Law. Her research centers on social media, algorithms, and digital visual methods.