PLATFORM VISIBILITY AND CULTURAL AUTHENTICITY: MEDIATIZED COMMUNICATION PRACTICES OF XI’AN DRUM MUSIC INHERITORS IN CHINA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/JTHEM.1145008Keywords:
Cultural Communication, Digital Platforms, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Mediatization, Platform Visibility, Xian Drum MusicAbstract
The increasing popularity of short-video and social media platforms has changed the way in which intangible cultural heritage is presented and experienced by people. The current body of research has mostly been concentrated on digital preservation, institutional initiatives, and audience participation, with less emphasis on how the practitioners of heritage make communication decisions in platform environments. This paper explores the ways Xian Drum Music inheritors integrate ritual practice with digital communication, react to feedback provided by audiences, and perceived visibility processes, and negotiate tensions between platform-based presentation and cultural authenticity. The research followed a qualitative interpretivist approach which was guided by the mediatization theory. The interviews were semi-structured with 15 officially recognized inheritors, two of them national-level, seven provincial-level and six municipal-level inheritors. Digital ethnographic observation was also done on Douyin, Bilibili, and WeChat Video Channels. Fieldwork took place in Xian, Baoji, and Weinan during August 2024 and February 2025. Reflexive thematic analysis of interview transcripts and observational materials was used to examine the data using inductive coding and theory-informed interpretation. The results indicate that participants developed hybrid practices connecting offline ritual performance with online dissemination. They related visibility to posting frequency, audience engagement, and perceived recommendation mechanisms, but did not respond in a similar way to these conditions. Some changed the video length, presentation, and interaction strategies, while others supplemented short-form content with cultural explanation or resisted changes considered harmful to ritual integrity. Negotiated visibility is the process of balancing platform expectations, audience feedback, and ritual legitimacy identified in the study. In the context studied, digital communication broadened access to Xian Drum Music but did not necessarily lead to a better understanding of its ceremonial meaning.
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