Micro-dramas are a fast-food cultural product derived from an accelerated society. Photo: TUCHONG

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With the advent of an accelerated society, cultural forms in the digital age are emerging at a rapid pace, with micro-dramas rising to prominence at astonishing speed and becoming a focal point of societal attention. Given the popularity of micro-dramas, it may be necessary to first connect them with prior digital cultural forms such as short videos and online literature in order to reflect on the technological, cultural, and emotional structures that have given rise to this cultural phenomenon. However, perhaps more importantly, there is a need to uncover the unique connotations of micro-dramas as an emerging cultural form, as well as the inherent complexity and ambiguity behind their rise at this specific historical moment. 

Accelerated time 

In the digital age, time has become the most precious resource, and the structure of time in modern society is marked by a pronounced characteristic of “acceleration.” The predicament of the “video-based lifestyle” is simultaneously structured by the mechanical rhythm of clock time and rendered disordered and accelerated by the pervasive influence of digital technologies. The emergence of micro-dramas exemplifies this trend. Supported by platform algorithms, accelerated playback, vertical-screen interfaces, and other new technologies, micro-dramas elevate short videos to a higher dimension, blending traditional fictional storytelling with new media to create a novel visual cultural form of the digital era. 

However, micro-dramas not only possess the attribute of rapid creation but also face the risk of rapid obsolescence. As they trend toward fragmentation and minimization, micro-dramas risk merely stimulating the senses, leaving little lasting impression. As a result, most of these works inevitably become fleeting and ephemeral. 

Speed has transformed the way we observe and contemplate the world. Micro-dramas are not merely an acceleration of playback speed but also an acceleration of narrative content and storytelling strategies. For audiences, speed-watching is an active choice, while content acceleration is subtly and passively absorbed. The “logic of acceleration” inherent in micro-dramas reflects the temporal scarcity characteristic of the present era, while implicitly eroding subjectivity through the dynamics of “speed—acceleration.” 

Micro-dramas are a fast-food cultural product derived from an accelerated society. They require neither meticulous selection nor laborious processing, appearing polished yet “mindless,” designed for effortless consumption during fragmented moments of time. Micro-dramas embody the modern desire to escape the complexities of daily life and enter fictional worlds. Their fabricated “storylines,” characterized by fast pacing, intense impact, and high concentration, stimulate desensitized nerves and temporarily suspend the troubles of reality. This phenomenon not only aligns with German sociologist Hartmut Rosa’s description of the acceleration of social life and the transformation of the material, social, and spiritual worlds but also signifies a profound shift in the internal structure of the micro-drama itself. 

Narrative techniques 

From a textual perspective, micro-dramas extract “magic shot” elements that have the potential to spiral into widespread popularity in online literature, condensing multiple “exciting” character archetypes to satisfy the audience’s craving for intense stimulation. These productions are characterized by high intertextuality and compact narrative structures, often presented in a highly condensed, “outline-like” form that tightly integrates key elements. Their storylines revolve around the core concept of “creating pleasure points,” with many plots centered around “misunderstanding” scenarios. Some micro-dramas incorporate lowbrow elements such as borderline explicit content, earthy humor, melodrama, or violence. 

At the same time, a single micro-drama can incorporate multiple genre tags, with character settings designed to directly target the audience’s “pleasure points.” For example, to heighten the contrast in a protagonist’s triumphant comeback, screenwriters might integrate fantasy or cultivation elements into stories set in modern urban contexts, adding speculative elements and assigning protagonists prestigious yet concealed family backgrounds. 

In the fast-paced production of “homogenized” micro-dramas, the relentless pursuit of “pleasure points” in plot and character design often comes at the expense of depth and authenticity. This rapidly produced narrative style frequently leads to quick obsolescence, with textually similar works, flat and monotonous characters, and repetitive, clichéd speculative settings. Such works are soon forgotten by viewers and struggle to leave a lasting impression as individual products in the broader cultural industry. 

From a narrative perspective, micro-dramas constantly create conflict, suspense, and endless twists, significantly shortening the cycle of “conflict brewing and conflict erupting.” They emphasize immediate feedback and narrative tension through a straightforward, twist-filled approach. The industry has already established several formulaic shooting patterns, such as: 6 seconds to establish identity, 15 seconds for the first twist, and the final 10 seconds to leave a cliffhanger. 

In micro-dramas, the traditional method of “planting narrative clues” is abandoned, leaving no time or space for nuanced buildup or intricate foreshadowing. Instead, dialogue, plot, and emotions adopt a straightforward style, delivering the intended message to the audience in a simple and explicit manner. 

In traditional narrative art, suspense is often revealed through a process of “delay.” “Delay,” as a conventional narrative technique in dramatic storytelling, involves prolonging or deferring the resolution of suspense or conflict, using repeated buildup before finally unveiling the answer. Micro-dramas, however, break away from this tradition by shortening the time it takes to reveal suspense, marking a shift from “delay” to “instant feedback.” 

