Douyin and the Digital Spread of Intangible Cultural Heritage: Transforming Cultural Dissemination in the Short Videos Age

Abstract

Since 2019, Douyin (known as TikTok in the West) has shown a growing interest in culture and intangible cultural heritage (ICH), assuming an increasingly significant role in its promotion, aligned with the directives of the Chinese Communist Party. Based on a novel field study (22 interviews), this article analyzes the strategies for developing content offerings related to ICH, hypothesizing that the short video market is being shaped by the professionalization of its creators, supported by key values of the cultural industries, and driven by artificial intelligence–powered algorithms. Our study reveals the growing importance of this professionalization and the crucial role of Multi-Channel Network agencies in coordinating and disseminating content, aiming to optimize results while minimizing risks. This raises the question of the transformation of the social media giant into a cultural industry. Douyin has successfully launched campaigns such as “Intangible Heritage on Douyin,” collaborated with local governments to showcase traditional crafts, and supported content creators specializing in cultural transmission.

Introduction

Douyin and China’s digital cultural turn

Douyin is one of the most popular social media platforms in China, emerging as a critical player in the nation's broader cultural revitalization and digital transformation agenda. Supported by strong government policy—evidenced by initiatives such as the 14th Five-Year Plan (Report 357A08-13-2021-0001: 11) and cultural digitalization strategies aimed at safeguarding and promoting intangible cultural heritage (ICH)—Douyin has grown into much more than just a digital network company. With over 730 million monthly active users, a significant portion of whom are under the age of 35, the platform leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to empower video producers, enhance content popularity, safeguard intellectual property, and enable monetization.

The heritage partner plan and institutional collaboration

In 2019, Douyin launched the “Heritage Partner Plan,” forging partnerships with local cultural institutions and annually recruiting 50 Chinese experts to create professional accounts and establish Multi-Channel Network (MCN) agencies. This initiative has led to the dissemination of 1,214 national ICH assets on the platform, which now represents 88% of China's officially recognized ICH content. Today, Douyin stands as the largest ICH dissemination platform in the country. By 2023, it hosted more than 300,000 accounts dedicated to ICH, with 19,000 new live streams daily and over 13 ICH-related videos uploaded every minute. The platform's ICH-focused content had accumulated over 543 billion views, with top accounts reaching tens of millions of followers, including influencers such as Jia TianTian (3.05 million followers) and Xiao Hei Zhu Ming (15.8 million followers).

Douyin has also provided training to ICH holders, supported content production through MCN agencies, and launched digital campaigns promoting rural artisans, thereby professionalizing their presence online and enabling them to reach wider audiences. Notably, public funding and local government partnerships have contributed to Douyin's success in positioning ICH as both a cultural and economic asset.

Including more detailed information on Douyin's initiatives in promoting ICH would considerably enhance the analytical depth of the following discussion. As Smith (2006) argues, heritage is not only about the past but also about its ongoing negotiation in the present; platforms like Douyin play a crucial role in this process by mediating cultural expressions. Empirical examples of how the platform supports local crafts, traditional performing arts, or indigenous storytelling practices would provide concrete evidence of its involvement in ICH transmission. This aligns with UNESCO's emphasis on the role of media in safeguarding ICH in the digital age (UNESCO, 2011). Quantitative metrics—such as video views, shares, and audience reach—could substantiate claims of impact, as suggested in works on digital cultural participation (Highfield & Leaver, 2016). Incorporating community voices or testimonials from cultural bearers would enrich the narrative, echoing Hafstein's (2009) call for participatory heritage practices. The strategic role of algorithms in curating and amplifying heritage content deserves particular attention, as discussed by Gillespie (2014) in his work on algorithmic power. Furthermore, identifying partnerships with institutions (e.g., museums, heritage NGOs) would situate Douyin within formal heritage frameworks. Comparative insights with platforms such as YouTube or Kuaishou could help contextualize Douyin's unique position in the Chinese digital ecosystem. Ultimately, drawing on both theoretical and empirical sources would provide a robust assessment of Douyin's contributions to the safeguarding and recontextualization of ICH in contemporary digital culture.

Research focus and hypothesis

Based on extensive fieldwork, this article analyzes the production, dissemination, and promotion strategies of ICH-related videos on Douyin. We hypothesize that the short video content market is being shaped by the increasing professionalization of its creators, a trend supported by key values from the cultural industries and amplified by AI-powered algorithms.

