Interactive Ritual Chains and the Image of a Great Nation: an Analysis of the Effect of Foreign Netizen Reaction Videos on Young People’s Sense of National Identity

Abstract

From the rapid development of China's high-speed railway to the construction of Huoshenshan(Fire God Mountain) Hospital and Leishenshan(Thunder God Mountain) Hospital in a few days, the image of China's "infrastructure maniac" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of people throughout the world. Many young people have watched infrastructure videos and are eager to share and learn about the views of others, which is why reaction videos on infrastructure have become so popular. The reaction videos on Chinese infrastructure by foreign users have had an impact on the sense of national identity of Chinese youth. This study used questionnaires and in-depth interviews to investigate this phenomenon. The study found that the sense of national identity of Chinese youths who responded to the videos was not related to the nationality of the video recorder; the higher the sense of national identity of the youth audience, the stronger the willingness to participate in the interaction of the reaction videos.