That's a nice insight Tait, and congrats on your 2M views. I'm currently looking at how I can make use of Chinese social media myself. I'm an expat in Beijing and am trying to figure out how I can use these tools in my own industry (ELT). One thing I have noticed from looking at the short videos on Baidu, Xiaohongshu, Douyin etc. is that a lot of the videos (both Chinese and 外国人 produced) are heavily annotated with large captions across the screen and other gimmicks such as distorting people's faces, adding cartoons, sounds, etc. Any idea how these things are added - like are people using special editing tools? And do you think these things are important in attracting an audience?
One reason the subtitles are burned right into the video is because not all platforms support SRT subtitle files. So it's easier to just put the text right into the video and then upload to multiple places. I think there's a lot of different styles that could be tried. I thought some of my family videos would be more popular because my kids are a lot cuter than me. :P So, sound/video effects aren't required but can help with some content types.
Thank you for your well insights Tait! Mind me asking, would it be okay to try out posting english contents on these chinese apps, such as douyin and also xiao hong shu?
Yes, it could be. There is popular English content on them, as well as on WeChat Channels. It depends on what your goal is. If you're in a competitive niche and trying to get Chinese people to buy something, it would be tough to do so with English only. Personally, I've mostly seen English content for two areas: 1) English teachers providing tips and funny clips, 2) pure entertainment.
It later got 5M views.
I reposted this and other Chinese content to TH-cam: th-cam.com/video/jSYSCWgaQmA/w-d-xo.htmlsi=x0SoKh2M9Aos7Urz
Informative. Will have to try that style for insta reels music covers maybe
That's a nice insight Tait, and congrats on your 2M views. I'm currently looking at how I can make use of Chinese social media myself. I'm an expat in Beijing and am trying to figure out how I can use these tools in my own industry (ELT).
One thing I have noticed from looking at the short videos on Baidu, Xiaohongshu, Douyin etc. is that a lot of the videos (both Chinese and 外国人 produced) are heavily annotated with large captions across the screen and other gimmicks such as distorting people's faces, adding cartoons, sounds, etc. Any idea how these things are added - like are people using special editing tools? And do you think these things are important in attracting an audience?
One reason the subtitles are burned right into the video is because not all platforms support SRT subtitle files. So it's easier to just put the text right into the video and then upload to multiple places.
I think there's a lot of different styles that could be tried. I thought some of my family videos would be more popular because my kids are a lot cuter than me. :P
So, sound/video effects aren't required but can help with some content types.
Thank you for your well insights Tait! Mind me asking, would it be okay to try out posting english contents on these chinese apps, such as douyin and also xiao hong shu?
Yes, it could be. There is popular English content on them, as well as on WeChat Channels.
It depends on what your goal is. If you're in a competitive niche and trying to get Chinese people to buy something, it would be tough to do so with English only.
Personally, I've mostly seen English content for two areas: 1) English teachers providing tips and funny clips, 2) pure entertainment.