A Study On The Empowerment Effect Of Rural Women’s Use Of "Kuaishou"

According to the 50th Statistical Report on China’s Internet and Network Development,by June 2022,the number of rural Internet users in China was 293 million,of which 48 percent were female.At the same time,the user scale of various short video platforms such as Kuaishou and Douyin increased rapidly,with the usage rate increasing to94.6%.The relationship between the use of short videos and the empowerment and empowerment of disadvantaged groups has gradually attracted the attention of scholars.This study attempts to take the use of "Kuaishou" short video as a new media by women in Liu village as an example to explore the relationship between rural women’s Kuaishou use behavior and empowerment effect with the help of field survey data.The question at the heart of the study is whether quick hand use has an empowering effect on rural women,a relatively vulnerable group.If so,what is the relationship between this empowering effect and the intensity of quick hand use? Does the difference in preference for quick hand use affect the empowerment effect? What is the impact of gender differences on the empowerment effect?Based on a systematic review of the relevant research results of empowerment at home and abroad,this paper defines the concept and theoretical framework of empowerment.The independent variable of the study was the intensity of rural women’s quick hand use,which was composed of three factors: time of use,dependence on use and time spent in content production.The dependent variable is the empowerment effect of rural women after quick hand use,including psychological empowerment,social empowerment and social participation empowerment.The control variables were gender,age,education level and family per capita monthly income.The adjustment variables are Kuaishou’s viewing type and publishing type.In this study,self-designed questionnaires were distributed in Liu village,Y County,Gansu Province,and 310 valid questionnaires were collected,including 183 females and 127 males.The results show that the intensity of quick hand use has a positive effect on the empowerment of rural women.In terms of each factor of use intensity,use duration factor has a significant positive effect on the dimension of psychological empowerment of rural women.The use of dependency factor has significant positive effects on psychological empowerment,social empowerment and social participation empowerment.Production time has a significant positive impact on psychological empowerment and social participation empowerment.In terms of the relationship between the intensity of quick hand use and the empowerment effect,it is not a linear relationship,that is,the higher the intensity of use,the greater the marginal effect of empowerment.Beyond the point of specific intensity of use,the marginal effect of empowerment will decline.In terms of each dimension of the empowerment effect,the psychological empowerment effect decreases when the duration of use,dependence on use,and content production time exceed a certain threshold.When the use dependence degree exceeds a certain threshold,the social empowerment effect decreases.When the duration and dependence of use exceed a certain threshold,the empowering effect of social participation decreases.In terms of the influence of Kuai Shou usage preference,Kuai Shou viewing type has no moderating effect on the empowerment effect,but Kuai Shou publication type has a moderating effect on the empowerment effect,which shows that when the rural women’s publication type is skill display type,it has a significant positive effect on the empowerment effect.However,after the interactive multiplication of Kuai Shou usage intensity and the empowerment effect,this empowerment effect will be inhibited.In terms of the influence of gender factors on the empowerment effect,there is a significant gender difference in the empowerment effect of Kuaishou use,and the empowerment effect of the intensity of use on rural women is significantly higher than that on men.Specific to each dimension,the use of time factor and production content time factor have significant influence on the psychological empowerment of rural women,but have no influence on rural men.In the dimension of social empowerment,the fast hand dependence factor has a significant empowerment effect on rural women,but has no effect on rural men.Only in the factor of use time,rural men’s social empowerment effect is higher than that of women.In the dimension of social participation empowerment,quick hand dependence factor and time consuming factor of production content have significant influence on rural women empowerment,but have no influence on rural men.The above research on rural women’s quick hand use indicates that the empowering effect of new media may not be a generalization of empowering or disempowering.The use of new media,including its users and using behaviors,will affect the size and direction of empowerment,and there is a more complex relationship between the two.