‘Push-and-pull’ for visibility: how do fans as users negotiate over algorithms with Chinese digital platforms?

IF 4.2 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Information Communication & Society Pub Date : 2022-12-29 DOI:10.1080/1369118X.2022.2161829

Yiyan Zhang, Shengchun Huang, Tong Li

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the algorithmic era, both users and the platform battle for visibility. Chinese fans are savvy users who explore the hidden algorithms behind platform functions. With the collectively developed algorithmic imaginary, digital fandom communities negotiate with the platform over algorithms to optimize the visibility of celebrities they endorse. Drawing from participatory observation and semi-structured interviews in Chinese online fandoms of an idol group, INTO1, we detailed how fans as digital users collectively explore, interpret, and creatively utilize algorithms to increase their idol’s visibility. We conclude that visibility, as a representation of algorithm power, is co-defined through the constant push-and-pull between digital users and the platform. This paper contributes to both algorithm and fandom studies by describing large-scale non-professional users’ daily construction of the algorithmic imaginary in the unique context of Chinese fandom and beyond. It also discusses broader civic implications of fans’ algorithmic practices to wider digital users in China.

查看原文本刊更多论文

“推拉”提高知名度：粉丝作为用户如何与中国数字平台就算法进行谈判？

摘要在算法时代，用户和平台都在争夺可见性。中国粉丝是精明的用户，他们探索平台功能背后隐藏的算法。通过集体开发的算法想象，数字粉丝社区与平台就算法进行谈判，以优化他们认可的名人的知名度。通过对偶像团体INTO1的中国在线粉丝的参与式观察和半结构化采访，我们详细介绍了粉丝作为数字用户如何集体探索、解读和创造性地利用算法来提高偶像的知名度。我们得出的结论是，可见性作为算法能力的表示，是通过数字用户和平台之间的不断推拉来共同定义的。本文通过描述大规模非专业用户在中国粉丝圈内外的独特背景下对算法想象的日常构建，为算法和粉丝圈研究做出了贡献。它还讨论了粉丝算法实践对中国更广泛的数字用户的更广泛的公民影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Information Communication & Society Multiple-

CiteScore

10.20

自引率

4.80%

发文量

110

期刊介绍： Drawing together the most current work upon the social, economic, and cultural impact of the emerging properties of the new information and communications technologies, this journal positions itself at the centre of contemporary debates about the information age. Information, Communication & Society (iCS) transcends cultural and geographical boundaries as it explores a diverse range of issues relating to the development and application of information and communications technologies (ICTs), asking such questions as: -What are the new and evolving forms of social software? What direction will these forms take? -ICTs facilitating globalization and how might this affect conceptions of local identity, ethnic differences, and regional sub-cultures? -Are ICTs leading to an age of electronic surveillance and social control? What are the implications for policing criminal activity, citizen privacy and public expression? -How are ICTs affecting daily life and social structures such as the family, work and organization, commerce and business, education, health care, and leisure activities? -To what extent do the virtual worlds constructed using ICTs impact on the construction of objects, spaces, and entities in the material world? iCS analyses such questions from a global, interdisciplinary perspective in contributions of the very highest quality from scholars and practitioners in the social sciences, gender and cultural studies, communication and media studies, as well as in the information and computer sciences.