25 From platform users to platform labor: Understanding vlogging as a media industry in China

Being entangled with the wanghong (literally: popular people on the internet) culture and platform economy, vlogging culture has had a fast-rising development in China since 2019, which has also presented a transformation from self-publication to cultural production distributed and capitalized in the wanghong market. Being mobilized by platforms, Chinese vloggers capitalize on their vlog production and participation with diverse revenue models. The wanghong culture also increasingly highlights vloggers' monetization capabilities and values their visibility. In seeking visibility, wanghongs consistently negotiate their self-expression and relationships with stakeholders in the value chain. Under such a climate in the vlog market, vlogging has been urged to be a calculated and rational activity, and vloggers have increasingly become precarious labor rather than users randomly presenting themselves.