Research On The Use Of Chinese Podcasts Among Young People

Podcasting is both a technology,an audio medium,and a media culture phenomenon.After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic,the creation of Chinese podcasts has grown rapidly,and people have begun to listen to podcasts for the first time.Academics,media professionals,vertical domain experts,and other Chinese content creators are all trying to create podcast channels to express themselves.Chinese podcasts are characterized by younger audiences,professional podcasters and commercialization.This study takes young listeners,Chinese podcast programs and Chinese podcast platforms as the research objects,analyzes the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations of young people using Chinese podcasts from the perspective of use and gratification theory and Maslow’s needs theory,and explores the use of Chinese podcasts by young people.The current situation of Chinese podcasts,combined with the characteristics of young people using Chinese podcasts and the impact of Chinese podcasts on young people,to obtain detailed research results.Finally,the problems existing in the media ecology of Chinese podcasts are discussed,and optimization suggestions are put forward.This study aims to explore the influence of Chinese podcasts on young people’s thinking and behavior,and to provide theoretical support for the development of young generation culture and podcast culture.At the same time,it provides an important reference for the development of the Chinese podcast industry,provides a more scientific direction for Chinese podcast creators,and provides support for academic research in the Chinese podcast industry.This study takes the rise of Chinese podcasts as the research background,mainly adopts the in-depth interview method,supplemented by questionnaire survey and Internet ethnography.The study conducted in-depth interviews with 16 heavy listeners of Chinese podcasts from different backgrounds;195 valid questionnaires were collected,and the survey objects were mainly 18-25-year-old highly educated elite young people who listened to Chinese podcasts.The following conclusions were drawn: listeners most often listen to 2-3 programs and the weekly listening time is short;listeners like to use Xiaoyuzhou FM to listen to Chinese podcasts,humanities and social science podcasts are the most popular;and there are extremely rich listening scenes.At the same time,listeners are willing to consume their favorite podcasts according to their own income levels,and young listeners are less willing to share podcasts,making it difficult for Chinese podcasts to break through the circle and become a popular hobby.Combining interview results and questionnaire data,this study divides the motivation of young people to listen to Chinese podcasts into extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation.In terms of external motivation,affected by the epidemic,people spend more time at home.Creators chose to open podcasts as content channels,attracting a large number of young listeners.A blogger recommendation,a friend recommendation,or a favorite blogger starting a podcast is why most young listeners listen to podcasts for the first time.Young listeners will be attracted by platform recommendations and program titles,while the content of the program and the personal charm of the anchor are important factors that keep listeners listening.In terms of intrinsic motivation,young people listening to Chinese podcasts also reflect the six intrinsic motivations of entertainment,knowledge acquisition,emotional companionship,social participation,social integration,and self-realization.The rise of podcasts also reflects the needs of young people for information acquisition in the age of information overload,as well as the introverted and anxious listening psychology of young people and their needs for emotional companionship.Although young listeners seldom listen to podcasts for social purposes,they have a pseudo-social relationship with the host after listening for a long time.The diverse and inclusive Chinese podcasting environment has produced a large amount of high-quality audio content,which also enables feminist podcasts to better convey ideas on the Chinese platform.Under the influence of listening to Chinese podcasts,young people have gradually established a Chinese podcast fan community,constructed and improved their personal values,and participated in and promoted the formation of public space to a certain extent.At present,Chinese podcasts still have problems such as stratification,elitism,influence by head effects,and immature business models.It is necessary to improve the Chinese podcast business model and transparent content review mechanism,and establish a more complete market system and management mechanism.Young people need to be encouraged to record podcasts to strengthen connections and provide them with better outlets for expression.In addition,the Chinese podcast platform can also strengthen cooperation with traditional media and other media platforms,expand the distribution channels of podcasts,and increase market share and commercial value.In the future,podcasts have broad prospects for development in China,and Chinese podcasts will also become an important way for more people to obtain information,knowledge and entertainment.