Our study aims to identify the transformation of Douyin from a short video market leader into a powerhouse of cultural industry. This shift not only illustrates the market's scale and economic potential but also reveals the platform's growing role in transforming both the production and consumption of cultural content in the Chinese context.

Literature review

Douyin's strategies for professionalizing vloggers and integrating official actors in heritage promotion underscore the emergence of a content market centered on short videos, typically under 20 s. This ecosystem is pivotal for both content production and promotion, reflecting the dynamic evolution of the user-generated content (UGC) industry. In this context, the analysis aligns with the tripartite economic models proposed by Peng et al. (2020), informed by foundational concepts in cultural industries as discussed by Bouquillion (2008), Voirol (2011), and Miège (2017). These models emphasize critical components such as talent pools, hits, catalogs, and the economics of the star system (Benhamou, 2002), providing a theoretical framework to understand the underlying dynamics.

The role of MCNs is instrumental in redefining traditional brokerage and intermediary models within this landscape, as highlighted by Moeglin (2007) and Tirole (2003). Multi-Channel Networks function as intermediaries, connecting content creators to broader audiences and reshaping the operational framework of UGC in the digital economy. The professionalization of amateurs, particularly through the integration of AI, further categorizes content into three distinct classes: UGC, professionally generated content (PGC), and occupationally generated content (OGC) (Gilardi & Lam, 2022; Liang & Ji, 2023). Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) produce content initially classified as UGC but capable of transforming into PGC or OGC, underscoring the significance of technical production quality and targeted dissemination strategies. This transformation raises critical questions regarding the constitution and functioning of content markets, as well as the dynamics of the evolving economic models platforms like Douyin adopt. While dissemination is an important aspect, production takes precedence in this framework, especially given its optimization through AI.

Douyin's strategies to encourage content creation and enhance its reputation are twofold. The first strategy involves utilizing professional video production services to assist amateurs in crafting high-quality videos, subsequently promoted through MCN agencies acting as third-party facilitators. These agencies, also referred to as Content Operators, manage the creative process and metadata development and are compensated with commissions based on the content's success (Bhatia, 2023; Moeglin, 2007; Rebillard, 2012). Artificial intelligence plays a pivotal role within these agencies, enhancing audience development, optimizing video production, identifying relevant trends, and conducting performance analyses linked to intangible heritage. The second strategy leverages AI to identify independent accounts that do not engage with MCNs but possess at least 10,000 followers and produce content aligning with Douyin's recommendations (Hu & Liun, 2023; Wang, 2022). These creators are offered benefits such as copyright and intellectual property protection, facilitating monetization. Artificial intelligence is also employed to generate critical metadata for videos—such as tags and visibility features—helping to counterbalance the lack of visibility for emerging creators and aiding their growth (Hu & Liun, 2023).

The platform is thus seeking to renew and diversify its pool of influencers, taking its inspiration from the record industry, in line with other cultural industries (Cunningham & Craig, 2021; Hesmondhalgh, 2019; Miège, 2017). The content creation market is therefore structured and driven by strategies at several levels that aim to categorize vloggers and build a broad and stable offering based on models reminiscent of several structuring elements of the cultural industries (the pool, the hit, and the catalog) (Benhamou, 2018; Currah, 2007) and the information industries (brokerage, the agency) (Jenkins, 2006; Rebillard, 2012).

Existing literature has explored various facets of Douyin's content ecosystem, yet several critical areas remain underexamined. While studies have acknowledged the platform's role in professionalizing content creators through MCNs and categorizing content via AI-driven recommendation systems, comprehensive analyses that integrate these elements are limited. Furthermore, the incorporation of traditional cultural industry values, such as the star system and content cataloging, into Douyin's digital platform remains insufficiently examined. Additionally, while some research has investigated the role of AI in content creation and distribution, there is a need for more focused studies on how AI-driven content recommendation systems contribute to reducing perceived risks and uncertainties for both content creators and consumers. Addressing these gaps will provide a more comprehensive understanding of Douyin's role in the digital content ecosystem and its intersection with traditional cultural industries.

