According to data from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), as of December 2020, the number of Chinese Internet users has reached 989 million, and the Internet penetration rate has reached 70.4%.

The Internet makes information ubiquitous and omnipresent. In this “eyeball economy era” where mobile Internet and information technology are highly developed, the behavior patterns and social habits of the public, and even the media industry have undergone tremendous changes. The sudden attack of the new crown epidemic has accelerated the transformation of the integration of various media from “addition” to “combination.”

In fact, behind the model iteration, the root is technological innovation. Looking back at the history of communication, every reshaping of the news format is a change in media technology. In the all-media era, the development of media convergence is the general trend. Standing at this historical point when the digital revolution is driving social changes, how to start again in media integration has become an unavoidable challenge for every practitioner in the media industry.

Media changes during the epidemic: The epidemic has magnified the influence of new media

1. The importance of large TV screens returns to the next generation of “atypical TV”

Affected by the epidemic, TV viewing on large screens ushered in a small climax at the beginning of the epidemic. We have also seen that the per capita viewing time of news programs has increased by 60% year-on-year. This also proves that large TV screens still play an irreplaceable role in the field of public opinion propaganda.

Although in the context of the outbreak of the epidemic, the importance of television media is returning. However, it should be noted that compared with traditional TV channels, OTT ratings have increased substantially, and the average daily viewing time per capita far exceeds that of TV stations, which indicates that more users watch programs on OTT (Over The Top).

With the rapid development of OTT Internet TV, public demand and technological progress have driven fundamental changes in the TV itself. In addition to retaining the attributes of the screen, the large TV screen has undergone significant changes both inside and outside.

2. The activity of online media rebounded sharply in the late stage of the epidemic, and short videos performed well

Among news apps, Internet apps have always occupied the top ten daily active rankings, and this is also true during the epidemic. The growth rate of Toutiao in news apps is far ahead, which is inseparable from its technology and recommendation algorithm capabilities.

From the early stage of the epidemic, traditional TV media even had the largest increase in activity at one time. However, with the effective control of the epidemic in China, social applications such as Weibo and WeChat and related online media have gradually entered a highly active period, and video social networking and short video news have become important carriers. The daily active scale of the short video platform reverses the ultra-long video platform. Short video news has become a powerful method that is faster, easier to understand, and more authentic.

As a trending application, short video will continue to promote media integration, and the application of new media will also further promote the development of short video. By expanding content expressions, enriching information production perspectives, and enriching interaction methods and services, short video platforms have become a new way for the public to obtain epidemic information.

Behind the convergence of media is the iteration of digital technology

Media integration is not only the integration of channels, but also the transformation and integration of the overall model driven by digital technology. The epidemic is a test for traditional media. How to actively guide, how to reach accurately, and how to enable users to obtain information more agilely, these are all worthy of industry thinking. It is far from enough for traditional mainstream media to rely solely on the channel expansion and channel integration of the Internet and mobile Internet. More convenient and timely mobile media tools are only one aspect of popular demand. The innovation of news and report content that is different from the traditional model is even more urgent.

In the performance of this epidemic, online media and social media have shown great power, not only in the dissemination of information, but also in the influence of public opinion and the ability to organize and mobilize even more than some traditional media. These are the directions that traditional media needs to think about and work hard on in the future. Today, when 5G has not yet become popular on a large scale, traditional media still have enough time to actively embrace changes, and use younger and more suitable communication methods to expand network influence.

Behind the rise of new media is the continuous breakthrough of digital technology. As we all know, ByteDance has long been a digital technology company that is fully on the cloud. Behind the success of its APP is the support of cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence and established technology research and development and operation teams. Behind the convergence of media are technological changes and iterations, and the rise of new media cannot be separated from the fuel of digital technology.

Due to the virtual network nature and unsupervised nature of social media, especially the more open two-way nature of new online media (such as user comments), false information, fake news and various rumors are still unavoidable. Therefore, news screening system and public opinion guidance system Increasingly important. In the ubiquitous UGC (User Generated Content) ocean, only relying on humans to identify fake news and rumors is obviously a drop in the bucket, and the technological power based on artificial intelligence technology can help the media industry to quench its thirst. The “AI Rumor Recognition” developed based on various high-efficiency algorithms has an accuracy rate of 81%.

The rising demand for rapid response and mobile interaction has accelerated the digital transformation of regional and community media.

3. The development direction of media after the epidemic: mobilization, socialization, visualization, intelligence, and platformization

The general direction of media convergence is actually clearly visible. Mobility, socialization, visualization, intelligence, and platformization are important trends in the development of media convergence technology. The epidemic has further highlighted the importance of digital technology in the media industry. At this time, technology accumulation reflects The advantages of market competitiveness come out at a glance.

The actual effect of media communication is a golden indicator for measuring media integration and an important consideration for investment in capital resources. Client activity and communication influence may become the key reference basis, which makes insight into user needs, attention to user experience, and data-driven operations more important.

In the technical field, the importance of APP clients and social communication is self-evident. This kind of similar Internet new media platform has long been separated from simple channel superposition, and has become a mapping of technology and resource thickness. Content depth, form, and platform operations will become equally important in the future. Platform operations are actually user operations and mass operations. Flexible and agile digital technologies are needed to comprehensively improve work efficiency and content delivery accuracy.

The integration of traditional mainstream media and new media is a long-term process. Although it is difficult to surpass new Internet media in terms of user activity and network traffic in a short period of time, in accordance with development trends and changes in public behavior patterns, the role of digital technology should be emphasized for a long time. In addition to technical input, traditional media systems, mechanisms and even organizational forms and talent structures also need to actively explore new changes, learn from new Internet media its flexibility and agility, and the most important thing is to gradually adapt and master the understanding of users through technology. Preferences, understand the changes of users, and enhance the user’s interactive experience. In the future, if media integration wants to go further, data-based, intelligent, and platform-based Internet operations will become the top priority.