The techno-beauty myth: the self-representations of young Chinese women on social media

Shao, Lingwei

doi:10.1080/09589236.2023.2207001

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In the above-mentioned interviews, both KOLs and KOC users more or less cater to aesthetic trends in society and care about their position in social evaluation in terms of their self-presentation, and it was confirmed that this is often the way to get higher attention and traffic. Shao [15] claims that this behaviour is also evident among regular users, as this is what gives them the opportunity to get noticed by the public. As a result, once the ideology of self-presentation in social media is solidified, individuals with differences tend to conform to the general trend and gradually deepen the psychology of appearance anxiety as they repeatedly examine whether they are fitting the trend.…”

Section: Self-presentation Strategies In Accordance With Aesthetic Tr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Young Females Appearance Anxiety in the Self-presentation of the Social Media Platform Xiaohongshu

2023

CHR

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This paper aims to investigate how self-presentation on contemporary social media platforms propagates young females appearance anxiety, and takes Xiaohongshu, a social media platform currently very popular among young Chinese females, as an example. This study conducted an open-ended questionnaire survey with 40 young women aged 18-30 years old through qualitative analytical research methods, and further conducted one-on-one structured in-depth interviews with representative KOLs and KOC users on the Xiaohongshu platform. Their responses focused on the strategies for presenting themselves on social media platforms, platform interventions, and social aesthetic convergence influences. The findings demonstrate that self-presentation in social media exacerbates contemporary young female appearance anxiety inextricably linked to individual, platform and social factors. This effect is intensified through the platforms adverse value propaganda and influencer marketing interventions, the individuals reshaping of self-presentation based on socially comparative ideologies that conform to dominant aesthetic trends, and the relatively convergent and deeply ingrained aesthetic trends that prevail in contemporary societies.

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Section: Self-presentation Strategies In Accordance With Aesthetic Tr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Young Females Appearance Anxiety in the Self-presentation of the Social Media Platform Xiaohongshu

2023

CHR

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“…These findings may be due to societal norms and expectations regarding gender and social class in Chinese media discourse. For example, given China's media landscape, women may feel more pressure to conform to beauty standards and display an idealized version of themselves online (Shao, 2023;Zhang, 2012). People in the middle class are encouraged to prioritize professional achievements or social positions as they navigate the responsibilities and expectations associated with adulthood and professional life (Peng, 2019).…”

Section: Impression Managingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Is One Social Media Platform Not Enough? A Typology of Platform-Swinging Behavior and Associated Affordance Preferences

Wang,

Chen,

Jiang

2024

Social Media + Society

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This study seeks to advance the scholarship on the phenomenon of social media platform-swinging in the context of the polymedia environment in China. Specifically, drawing on the theoretical frameworks of uses and gratifications and channel complementarity theory, we propose that the platform-swinging behavior is driven by users’ various complementary and supplementary needs. Drawing on 32 semi-structured interviews, we identify four distinct types of platform-swinging behavior: social connecting, impression managing, information seeking, and aimless swinging. We further reveal that, depending on various complementary and supplementary needs, each type of platform-swinging behavior has distinct media affordance preferences. By profiling the distinct platform-swinging behaviors and examining their preferred affordances, the study advances our theoretical understanding of the dynamics between the polymedia ecology and users’ gratifications.

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Perspectives of Young People on Social Media-Based Sexuality Education Using a Feminist Approach in China: A Qualitative Study

Ma,

Chen,

Eleanor

et al. 2024

Arch Sex Behav

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The feminist approach to sexuality education challenges and changes power dynamics and inequalities embedded within sexuality, while social media serves as a tool for building online communities and raising awareness about feminist issues. Adopting a feminist approach to sexuality education, particularly through social media platforms, remains largely unexplored and underdeveloped. In China, where traditional sex education is often limited and stigmatized, sexuality has been influenced by a complex interplay of traditional gender norms, evolving social attitudes, and state intervention. The aim of this study was to evaluate both sex educators and their online followers’ perceptions of the implementation of social media-based sexuality education using a feminist approach in China. Semi-structured online interviews were carried out with 10 educators and 18 young followers, followed by thematic analysis using NVivo. The findings indicated that social media-based sexuality education using a feminist approach might be used to help disrupt oppressive norms about gender and sexuality and foster a positive attitude toward women’s sexuality. Chinese online sex educators strategically avoided the term “feminism” and creatively evaded censorship and spread their messages in alignment with government policies while advocating for gender equality. However, participants also highlighted the existence of barriers, including internal conflicts, gender imbalances, social stigmatization, and political constraints, which needed to be addressed in order to effectively implement this approach.

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The techno-beauty myth: the self-representations of young Chinese women on social media

Cited by 6 publications

References 44 publications

Young Females Appearance Anxiety in the Self-presentation of the Social Media Platform Xiaohongshu

Young Females Appearance Anxiety in the Self-presentation of the Social Media Platform Xiaohongshu

Why Is One Social Media Platform Not Enough? A Typology of Platform-Swinging Behavior and Associated Affordance Preferences

Perspectives of Young People on Social Media-Based Sexuality Education Using a Feminist Approach in China: A Qualitative Study

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