From Consumers to Pro-sumers: Understanding Cross-Cultural Content Creation and Value Production on TikTok and Douyin

This study explores how TikTok and Douyin users from diverse cultural backgrounds produce content and economic value through their interactions, content creation, and community engagement on these platforms. Using a qualitative approach rooted in ethnography and supported by theoretical frameworks on pro-consumer and participatory cultures, this research analyzes user behaviors, motivations, and the socio-economic impacts of user-generated content. The study finds that the parallel platformization of TikTok and Douyin, enabled by ByteDances dual-market strategy, fosters distinct content creation and value production practices tailored to their respective cultural contexts. This research highlights how recommendation algorithms, user interactions within comment sections, and influencer-driven strategies such as live streaming collectively shape both cultural and commercial value on TikTok and Douyin. By examining these dynamics, the findings contribute to the understanding of digital prosumer culture, illustrating the fluid interplay between production and consumption within the digital economy and offering insights into the transformative impact of platform-driven ecosystems.