Construction And Crisis:A Study On The Identity Of Kichiku Fans

The identity construction of Kichiku fans has shaped a unique subcultural landscape.At the same time,the melting of media boundaries has changed the communication environment of Kichiku culture,and the identity of Kichiku fan is facing new challenges.This study will take Bilibili and Baidu Tieba as platforms to observe the daily communication behaviors of Kichiku fans.Firstly,we will give a brief overview of the gathering of Kichiku fans,then we will focus on the construction of identity and identity crisis of Kichiku fans through in-depth interview method,participant observation method and co-word analysis method,and analyze the impact brought by identity crisis.Finally,this study will propose an adaptive proposal from the perspective of the participants of Kichiku culture.The gathering of Kichiku fans has roughly gone through three stages.In the first stage,when Kichiku culture was introduced to China,the audience and Kichiku fans were fragmented.In the second stage,under the influence of Kichiku cultural influencers in earlier period,Kichiku culture was more suitable with Chinese Internet context.The group of Kichiku fans appeared.In the third stage,the Kichiku culture spreads widely in the Internet.The scale of Kichiku fans is larger.On the construction of self-identity,Kichiku fans will present the real self,the ideal self and the individualized self.Then,Kichiku fans will present their selves to others through the accumulation of cultural and social capital,and improve others’ evaluation by interaction.There are three ways to construct the group identity of Kichiku fans.Firstly the group identity is constructed by interactive ritual.In the exchange of mutual Internet interest culture,interest based community of Kichiku culture is built.Secondly,the group identity is constructed by collective memory.By the media pilgrimage in the field of memory,and the confirmation of the symbol of collective memory,Kichiku fans increases their affiliation to the group.Thirdiy,the group identity is constructed in the imagination of the real community.By critical thinking about social events,and the expression of mainstream values,Kichiku fans resonates with the value of the group.The construction of identity and the crisis of the identity of Kichiku fans often appear at the same time.Specifically,the sense of self-worth of Kichiku fans is being reduced by the immersion of commercial ideology and platform capital.The sense of group identity of Kichiku fans is being weakened by intra-group conflict and questioning of other culture.The identity crisis of Kichiku fans has caused problems,such as online violence,alienation of interest labor,and reduced social participation motivation.For this reason,Kichiku fans need to improve network literacy and subject awareness;Kichiku cultural influencers should play a guiding role;the platform can promote a community management model of collaborative governance with group members.