Abstract
Discursive tensions accompanying platform commercialization and governance have been overlooked in prevailing platform development models. This article advances a critical, discourse-oriented platform historiography by demonstrating how longitudinal shifts in graphicon use (kaomojis, emojis, and stickers) can be used to trace dimensions of platform development that are not captured in existing historiographic accounts. A mixed-methods analysis of 14 years of discursive practices on Bilibili shows that graphicons function as a discursive historical trace that makes visible the standardization and recontextualization of subcultural practices during four stages of platform consolidation: (1) emergence of the subculture and establishment of a specialized ACG (Animation, Comics, and Games) community through grassroots kaomoji practices; (2) consolidation of the subculture and stabilization of subcultural identity via widespread and routinized kaomoji use; (3) de-(sub)culturalization, driven by commercialization and intensified governance, marked by a pronounced decline in kaomoji use without a corresponding uptake of emojis or stickers; and (4) re-culturalization and platform rebranding through Bilibili-specific emojis and stickers. The study contributes to a non-Western understanding of digital discourse by showing how multimodal discursive practices on a Chinese platform illuminate specific pathways of platform evolution.
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