In the early 20th century, people watched linear stories on the screen, sitting in the dark theatres with only a simple role—recipients of the story. However, this relationship between viewer and media has been changed by the development of digital technology. According to Manovich’s research, new media is reshaped to be programmable and modular, which is no longer fixed but can be interacted with or even re-created (2002). This enables viewers to transform from passive receivers to active participants and even creators.

For example, nowadays viewers can directly interact with the media using the “bullet screen” feature in real-time while watching, which is specially popular on China’s streaming platforms, like Tencent Video. They can leave their comments and see others, which form scrolling text over the video. Simultaneously commenting and viewing even becomes a common experience for Chinese streaming viewers. According to the research of Chen et al., “bullet screen” produces a social experience of co-viewership, and the sense of togetherness and belonging sometimes even becomes a major appeal of videos (2017). Moreover, this “bullet screen” culture blurs the gap between content creators and consumers, since the latter contribute to user-generated content (UGC) as well.

Bullet comments in a film

Another noteworthy example is a Chinese talent show called Produce Camp, in which the final rankings of contestants are directly determined by viewers’ voting. This mechanism greatly improves viewers’ loyalty and engagement to the show and also redefines the relationship between viewers and media in the post-cinematic era.

This video shows how to vote for Produce Camp.

Overall, the evolution from cinemas to online streaming platforms also brings a transition of the role of viewers from passive receivers to active decision makers, mirroring the reshaping of media consumption by technological advancements. In the future, we can imagine that with the development of new technologies such as VR, AR, and the metaverse, the relationship between the reviewer and media content will have more possibilities, and even the distinction between the two concepts will become more blurred.

References：

Manovich, L. (2002). What is New Media. In: The Language of New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 18-61.

Chen, Y., Gao, Q. and Rau, P.-L. P. (2017). “Watching a Movie Alone yet Together: Understanding Reasons for Watching Danmaku Videos”, International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 33(9), pp. 731–743. doi: 10.1080/10447318.2017.1282187.

By Yixuan Wu 33694168