The research question is is therefore:

Do the strategies for building Douyin's content offer involve the professionalization of content creators and the categorization of content, while being supported by several strong values of the traditional cultural industries and operated in part by AI algorithms that reduce the notions of risk and uncertainty?

Methodology

This paper is based on two main datasets. The first database is based on the 150 most-liked videos focusing on elements of intangible Chinese cultural heritage (ICH) related to the two cities of Hangzhou or Shenzhen collected during Dr Qian Guo's PhD research in 2022. The construction of this research database is mainly based on the in-depth analysis of these videos on the Douyin platform, which involves three main levels: firstly, classifying and labeling the industries that the videos are mainly about, secondly, classifying and labeling the presentation modes of the videos, and thirdly, classifying and labeling the types of publishers of the videos. These in-depth descriptive data of video analyses have initially revealed the presentation patterns and characteristics of ICH on the Douyin platform.

The dataset has revealed that 96% of the 150 highly viewed videos are associated with ICH-related cultural and creative industries (e.g., West Lake ice cream and Hakka straw hats). Forty-six of these videos are dedicated to showcasing or demonstrating a single ICH element, which is their core and unique focus. These data suggest that content creators are supporting and promoting ICH by developing new communication strategies (Rojon, 2015). While this dataset somewhat reveals trends and validates the practices of jitterbugs and bloggers, it is insufficient to fully capture these dynamics. In order to better understand the economic mechanisms and strategies behind the production and promotion of this content, as well as to explore the workings of this new, more inclusive, diverse, and popular market, we conducted a series of interviews (see supplementary material appendix section). This series of in-depth interviews constitutes the second database of the study. The second fieldwork dataset is thus a further deep description and exploration of the first online media dataset.

Over a period of four months (from September 2023 to January 2024), we conducted the following in-person interviews: First, two semistructured interviews with key resource persons from Douyin, four interviews with cultural companies or MCN agencies linked to Douyin, and four formal interviews with digital companies producing digital content on ICH. These interviews helped us shed light on Douyin's industrial strategies and provided essential context (See Tables 1a and 1b).

Tables 1a and 1b.

List of Interviews with Douyin Representatives, MCN Agencies Connected to Douyin, and Digital Companies Producing Digital Content Related to ICH.

Name	Role	Company	Nature of the company
Mr M	Engineer, Mega-Engine Department	Douyin	Social media company
Mr D	Engineer, Mega-Engine Department
Mr Wang HaoZhu	Project Manager	NetEase	Digital company
Mr Mo JingQing	Director of Public Relations
Mr B	Deputy General Manager	Tencent Interactive Entertainment	Tencent
Mr Liu SanJin	Head of “Taobao Craftsmen"	Alibaba-Taobao Artisan	Digital company

Name	Role	MCN	Managed accounts	Followers
Mr Bi JingHua	CEO	Qi Ren Artisan	You Zhi San Da Shi	957,000
			Ci Xiu Da Shi	764,000
			Jin Xi Ying Gong Da Shi	294,000
			Tong Diao Da Shi	527,000
			Zhu Mu Ji Yi Da Shi	1,874,000
Mr S	Former Director	Er Geng	Er Geng	5,835,000
Ms. Sun Yanlan	CEO	Yuanhe Cultural and Tourism	Xiao Hei Zhu Ming	15,889,000
Ms. Fang ZhaoZhou	CEO	Jun Ting Zhen Shang	SMALL.D	3,653
			Lian Yang	618,000

Second, we conducted five semistructured interviews, supplemented by a questionnaire, with influencers who have more than 100,000 followers and are specialized in ICH, some of whom are artists or recognized masters (See Table 2). We also conducted seven semistructured interviews, supplemented by a questionnaire, with vloggers specializing in ICH who are at the early stages of their careers on the platform and are considered high-potential users by Douyin (See Table 3). In parallel, we carried out seven in-depth interviews lasting several hours with ICH stakeholders (See Table 4). These interviews were complemented by demonstrations, visits, and tastings, which form another layer of the ICH ecosystem.

Table 2.

List of Interviews with Influencers with More Than 100,000 Followers.

