□ Zhang Liwen (Hunan Women's University)
Recently, the topic "Why young people like to watch short dramas" has become a hot search topic on Weibo. Jiang Shengnan, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that today's young people live at a fast pace, and micro-short dramas and other short plays have emerged as the times require. The cultural needs of young people are diverse. They not only need "short and quick" cultural consumption, but also need spiritual nourishment from long-form dramas and long-form literature.
In the era of mobile Internet, short videos and short dramas are developing rapidly. The long-form TV series and movies are gradually being replaced by short dramas, becoming the "new favorite" for young people to spend time and relax. Why do these video contents, which last only a few minutes or even a few seconds, attract the attention of young people and become their new favorites?
First of all, it is a fast-paced lifestyle. Traditional TV series and movies usually focus on long narratives, which require viewers to spend hours or even dozens of hours to understand and experience. However, as the pace of life accelerates, young people's needs for cultural consumption have also changed. They prefer to obtain information and entertainment in a short period of time, and short dramas meet this need. The rhythm of the short play is more compact and the plot advances faster, allowing young people to understand the entire story in a short time. At the same time, the short dramas of a few minutes per episode allow young people to quickly watch them during their breaks at work, and to quickly entertain themselves while waiting for the bus or subway. This fragmented and fast-paced lifestyle perfectly fits the lives of contemporary young people. The reason why
short plays are loved by young people is also because it reflects the social psychology of contemporary young people to a certain extent. In modern society, young people are facing tremendous life and work pressure. Some plots and lines in short plays can often resonate with young people. Common problems in contemporary society such as workplace disputes, emotional problems and trivia in life are intuitively presented in the short play. Young people can find an outlet for self-identity and emotional release while watching. In addition, through its characteristics of light humor and dramatic conflict, short plays provide young people with a relaxing and enjoyable pastime, helping them find a moment of relaxation and fun in their busy lives.
At the same time, the diversity of short drama content is also an important reason to attract young people. From youthful campus to urban emotions, from suspense reasoning to historical legends, there are all kinds of genres. This diversification of cultural products meets the personalized and differentiated cultural needs of young people and provides young people with a rich choice space.
short plays, as an emerging cultural phenomenon, have had a profound impact on young people. With its fast pace, strong conflict and dramatic characteristics, short plays provide young people with a relaxed and enjoyable cultural consumption experience. It meets the psychological needs of young people who want quick entertainment in a fast-paced life, allowing them to enjoy the charm of stories during a short break. At the same time, short plays also promote the innovation and development of the cultural industry and bring new growth points to the cultural industry. However, there are some potential problems with skits. For example, the content of some short dramas is too single and difficult to depict complex interpersonal relationships, which may lead to audience fatigue; at the same time, some short dramas also pursue click-through rates and attention, leading to problems such as a decline in the quality of the short dramas and vulgar content, which is ignored The value of cultural products themselves.
In the "short drama" craze, we should keep calm and think. While we enjoy the pleasure brought by short plays, we should also learn to draw more spiritual nourishment from cultural products such as long-form TV series and long-form literature. These works have richer character creations, more in-depth descriptions of emotions, and a broader cultural vision, which can provide young people with a more comprehensive and in-depth cultural experience. The popularity of short plays does not mean the death of long-form TV series and long-form literature. On the contrary, the two should promote each other and jointly build a diversified cultural consumption environment.
