Visualized Communication of Chinese Culture on Transnational Social Media Platforms: A Literature Review and Conceptual Framework

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-609-3_21How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Visual Representation; Transnational Social Media; Cross-cultural Communication; Cultural Identity; Platform Affordances

Abstract

The rapid digitalization of global media has shifted the paradigm of cultural dissemination from text-heavy discourse to sophisticated visual storytelling. Rather than offering an exhaustive review, this paper deliberately focuses on how visual strategies of Chinese culture are discussed across platforms, a dimension that existing reviews tend to fragment. By synthesizing contemporary scholarship, the review identifies three primary thematic dimensions: the aesthetic framing of traditional and modern “Chineseness,” the influence of platform affordances on content visibility, and the complex dynamics of cross-cultural reception among global audiences and diaspora communities. Despite the proliferation of empirical studies, the review reveals significant research gaps, including an over-reliance on individual case studies of “super-influencers” and a relative neglect of algorithmic logic and integrated analytical models. This paper will remedy shortcomings by introducing a new conceptual framework of Visual-Platform-Reception (VPR) concepts. This framework combines aes-thetic narratives, technical platform mechanisms and decoding processes in order to give a comprehensive view into the digital age spread of cultural symbols. The research finishes by recommending that upcoming studies need to shift the content analysis approach to critical examination of al-gorithmic mediation of culture resonance and interactive culture resonance.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yiwen Liu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - Visualized Communication of Chinese Culture on Transnational Social Media Platforms: A Literature Review and Conceptual Framework
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 3rd International Conference on Public Relations and Media Communication (PRMC 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 191
EP  - 196
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-609-3_21
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-609-3_21
ID  - Liu2026
ER  -