Name	MCN agency	Account name	Number of followers (as of 29/02/2024)
Zhu Ming	Yuanhe Cultural and Tourism	Xiao Hei Zhu Ming	15,889,000
Jia TianTian	Jia TianTian	Tian Tian Jian Zhi	3,059,000
Wu Yang	Lian Yang Studio	Lian Yang	618,000
Lu Yang	Shi San Yu	Xiao Dou Kou	1,206,000
Jian MingWei	Yunjin Research Institute	Nan Jing Yun Jin Yan Jiu Suo	320,000

Table 3.

List of Interviews with Vloggers Specializing in ICH at the Beginning of Their Careers.

Name	Role	Company	Nature of the company	Number of followers
Mr Wen QiuWen	Vlogger	Jun Ting Zhen Shang	MCN	3,653
Mr Hu Tingting	Vlogger	Tongling Shanli Culture Development Co	ICH inheritor (White Ginger)	6,774
Mr Zhao ShuXia	Vlogger	Zhao Shu Xian Studio	ICH inheritors (ICH Studio)	3,232
Mr Guo Hui	CEO	Oriental Secret	Creative industry	5,327
Mr Qiu Jian	Entrepreneur	Qiu Jian Studio	Creative industry, ICH Studio	3,200
Mr WANG Yi	Entrepreneur	Jun Chuan Respiration	Creative industry, ICH Studio	1,120
Mr Xiao Yan	Independent entrepreneur	Team X Workshop	Specialized ICH IP management	4,230

Table 4.

List of Interviews with ICH Stakeholders.

Name	Role	Organization
Ms. C	General Manager, Marketing Dept.	Phoenix Digital Technology Beijing
Mr Yu Wan Xin	Magazine Director	Reader, Shenzhen
Ms. Zhao Yan Yan	Director, Education, Culture, and Tourism Dept.	National Tea Museum, Hangzhou
Mr Y	Village Chief, Government Official	Zen Tea Village, Jinshan
Ms. Y	Director, Government Official	Bureau of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Ping Shan, Shenzhen
Ms. Z	Director, Government Official	Municipal Tourism and Culture Bureau, Xi'An
Ms. Hui Xuan	Director	National Geography of Tea, Shenzhen

We designed tailored interview questions to address the unique characteristics of each respondent group (see Appendices 1 and 2). Interview guides were designed to operationalize the central research question outlined in the literature review: whether Douyin's content offering strategies are shaped by the professionalization of content creators and the categorization of content, supported by the values of traditional cultural industries and partially orchestrated by AI to mitigate uncertainty and risk.

Accordingly, the interview questions varied by participant type: for digital media platform managers, we explored issues such as platform positioning and cooperation with government agencies; for MCN agencies, we focused on their role in supporting creators and applying data-driven strategies; for content creators, we examined creative processes and professionalization pathways; and for cultural institutions, we discussed digital dissemination practices and strategic positioning in the Douyin ecosystem.

Several specific details must be highlighted regarding the interviews, as fieldwork with such actors in China has characteristics. First, the two interviews related to Douyin were granted by a former employee who left the company in October 2023, Mr Shen, and a current employee who spoke privately without agreeing to be named, referred to as Mr D, a marketing strategist who was one of the leaders of the Mega Engine department at ByteDance, responsible for Douyin's content commercialization. Finally, we conducted interviews with officials from various communication or tourism bureaus, which are components of the local government. Several interviewees spoke on behalf of their organizations, not in a personal capacity, and their statements are identified by the name of the respective companies.

While a few interviews were conducted in English, most were in Mandarin, with seamless communication thanks to AI translation tools on tablets, which allowed all participants to understand each other. These tools also ensured a complete record (audio and text files in both languages) of the interviews, with the obvious need for subsequent revision.

Artificial intelligence plays a central role in the preservation, promotion, and utilization of ICH, offering new opportunities for heritage marketing, cultural tourism, and public awareness. This technological promise is particularly beneficial for much of China's ICH, whose promotion had reached a communication deadlock due to its intangible and ephemeral nature (Sun & Xu, 2020; Tang, 2023) and the “niche cultures” it conveys. Therefore, the relational and promotional potential of social media (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, p. 220), supported by AI, is seen to develop strategies for building a new market for content related to intangible heritage elements specific to certain cultures. This growing attention to ICH, spread across all levels of society, has led to a significant number of relevant case studies on Chinese social media, including Douyin.

