Digital Labor: Research on the Exploitation of Short Video Platform in ChinaTake TikTok as an Example

Abstract

The short video platform industry represented by the TikTok platform has developed rapidly. At the same time, its development is closely connected to the enormous traffic value brought by short video users who can be regarded as "digital labor," which leads to some problems about exploitation. The short video users are exploited by generating content and data without benefit from their production. This paper takes TikTok as an example, based on the digital labor theory, explore the exploitation phenomenon and problems in TikTok's operation and profit mode from the perspectives of viewers and content creators, and put forward a relevant theoretical basis for the future study of exploitation in short video platforms.