Identity Construction Of Inflowing Small Town Youths In Short Video Production

Small-town youth are situated between the city and the countryside.As urbanisation continues to grow,more and more people are moving to the city,including many young people from small towns.As the most contradictory and tense group among them,the migrant small town youth are facing the identity dilemma in reality and wandering in the margins,while receiving the impact of the short video era,and are very empty inside.But at the same time,the space of short video has also given them a place to construct their identity,and through short video production,small town youths are able to construct their own identity in multiple ways.This study adopts two qualitative research methods,namely,in-depth interviews and on-site observations,based on the existing literature.The research is conducted on TikTok app,from the perspective of identity theory,to investigate the identity construction process of rural-urban migrant youth,with a focus on their identity construction process in short video production,exploring the "how" question.The findings show that rural-urban migrant youth are active audiences,who actively construct their identity through short video production and associated practical activities.Influx small town youth face problems of identity and social belonging in the process of urbanisation,as they are unable to find development opportunities in their hometowns nor are they able to acquire true citizenship in the city.This predicament has led to a lack of social belonging and future orientation,leaving them in the middle of a sandwich class.Under such circumstances,short video platforms become an important venue for emotional support and self-identity construction.Through these platforms,small town youth can show their true selves,find people who are similar to them and build a group identity.At the same time,these platforms are also open and decentralised,which can help small town youth to establish more communication and understanding with urban residents,thus reducing the sense of separation and identity boundaries between them.Against this backdrop,short video platforms have become an important place for young people in small towns to build their self-identity and satisfy their emotional needs.On the level of self-identity construction,the influx of young people in small towns explores "who I am" through short video production.Firstly,the short video platform provides a low threshold platform for small town youth to express themselves.Through short video production,they construct an idealised and perfected version of themselves,and this illusory self-image brings them a sense of self-comfort and psychological satisfaction.In this process,they keep experimenting and exploring,and gradually construct a real self-identity by gaining the evaluation of others.Secondly,through their practical activities,young people in small towns realize a kind of intention and emotional projection,thus realizing the construction of self-identity at the level of reflexivity and interaction with others’ reference.Finally,through their creative role on the short video platform,the young people of the town are able to shed the shackles of reality and thus present and extend their ’humanity’.In addition,this study also found cases where backstage professional role-playing and self-identity had an impact on the reality of frontstage life.At the level of group identity construction,the influx of small-town youths learns about ’who we are’ through the production of short videos.Social categorization,social comparison and positive distinction are the three dimensions of group identity construction.Social categorization identifies the ’we’ group through content production,and through the practice of short video production they find people who are similar to their own preferences,people who match their situation and help them find the appropriate answers to ’who we are’.and through mutual understanding This helps them to find the appropriate answers to the question ’who are we’ and to develop a strong sense of belonging to the group through mutual understanding and support.Social comparison reinforces the boundaries between in-groups and out-groups by comparing them to other groups,and exaggerates the differences between groups in specific dimensions to satisfy the individual’s need for self-esteem,all of which helps them to reinforce their understanding of ’who we are’.Positive distinctions optimize the pre-reinforced ’boundaries’,i.e.young people in small towns who do not have a satisfactory social identity but do not leave the group as a result,optimize the previously constructed boundaries to meet their self-esteem needs through positive distinctions.The success of such differentiation can increase the level of social identity and self-esteem,thus allowing in-group members to gain a certain advantageous position among homogeneous out-groups.In conclusion,short-video content production has an active role in the identity construction process of small-town youth,providing them with the possibility of embedding themselves in a heterogeneous society.The short video platform provides a platform for small town youth to showcase themselves,allowing them to gain recognition and praise from others through their creativity and talent.In this way,small town youth gradually build up their social status and identity in the foreign society,and this identity will not only be reflected in their inner state,but also affect their real life.However,the study also found that there are some problems with the construction of identity on short video platforms.Additionally,the research revealed some challenges in the creation of identity on short video platforms.For example,some young people in small towns may rely too much on the evaluation and recognition of the short video platform,resulting in their self-identity construction process relying too much on external factors and neglecting their own values and abilities.In addition,some small-town youths may also be so engrossed in the world of short videos that they neglect important matters and responsibilities in real life.Therefore,in the process of identity construction on short video platforms,one needs to pay attention to balancing reality and the virtual,keep a rational and clear head,and continuously improve one’s own self-identity and self-worth.