Douyin and ICH

It was during the pandemic, and because of (or thanks to) the long and strict lockdown it imposed in China, that Douyin began to focus on culture and creativity. Faced with boredom and anxiety, Chinese users turned to creative hobbies and rediscovered ancient craftsmanship, leading to the circulation of tutorials and the emergence of the phenomenon [Mr Zhu]. By 2020, the platform had attracted over 600 million daily active users, with 543 billion views on videos related to culture. Douyin maintained this momentum by extending the duration of videos—initially limited to 15 s—and by establishing the first MCN agencies to support the activities of the 22 million creators on the platform [Mr Shen]. Even before the pandemic ended, on May 25, 2021, the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released its 14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, explicitly encouraging the promotion of ICH through digital media (De Bidera et al., 2022). The plan emphasizes the need to expand ICH dissemination channels, encouraging all types of media to fully and deeply engage in promoting ICH, showcasing its inheritors, and publicizing their projects. Building on its existing focus on culture and creativity, Douyin seized this opportunity and specialized in ICH, as mandated by the 14th Plan.

Douyin then implemented an extremely proactive strategy, aiming to assemble various categories of actors necessary for the success of the project: ICH inheritors, content producers, and fans [Mr D]. On one hand, Douyin encouraged and supported professional ICH institutions (museums, cultural centers, workshops, galleries), inviting them to join the platform by creating official accounts that the company promoted. On the other hand, Douyin's teams actively scouted remote villages to visit local artisans and produce videos that they promoted on official accounts [Mr Shen]. At the same time, Douyin's teams trained ICH holders in video production and value-creation strategies that should follow (Yi, 2023). This highly supported initiative has led to the formation of small teams around ICH holders, as artists or artisans can no longer operate alone and isolated. It has also resulted in the multiplication of “studios”—spaces where ICH elements are brought to life—and the offering of a diverse range of ICH content on Douyin, with official accounts from ICH organizations and experts (often academics) offering online lectures, as well as previously unknown ICH inheritors, young creative companies like Oriental Secret that commercialize cultural products, tourism operators like National Geography of Tea, and finally, the fans who are gradually discovering this passion for ICH. The creation and interest in ICH-related content has been supported by public funding, as this strategy aligned directly with the directives of the 14th Five-Year Plan.

The current success is thus attributed to three contextual factors: the national political will to promote ICH; a strong set of national public policies supporting industries (data, internet, digital) to promote Chinese culture both domestically and abroad, using new technologies which are also being promoted; and the enthusiasm of young people, eventually shared by a large part of the population, for local or ethnic culture, which somewhat compensates for the effects of the Cultural Revolution.

Therefore, the context of this study is based on these three structural and converging elements, which generate a synergy that accelerates the transformation of practices—both from the perspective of internet users rediscovering their cultural roots through social media and from that of platform operators investing in a new state-supported market in collaboration with ICH inheritors who are developing studios, essentially small creative industries, through their heritage productions and videos.

The research question is therefore as follows: How has the integration of AI and social media platforms such as Douyin facilitated the preservation, promotion, and commercialization of China's ICH, and what role do public policies and digital media strategies play in fostering a new market for ICH content in the post-pandemic era?

The content creation market: A lever for the transformation of digital giants?

Social media platforms focused on short videos, primarily created by amateurs, operate on two key logics: the network logic, which connects users, and the video logic, which drives viewership. The first logic pertains to addressing, determining the recipient, while the second revolves around creation, blending professionalism with appeal, and leading to the platform's success.

The case of Douyin demonstrates a shift in content creation and the valuation it represents. The platform structures the content creation market through multilayered strategies that we will explore. Specifically, regarding intangible heritage, two sources of value stand out: the vlogger and the ICH they discuss or claim to represent. Over time, Douyin has evolved into a hub for video content creation, positioning itself as a cultural industry (Ma & Guo, 2023) by supporting and encouraging content creation. Douyin's ecosystem is growing, echoing several characteristics of traditional cultural industries: the talent pool, featuring high-potential vloggers and followers; the star system with KOLs; and cultural products.

Our aim is to analyze Douyin's content offering strategies to determine if they align with the core values of cultural industries, which could indicate a significant economic repositioning. The stakes are particularly high for intangible heritage, potentially transforming Douyin from a social network into a cultural platform delivering cultural and creative content and products.

