Abstract
This study examines how young people engage with southwest ethnic cultures through digital performances on intelligent media platforms, moving beyond simplistic narratives of cultural erosion or passive consumption. Employing a mixed-methods approach that combines platform analytics with in-depth interviews, it reveals a tripartite formation mechanism driving sustained participation. Technological affordances, particularly AI creation tools and algorithmic recommendation systems, lower barriers to entry while aggregating niche communities around shared aesthetic interests. Affective resonance then transforms casual engagement into meaningful practice, as youth navigate digital nostalgia and hybrid identity construction to reconcile tradition with contemporary selfhood. Finally, social capital accumulation ensures longevity through peer validation and reciprocal community support networks that buffer against algorithmic volatility. Rather than treating technology, emotion, and social rewards as separate factors, the analysis demonstrates their interdependence in shaping cultural vitality. These findings offer nuanced insights into digital heritage transmission, highlighting youth agency within platform-mediated environments and suggesting that sustainable cultural continuity depends on nurturing the relational and emotional infrastructures that make participation rewarding and resilient over time.
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299076
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How to cite this paper
The Formation Mechanism of Youth Participation in the Digital Performance of Southwest Ethnic Cultures on Intelligent Media Platforms
How to cite this paper: Binyi Yang. (2026) The Formation Mechanism of Youth Participation in the Digital Performance of Southwest Ethnic Cultures on Intelligent Media Platforms. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 10(7), 839-843.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.07.016