Why do young people not like to watch exquisite vlogs anymore?

Recently, the topic #Why I don't like watching any vlogs anymore# has become a hot topic on Xiaohongshu, and many netizens have expressed their opinions. What is the reason behind this phenomenon? This article will analyze it.

Recently, the topic #The reason why I no longer like to watch any vlogs# has become a hot topic on Xiaohongshu, and many netizens have expressed their opinions.

Vlog was first created on YouTube. Its full name is Video Blog or Video Log, which means video blog or video network log. In the second half of 2018, the term vlog began to enter the public eye. Celebrities such as Ouyang Nana and Wang Yuan have released vlogs one after another. The star effect has gradually made vlogs break through the niche circle and accelerated its popularity in China. Bloggers of different verticals have begun to adopt this video format and even developed a vlog track.

Why is the once popular vlog now controversial? What are the current interests of users in watching vlogs? How should Xiaohongshu vlog bloggers develop?

1. Users are tired of the aesthetics, and exquisite vlogs are no longer popular

Celebrities are the group that leads the vlog trend. While they present their daily lives outside the spotlight to their fans, the casual, relaxed and refined atmosphere conveyed in the videos is sought after by many fans, and this also lays the main tone for the content style of vlog bloggers.

Nowadays, the creative boundaries of vlog bloggers are constantly expanding, from simple life records to learning and education, fitness, food and health, pet healing and other aspects of life. Although the content and form are different, some are deliberately creating a sense of ritual and quality.

As more and more vloggers emerge, the problem of content homogeneity has gradually become prominent, and the "formulaic" content composition has begun to cause aesthetic fatigue among users. For example, in the workplace vlogs of urban beauties, there are many elements of life that are popular among young people. Some netizens joked that "the three-piece set of vlogs: bagels, coffee, and fried eggs." Other netizens concluded that "lifestyle bloggers must have: aromatherapy, buying flowers, and coffee, which feels particularly lacking in content."

In addition, the disconnect between the exquisite life presented in some vlogs and reality has also caused many netizens to reflect. Xiaohongshu blogger @Monodori shared the reason why she no longer likes to watch any vlogs. She believes that watching vlogs to resonate with others cannot lead to substantial changes, and it is dangerous to base life motivation on living like others. This note received 28,000 likes, and countless netizens expressed their agreement in the comment area.

Image source: Xiaohongshu screenshot

"If you envy others' lives in vlogs, you will often burn yourself out." "I don't like watching exquisite vlogs, they are too fake. After watching them, I feel nothing but poor." "I used to like Han Anna's videos, but when I started living my own life, I found that I would blame myself for not living as exquisitely as in the videos. Now I think it is a bomb that spreads anxiety."...

Judging from the current vlog content trend, those exquisite contents for the sake of exquisiteness are being rejected by netizens. For example, in a blogger's video "Immersive High-speed Rail Ride, What Do Exquisite Girls Do on the Road", during the entire high-speed rail ride, more than ten kinds of daily necessities such as compressed wet wipes, sticky garbage bags, various storage bags, foldable small hooks, and hair removers appeared. After sleeping with a steam eye mask, she took out a makeup bag to display a variety of makeup tools and beauty products. This series of cumbersome operations attracted many netizens to complain.

Image source: Xiaohongshu screenshot

"It's unnecessary and too fancy." "Just buy a private jet, no need to be so particular." "These things are actually meaningless, they are just for shooting videos." "I feel like you can get off the car after you put your things away."

In vlogs, viewers can see the lives of people from different circles, but those homogenized, distorted and commercialized video contents are gradually losing their appeal. Audiences are becoming more and more familiar with the assembly-line content production process, their aesthetics are constantly changing, and their interests are shifting.

2. Real, lively vlogs are popular

Although many users are no longer interested in exquisite vlogs, vlogs, which record daily life, are still very popular. Realistic and simple content is more likely to arouse users' recognition and resonance. The blogger's real personality charm and unique lifestyle are the key to impressing the audience. A typical example is @东北雨姐, who is 1.8 meters tall, with broad shoulders and a round waist, and a straightforward and bold personality. She is different from others in terms of image.

In her videos of daily life in rural Northeast China, all kinds of farm work such as planting, autumn harvest, storing sauerkraut, pickling pickles, picking mushrooms, and knocking on doors are no problem. She does everything quickly and efficiently, without any drag. In short, her videos seem to have a strong vitality, and she has gained countless fans because of this.