The talent pool

The concept of a “talent pool” refers to the collection of human, creative, and artistic resources available for cultural content production. This pool serves as a reservoir of talent and expertise essential for the creation, production, and distribution of cultural content. Early French research on cultural industries (Huet et al., 1978) identified various types of talent pools, and their evolution has been extensively studied (Bouquillion, 2013; Bullich & Schmitt, 2019; Constantini, 2012, 2015; Thuillas & Wiart, 2019). Douyin's talent pool, particularly the vloggers focused on ICH, displays several key characteristics of traditional cultural industry pools.

The first characteristic is the immense diversity within the pool, featuring a wide variety of talents and skills that reflect the richness of cultural expressions from different geographical, social, and cultural backgrounds. This diversity enhances the creativity of the content produced. The second characteristic is the constant renewal of the talent pool, fostering vitality and diversity in the cultural content produced while enabling the emergence of new trends and forms of expression. Trends come and go, focusing on a celebrity, a heritage element, or even a new way of filming or storytelling (Guo, 2023, pp. 237–363).

In China, a unique third characteristic of Douyin's talent pool is the presence of a special category: the “talents,” who are official heirs of ICH, supported, recognized, and promoted by the Communist Party of China (CPC). These talents include artists like painter Mrs. Wu, experts like Mrs. Xiao, who promotes KunQu Opera, and artisans like Mr Zhao, who crafts velvet flowers. As KOLs, these individuals are vital to Douyin's talent pool and play a crucial role in preserving and transmitting traditional practices, aligned with CPC priorities. The strategic objective of including talents in the pool is threefold: valorizing ICH, linking it to a territory, and using it for local economic and social development.

Douyin's talent pool also features KOLs who, while not the most famous ICH heirs, dynamic influencers are promoting ICH. As of December 2023, the pool included over 300,000 accounts showcasing 1,557 national ICH projects, with 19,000 live-streamed videos daily on Douyin (M.D.). Furthermore, AI plays a significant role in managing the pool, making it more rationalized and calculated (Paquienséguy, 2024). Douyin's wealth lies in its portfolio of vloggers, among whom stars—KOLs—stand out.

The star system

The economy of the star system (Peng et al., 2019) refers to a strategy of marketing and managing cultural products that rely on the complementarity of two categories of actors within the talent pool. The most prominent, the KOLs, are stars themselves and a form of cultural product experiencing massive and immediate success. In Douyin's case, KOLs attract and retain millions of followers, generating widespread enthusiasm, especially for ICH.

For example, the top three PCI accounts on Douyin in 2023 belonged to Mazhao LingYun, heir to Mount Emei Kung-Fu (13.3 million followers), Bamboo Weaving PCI (3.6 million followers), and Jia TianTian, an expert in paper cutting (3.05 million followers). These KOLs, much like music industry stars, display impressive figures, elevating Douyin's profile. According to the 2023 PCI Data Report, Douyin broadcasts 19,000 new PCI-related streams daily, with an average of 13 new videos uploaded every minute.

Addressing coupled with brokerage

Using AI's predictive and analytical capabilities, Douyin indirectly establishes a content market, setting the rules and offering tools for content valorization. This process aligns with the concept of brokerage, in which an intermediary curates and selects content (Mœglin, 2007). Douyin regulates this market by professionalizing vloggers and building an ecosystem that includes official heritage promoters and ICH-related institutions. Artificial intelligence–driven analytics help identify trends and potential accounts, targeting content toward audiences whose preferences align with those of the content creators.

Multi-channel network agencies also play a key role in this process. As of 2023, 14 MCN agencies were integrated into Douyin's platform. These agencies assist vloggers in producing professional-grade content and help them navigate metadata management to enhance visibility and profitability. They act as content brokers, selecting vloggers with potential and ensuring their success through data-driven strategies.

Finally, three elements sustain and structure the content creation market on Douyin. First, the relentless production of short videos, driven by AI-identified topics and a strong emotional connection to heritage. Second, AI facilitates content exploitation by managing metadata. Third, a strong link between videos, the ICH heir, and related cultural products allows for seamless commercial integration, with users being able to purchase heritage-related items directly from the platform.

This symbiotic relationship between creativity, professionalization, and commerce drives Douyin's transformation into a significant player in cultural industries.

