with the help of algorithms, knowledge-based short videos are becoming more alive
2024-09-24
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
author: sun yanyang
"grandpa academician called me kid!" the word "kid" in the short video shortens the distance of knowledge popularization. recently, from white-haired academicians to young scholars, they have all joined douyin, and "cold knowledge" that is not familiar to the audience has continued to go viral. jin yong, an academician of the chinese academy of engineering, who is nearly 90 years old, popularized the "magic" of chemistry to netizens, liu jiaqi, an academician of the chinese academy of sciences, is affectionately called "grandpa academician of volcano" by netizens, xu hong, a researcher at the institute of archaeology of the chinese academy of social sciences, has become the "first person in public archaeology", and gou qian, a "baby-faced" professor at chongqing university, popularized interstellar chemistry from a new perspective.
the latest "54th statistical report on the development of china's internet" shows that as of june 2024, the scale of short video users will reach 1.05 billion, accounting for 95.5% of the total number of netizens, and the scale of users and usage time of short video platforms will grow steadily. the platform algorithm has played an indispensable role in the "two-way rush" between netizens and knowledge-based short videos. xia deyuan, professor at the school of publishing of shanghai university of technology and researcher at the national philosophy and social sciences innovation base for journalism, communication and mediated society research of fudan university, believes that "the algorithm has constructed a new paradigm of knowledge production and consumption, which not only establishes a precise connection between knowledge producers and consumers, but also surpasses the "hypertext" and "hyperlink" models of the web era, using algorithms to reveal the inherent connections between knowledge, which is likely to make knowledge "snacks" increasingly become "main meals" and bedtime "readings" gradually upgrade to "textbooks."
algorithms help make “cold knowledge” popular
string theory, as a branch of theoretical physics, does have a "cold" look. but zhou siyi, an associate professor at chongqing university and blogger of "string theory world" with 1.2 million fans, uses the most basic concepts of physics as an entry point, and the originally profound knowledge is passed on in the cloud chat. netizens from different cultural backgrounds left messages saying "i roughly know what's going on after watching it, and i have a strong desire to understand it." some people still feel unsatisfied after watching a video of "cosmic speed", so they read qian xuesen's "introduction to interstellar navigation". the reporter found that zhou siyi's doctoral supervisor, wang yi, a professor of physics at the hong kong university of science and technology, is also "studying the universe" on douyin, and the master and apprentice often interact with each other in the world of popular science. in addition, various unpopular knowledge content such as philosophy, quantum tunneling, and vacuum catastrophes are blooming everywhere on douyin, and netizens frequently follow up.
why is unpopular knowledge becoming popular on short video platforms? algorithms promote the "open source" and "traffic diversion" of knowledge dissemination, and accurate and effective content distribution allows unpopular content to find people who are truly interested. for videos, the audience size is growing like a "snowball"; for the audience, series of videos on similar tracks will continue to appear. in addition, there are more convenient algorithm mechanisms such as active search, popular recommendations, and user sharing. audiences gather from different channels, making those previously unknown unpopular knowledge boil again.
the algorithm provides video creators with a clearer user portrait and also affects the way science popularization is created. from "super hardcore" to "soft science popularization", and then to sharing academic insights, museum tours and chatting with peers with netizens, zhou siyi is constantly working with her science popularization "friends". she once said, "everyone said that i was more hardcore when making videos, so today i will talk about a very simple concept. as long as you understand the pythagorean theorem, you can understand it." when wuhan university professor su dechao talks about philosophy, he will also pay attention to the audience's feedback and choose to introduce it from hot topics. xia deyuan believes: "video platforms such as tiktok not only activate people's curiosity, but also facilitate the popularization of knowledge. in other words, new media platforms have created both new knowledge consumers and new knowledge producers."
user interaction goes beyond “cloud courseware”
knowledge-based short videos have become a "cloud courseware" that every netizen has a copy of. the "2024 short video platform co-creation of a new knowledge communication ecosystem report" shows that short videos have become a major supplementary learning channel in addition to schools, books, online course platforms, medium and long videos, etc. however, the users' sense of gain does not stop there. some people in the comment area expressed their agreement, some asked serious questions, and some even joked and told jokes. academic authorities are not the only spokespersons, and "cloud courseware" is no longer "covered with dust" in the interaction, further promoting the "liveliness" of knowledge-based short videos.
nie ying, associate professor at the academy of fine arts of tsinghua university, brought the "tricks" of disney landscape design to the stage. netizens dug out their real experiences of going to disneyland and said they "suddenly realized", with more than 10,000 comments; academician jin yong explained the reverse thinking behind the bullet holes in the fighter planes, and the "survivor bias" was discussed happily in the comment area; academician liu jiaqi introduced the basalt fiber material that "turns stones into gold" to netizens, and someone shared the "fiber image in the rope-like lava" taken in hawaii. the details of knowledge are more vivid in professional explanations and repeated discussions. in this process, comments, pictures, keyword secondary searches and other entrances can be seen everywhere on the platform. every action of netizens is increasing the popularity of the topic, and the vitality of the "cloud courseware" is more visualized.
real involvement in life is often a feature of popular knowledge short videos. it explores the content that people are really curious about from a professional perspective and provides a stage for everyone to communicate and even perform. in addition to the knowledge itself, it discusses the employment and development issues of related professions to clear more blind spots for netizens. after listening to xu hong's talk about archaeology, some people think that "archaeologists are very similar to detective conan"; gou qian introduced the professional development of "interstellar chemistry", and many netizens who heard about it for the first time said that "starcraft is really waiting to see"; and the attitude of the white-haired academicians to "choose one thing and stick to it for the rest of your life" also resonated widely among netizens.
academicians and professors are present to popularize science. people often wonder, can ordinary people also appreciate the beauty of advanced professions? is the popularization of knowledge through short videos effective? in su dechao's view, popularization of knowledge is necessary, and there is no hierarchy in the appreciation of disciplines. "the part of a discipline that can be spread may not be profound, but it must be very important to the discipline. the social application of humanities is to change our lives and minds and make us feel better. under the premise of not affecting the work of the university, it is a very valuable thing to do some popularization and communication appropriately."
the algorithm activates the spread of knowledge-based short videos and activates the "people" on the platform. however, this poses a challenge to whether users can "make good use" of the algorithm. xia deyuan believes: "after users understand the operating mechanism of the algorithm, they can influence the content recommended to them by the platform through specific behavior patterns. the core lies in 'behavioral feedback', that is, through daily interactions, searches, attention and other behaviors, gradually guide the algorithm to provide content flows that are more in line with personal interests." (sun yanyang)
source: wenhui daily
