The rise of "anti-refinement" in Douyin and Xiaohongshu, why is roughness and authenticity more popular?

From Douyin's rural life records to Xiaohongshu's bare-faced sharing, those "rough and real" contents with the original texture of life are gradually becoming the new favorites of the public. This article will explore why "anti-refined" content can touch people's hearts, analyze the social psychology and emotional resonance behind it, and how creators can trigger emotional resonance among the audience through real stories, and explore the inspiration and impact of this trend on content creation.

From the meticulously staged and filtered life sharing on Xiaohongshu, to the coolly edited and perfectly acted drama videos on Douyin, creators on major social media platforms have created one desirable "utopia" after another, attracting the attention of countless viewers.

But recently, an "anti-refined" content revolution has quietly emerged, and content with the original texture of life has become the new favorite of the public:

Rural blogger @Youjin records the daily life in the countryside, Zhao Xiaohui's overtime life as a working person in the workplace, and many live broadcast rooms have started the trend of showing no makeup. These "rough and real" contents are winning the favor of more and more users.

Why are refined videos and vlogs no longer popular on major platforms today, while “rough and real” content is often more popular? What exactly is “anti-refined” content against?

01 Escape from the false "utopia" and fatigue of excessive packaging

Once upon a time, celebrities’ exquisite vlogs swept into the public eye like a whirlwind. The casual and exquisite life shared by celebrities such as Ouyang Nana attracted countless fans and also attracted many creators to imitate them.

For a while, the Internet was filled with the same old exquisite lifestyle shows - stylish afternoon tea, spontaneous travel, glamorous daily outfits...

But as time goes by, the drawbacks of these sophisticated vlogs are gradually exposed.

On the one hand, the life presented in the video is far from the real life of most people, like a castle in the air, seemingly beautiful but out of reach, full of distortion. The audience looks at the "dream life" on the screen, but they know in their hearts that it is just a carefully crafted dream, which is very different from their daily life.

The picture comes from Xiaohongshu

On the other hand, the content is highly homogenized, and "refinement" has become formulaic and rigid. From the shooting angle to the copywriting, everything seems to be carved from the same mold, lacking appeal and unique charm. While the audience is aesthetically fatigued, their trust in this type of content has also been greatly reduced.

In sharp contrast is the "rough and real" content. They have no false characters, no exaggerated plots, and no over-packaging. This authenticity and simplicity instantly captured the hearts of the audience and became their safe haven to escape from the false "utopia".

02 Embrace the true nature of life and find spiritual comfort in a time of high pressure

In the fast-paced modern society, people's daily lives are filled with busyness and anxiety. The "anti-refined" content just meets this psychological need. There is no elaborate design, no excessive beautification, only those trivial but powerful details of life.

@YouJin records real life, which is one of them. It has become popular with its real rural life in Yunnan.

The You Jin couple returned to their hometown Yunnan from working in Guangzhou and decided to post about their lives on TikTok. The content of the videos is just like the name of the account @有金记录真实生活, which focuses on recording the daily life in the countryside in a diary-like manner, from the daily necessities to field work. They use trivial bits and pieces, dramatic daily life, and warm moments to piece together the most authentic appearance of life.

Image from TikTok

It can be found that in Youjin's video, there are no editing techniques, and the shooting is not carefully designed, not to mention the script prepared in advance. Even the subtitles make many jokes because of the voice-to-text conversion and Youjin's non-standard Mandarin.

The previously popular "Corn Ji Ji" meme originated from this and was once imitated and used by netizens in major comment sections.

Image from TikTok

But it is such "rough" content that makes netizens feel it is very real and down-to-earth, allowing netizens to find a breath of fresh air among the exquisite online content. The Youjin couple also unexpectedly became popular with their real and funny rural life, and now they have gained more than 2.11 million fans on the Douyin platform.

03 Resonance triggers empathy and the emotional magic of real stories

The reason why "rough and real" contents can be deeply rooted in people's hearts is largely because they are good at digging out emotional depth. By telling real stories, they touch the softest corners of the audience's hearts and trigger strong emotional resonance.

Take the "Second Uncle" video that has gone viral online, for example. The plain footage records the life of a disabled old man in the countryside who has experienced many hardships but remains optimistic. The indomitable spirit of the Second Uncle in the face of suffering has moved countless viewers. Everyone has seen the suffering of life in the Second Uncle, and even more so the tenacity and courage in the face of suffering, drawing strength from it and establishing a deep emotional connection with this story.

The picture comes from Station B

Another example is talk show host Zhao Xiaohui, who brings the ups and downs of the workplace to the stage and live studio. From exhausting overtime, complex workplace interpersonal relationships, to the ubiquitous involution, she uses humorous language to show the pain points of these workers one by one.

The picture comes from Xiaohongshu

The audience found resonance in the laughter, and it turned out that the troubles and confusions they experienced in the workplace were not isolated cases. This strong sense of identification made Zhao Xiaohui gain a large number of fans and also made her content widely spread on the Internet.

04 Conclusion

It is worth noting that will the content of "rough and true" definitely go viral? The answer is definitely no. Although the content of "rough and true" has received widespread attention, not all such content can successfully go viral.

It is important to realize that "rough reality" is not the same as "low quality". The rise of "anti-refined" content indicates that content creation is returning to its essence. Users no longer pursue superficial splendor, but pay more attention to the authenticity and value of content.

This trend also puts forward new requirements for content creators: grasp of authenticity, personalized expression, continuous value output, and improvement of professional ability. Creators need to continuously improve the quality of content and find their own unique way of expression. Only in this way can they stand out in the wave of "anti-sophistication" and achieve continuous content value output.