Professionalization of beginner vloggers and support for KOLs

Coupled with the use of AI, the professionalization of beginner vloggers integrates social media into content industries, particularly in the cultural and heritage sectors. Filippo Gilardi and Célia Lam analyze the Chinese context using three categories: UGC, PGC, and OGC (Gilardi & Lam, 2022, p. 9). Content produced by KOLs and platform-supported accounts is initially UGC, but through technical quality and strategic dissemination, they transform into PGC or even OGC. This raises questions regarding the formation and operation of content markets, as well as the platform's economic model, which continues to diversify.

Moreover, the focus on production is more crucial than dissemination, as both are optimized by AI. Douyin selectively supports ICH content under certain conditions. The first two conditions relate to the vlogger and their account, while a third adds to the professionalization process. Specifically, Douyin only supports ICH that has been validated through “IP” (intellectual property), marked by a product range and a recognized territorial identity, as listed on national or regional heritage registries [Mr Shen, Ms Ha, Mr Zhao]. Douyin aims to promote an officially recognized yet niche ICH, creating a virtuous ecosystem. This involves local production teams, akin to models found in creative industries related to craftsmanship or luxury. Supported by a platform MCN agency and often backed by local governments via the official recognition and funding of ICH promotion under the national “rural revitalization” program, this helps alleviate poverty. The role of the MCN agency is thus strategic in this professionalization process.

The agency

Douyin has established mechanisms to professionalize amateur content creators, offering support, training, and increased recognition of their work. This professionalization ensures content quality and diversity on the platform. Through MCN agencies, UGC can be transformed into professional content using sophisticated production and distribution strategies, particularly by leveraging AI. Since the end of the pandemic [Mr D, Mr Shen], Douyin's algorithms have targeted content dissemination based on visual quality, creativity, relevance, and audience engagement. This encourages creators to produce high-quality videos, with agency support to optimize their chances of algorithmic promotion.

The presence of agencies and the platform's emphasis on specific accounts demonstrate the diverse economic models at play in Douyin [Qi Ren]. The platform moves from a brokerage model between vloggers and their audience to a broader intermediation system, with partnerships between content creators, cultural product producers, local stakeholders, and Douyin itself. Some KOLs, such as artists or master craftsmen, bypass Douyin's MCN agencies by working with their own production teams, as Wen Qiu Wen does to maintain full autonomy. Others, like Lang Yang, work directly with sponsors, as in her collaboration with BMW and Chevrolet Group to produce documentaries showcasing natural pigment collection and off-road driving [Lian Yang, Ms Fang].

Brand collaboration is a growing trend, often taking two forms: (1) working with major brands that align with the KOL's positioning, as seen in partnerships between paper artists and luxury brands like Christian Louboutin [Mr Sun]; and (2) cooperating with other heritage holders for joint projects, festivals, or cultural exhibitions, such as the Kunqu Opera partnership with tea and crab brands in Suzhou [Ms Xiao, Ms Hu]. These strategies complement Douyin's approach to producing professional-quality videos, blending documentary aesthetics with artistic ambiance (Guo, 2023, pp. 397–400).

Managing risk

Bernard Miège and Bertrand Labasse (2018) observed the inherent uncertainty of creative industries, noting that much of what is produced remains unconsumed, despite marketing efforts (Miège & Labasse, 2018, p. 8). However, interviews suggest a shift, partly due to AI algorithms (Zhang, 2022). Risk is mitigated in several ways: (1) AI identifies high-potential topics and targets niche audiences, and (2) vloggers are integrated into the economic model. Agencies such as Qi Ren and Er Geng offer contracts to vloggers, guiding their productions to ensure success.

The tight relationship between heritage creators, agencies, platforms, and audiences allows for continuous adjustments based on data collected by Douyin and utilized by agencies [Ms Fang, Mr Sun]. These adjustments, enabled by the creators' mastery of their craft, minimize the risk of obscurity. Each step, from topic selection to cultural product sales, is supported by profiling, strategic targeting, and agency or platform assistance. Hashtags and addressing strategies are key to risk reduction, with MCN agencies playing a central role in this process.