Image source: Tik Tok screenshot

The real vlog content of those bloggers with a certain influence is also very popular among users. For example, in the collection "Fragments of Douzi's Life", the beauty blogger @豆豆_Babe showed her fans a more real self through work and life vlogs such as "I can't imagine how happy the people of Leshan are with so many delicious foods!", "Daily work in Singapore, a fruitful learning journey", "Finally brought my parents to Disneyland~ Old Doudou has had a great time", etc., which not only brought freshness to fans, but also made her identity as a beauty blogger more three-dimensional. The number of views of this collection on Douyin has reached 280 million, which shows that users are quite interested in the blogger's vlogs.

Image source: Tik Tok screenshot

In addition, those amateur bloggers who show their real working status also attract a lot of users to watch , such as @爱生活小李, a blogger from Xiaohongshu. As a post-00s who works three jobs a day, she works in customer service during the day and works part-time at Starbucks at night. At the same time, it is her normal to run her own media. In her videos, she is busy all day, but always full of energy, conveying her own energy to users and allowing users to witness her growth. With her positive attitude towards life and down-to-earth hard work, she gained more than 30,000 fans in 9 months.

Image source: Xiaohongshu screenshot

In general, real life records are the core of vlogs. If bloggers adhere to this principle and add their own characteristics, they can have a strong influence. For some bloggers in vertical fields, vlogs can add icing on the cake. For amateur bloggers, positive life vlogs can also bring a sense of value to users.

3. Low threshold and easy monetization, the vlog track remains popular

Unlike beauty bloggers who need solid makeup skills, drama bloggers who need creative ideas, and knowledge bloggers who need a rich content reserve, vlogs focus on life scenes and do not require special professional skills and equipment. Ordinary people can shoot with their mobile phones. The threshold for creation is relatively low, so it has become the first choice for many people to run self-media. On Xiaohongshu, which focuses on lifestyle, a group of vlog bloggers have emerged, among which "a day in the life of a factory worker", "daily life of young people returning to the village", "living alone in a rented house" and other common themes are.

In terms of commercial realization, vlogs are basically life scenes, with various products appearing in the camera, which can be more natural. Many brands will implant products in vlogs. On Xiaohongshu, if the number of fans reaches 1,000, you can open Dandelion to receive orders. For vlog bloggers, this means fast content realization and broad commercial space, so the popularity of vlogs has remained high.

According to third-party data, from January to November 2023, the number of "vlog" related notes on Xiaohongshu increased by 183.20% year-on-year compared with 2022; the estimated interaction volume reached more than 200 million, an increase of 83.04% year-on-year, and has become an important way for young people to grow, relax and entertain.

Vlogs are friendly to ordinary people and have promising business prospects, but on the other hand, they are highly competitive and have serious content homogeneity. From the perspective of content, actions such as getting up, drawing the curtains, stretching, washing, pouring water and drinking water are basically the fixed beginnings of vlogs. The slow pace is almost the characteristic of all vlogs. The video lacks key information, and it is not easy to retain users with content. The audience's loyalty to the blogger is higher than that to the video content. When the content can be selected at will, it is difficult to improve user stickiness.

And without the support of a personal IP, it is very difficult for amateur vloggers to break out of the circle. In order to maintain their own traffic, many vloggers use tempting titles to attract users’ attention. There are many similar titles such as “Girls can really make money by working on Xiaohongshu! A guide to making 60,000+ yuan a month without quitting your job”, “A post-00s generation who doesn’t work in the countryside can make 5,000+ yuan a month”, and “How great it is to make 50,000 yuan a month working as a self-media person in Beijing after get off work”.

Although such titles do have a good effect in attracting traffic, they are actually a waste of the bloggers and are not conducive to long-term creation. Moreover, single vlog content can easily reach the ceiling of development. According to Crawley's observation, in terms of the number of fans, amateur vlog bloggers on Xiaohongshu are basically in the middle and lower levels. It is rare to see those with more than 100,000 fans. The majority of bloggers have a few thousand fans or 20,000 to 30,000 fans.

In general, although the direction of vlog content is changing, its companionship attributes and healing core still fascinate countless users, and the vlog track is still hot. For creators, finding their own characteristics and magnifying their own advantages will make it easier to be seen.

Author: Aries

Source: WeChat public account: TopKlout (ID: TopKlout)