Multi-Channel Network agencies are becoming key players, providing vloggers with professional management and exploitation services, from theming and planning to content production and audience engagement. By aggregating various PGC or OGC content, they help vloggers generate stable income from their videos and cultural product sales, fostering collaboration between content creators, platforms, and brands. For platforms like Douyin, MCN agencies ensure continuous, high-quality content production, and supporting the platform's economic development and reputation in cultural heritage [Mr Shen]. For brands, MCN agencies optimize ad placement with appropriate influencers, increasing conversion rates [JunTingZhenShang].

Almost all content creators seeking to diversify and monetize their work collaborate closely with MCN agencies or establish their own [Lian Yang, Jia Tian Tian]. Agencies also maintain good relationships with local governments, securing economic or symbolic support during content production stages, often starting with the local labeling of ICH.

Multi-Channel Network agencies are becoming essential in the short-video market, organizing vloggers' productions for maximum impact. They classify and connect content producers with suitable brands, strategically managing production and traffic in real time, supported by AI and informed by key performance indicators.

Finding

The study reveals that the pandemic accelerated Douyin's shift toward culture and creativity, transforming it into a dynamic platform for promoting China's ICH. By 2023, Douyin had become the largest dissemination platform for ICH in China, hosting more than 300,000 accounts featuring content related to 1,557 national ICH projects. The platform facilitated over 19,000 live streams per day and saw an average of 13 new ICH-related videos uploaded every minute.

The platform's achievements include its ability to turn traditionally niche ICH practices—such as velvet flower crafting, Hakka straw hat weaving, and paper cutting—into viral cultural phenomena followed by millions of users. Accounts such as Mazhao LingYun (13.3 million followers) and Bamboo Weaving PCI (3.6 million followers) illustrate the power of the platform in elevating artisans to influencer status. By leveraging national policies like the 14th Five-Year Plan and capitalizing on public enthusiasm for rediscovering cultural roots, Douyin integrated ICH inheritors, cultural institutions, and creative talent into a robust ecosystem. It created partnerships with museums and local governments, offered free training to ICH holders, and supported the creation of “studios” to facilitate video production.

Its strategic use of AI not only enhanced content production and professionalized amateur vloggers via MCN agencies but also established a star system that elevated KOLs. This ecosystem—characterized by diversified talent pools, strategic brand collaborations, and effective risk management—successfully converts UGC into professional-grade cultural narratives.

Ultimately, the research underscores how Douyin's model redefines the content creation market, demonstrating how short-form video and algorithmic promotion can actively preserve, valorize, and commercialize ICH at an unprecedented scale.

Conclusion

The study of content creation strategies on Douyin reveals a complex ecosystem where traditional cultural industries, the contributions of AI, the integration of public policies, and the complementarity of various economic models converge. This analysis provides a deeper understanding of the dynamics at play within the social media content market, particularly in the realm of short videos in the Chinese context.

A key characteristic of this market—observable not only on Douyin but also across other Chinese social networks—is its dual objective: traffic generation and the simultaneous valorization of KOLs and ICH. Douyin has successfully operationalized this model, giving rise to a new generation of cultural influencers, some of whom are officially recognized ICH bearers supported by government certification and local economic policies. Notable achievements include the establishment of over a dozen MCN agencies specializing in ICH content, the dissemination of more than 1,200 certified ICH items, and billions of cumulative views highlighting traditional practices once confined to local communities. These means include the sale of cultural goods and products, intellectual property protection, traffic generation, brand partnerships, and advertising contracts.

The ecosystem surrounding ICH on Douyin—while merely an example here—appears relatively straightforward, with accessible mechanisms. It is supported by public funding, AI-driven targeting, professional content curation, and deep integration with national strategies such as the “rural revitalization” program. Multi-Channel Network agencies and ICH influencers have forged new hybrid roles as both custodians of culture and entrepreneurs of digital identity. Certainly, concerns remain about the potential for a passing trend to undermine this seemingly virtuous ecosystem. Intangible cultural heritage could fall out of favor in future development plans to be announced at the 21st CPC Congress in October 2027, or a contraction of the market—driven by a decline in cultural video consumption—could occur, especially in light of economic recession.

However, the most significant change to consider is the transformation of self-publishing platforms (a term that may now warrant revision), which initially operated as social networks, into robust cultural industries capable of preserving, promoting, and monetizing heritage. This transformation highlights a particular relationship with the creative industries, as the “studios” of vloggers who hold ICH develop and grow with the dual support of MCN agencies and the platform. Could the circle, then, be closing?