In an era where individuals’ leisure time is increasingly compressed, the “instant feedback” narrative pace of micro-dramas provides a form of easily accessible, brainless gratification. While this format appears to offer “fixed duration yet abundant content,” its “no pause” accelerated storytelling erodes the depth and resonance of the work, leaving no lasting impressions or valuable reflections for the audience. This results in what South Korean-born German philosopher Byung-Chul Han describes as a state of “narrative vacuum.” 

‘Accelerated violence’ 

Building on French philosopher Paul Virilio’s concept of “velocity violence” and Rosa’s theory of the “society of acceleration,” we propose the concept of “accelerated violence” to further analyze the tension and paradox between the “rapid production” and “rapid obsolescence” of micro-dramas, as well as the deep-rooted alienation they represent. This article argues that the “accelerated violence” inherent in micro-dramas becomes a form of power’s control over the viewers. 

First, it seizes the viewers’ limited attention resources through accelerated competition. “Life” time is not only alienated into productive time, but the audience’s perception of time is also distorted. Second, it dulls the audience’s emotional capacity for reflection through an accelerated “consuming” process, intensifying the alienation of viewers’ cultural strength and inevitably leading them toward “self-alienation.” 

Micro-dramas, through the “accelerated violence” generated by ultra-high speed, eliminate the need for deep thinking by viewers, who lack time to savor, digest, and reflect, leaving only the reflexive act of watching. This “addiction without interruption” also signifies the “extinction” of the user’s subjectivity. Watching becomes an experience in which both carnival and loneliness coexist. On one hand, the audience collectively immerses themselves in the virtual world created by micro-dramas. On the other hand, they are temporarily isolated from others through the “de-temporalized” indulgence in viewing, maintaining a sense of detachment. In these fragmented media practices marked by suspension and isolation, time passes quickly during the experience, yet it shrinks in memory. The audience’s perception of time becomes alienated, and a sense of inefficacy regarding the experience of time emerges. 

“Accelerated violence” not only caters to the social reality of declining cultural stamina but also, through its accelerated “consuming” posture, forms a “boredom epidemic,” exacerbating the crisis of a fatigued society. This “consuming” state first manifests in the repetition of events and the dissolution of meaning. But how does meaning arise? Only continuous experience, rather than “short-term pleasurable experiences,” can be deeply etched into our minds, tied to our identity and life journey, to generate profound meaning. 

It is evident that the “accelerated violence” provided by micro-dramas can only offer the audience fleeting pleasure, without lasting depth or significance. When it fails to be internalized as an experience closely linked to one’s life journey, the viewing experience leads to self-alienation. The “flawed relationship” between micro-dramas and the audience also points to the inevitable fate of most micro-dramas: rapid obsolescence. 

Furthermore, the “consuming” aspect of “accelerated violence” also brings fragmented experiences and an endless sense of “boredom.” This “boredom” manifests in the audience’s repetitive viewing of homogenized micro-dramas and the absence of meaning. In this state, the continuous “pleasure points” bring more emptiness than stimulation. Excessive stimulation inevitably raises the threshold for pleasure, dulling the viewers’ ability to engage emotionally over time. The more the audience craves pleasure from watching micro-dramas, the more it leads to a sense of emptiness and boredom. The more they seek “pleasure” to relieve the struggles of daily life, the more they are met with the backlash of boredom. 

Conclusion 

This article analyzes the “rapid production and rapid obsolescence” characteristics of micro-dramas based on the “speed-acceleration” theory in social critique, pointing out that “accelerated violence,” as a form of power dominance, leads to “time alienation” and “self-alienation,” as discussed by Rosa, through the gestures of “competition” and “consumption.” The fragmented nature of micro-dramas exacerbates the atomization of time, and combined with the “de-temporalization” of time in the viewing experience, it causes a “disorder of time.” The fragmented attention spans dissolve the gravity of time, and viewers are unable to engage in “thoughtful lingering” between these discrete moments, leaving only boredom and emptiness. 

At its core, micro-dramas are a pressure-relieving mechanism in an accelerated society, but this relief is superficial, unable to fundamentally resolve the emotional dilemmas of contemporary collective anxiety and fatigue. Under the sweeping force of “accelerated violence,” where is the potential for healing effects in micro-dramas? For content creators, simple, formulaic micro-dramas often only generate a hollow “instant experience,” while texts that offer “thoughtful lingering” in life experiences can truly resist the corrosion of external “accelerated violence” and achieve a healing effect. 

On the historical stage of various medium forms, are micro-dramas a mere fleeting phenomenon, or do they emerge as a new form propelled by the acceleration of technological society? Undoubtedly, they are a cultural product of an accelerated society. Therefore, our analysis of micro-dramas as the current “digital cultural specimen” requires not only a detailed investigation of their production, dissemination, and reception from both internal and external perspectives, but also an exploration of their place within the historical flow of culture and the theoretical currents of thought. This will allow us to discern the “old” within the “new,” and the “different” within the “new.” Only by doing so can we gain insight into their “disconnections” and “connections” within a series of digital cultural forms and further reflect on the underlying societal mentality that is reflected in their structural context. 

Zhu Lili, He Along and Ma Lidingna are from the School of Journalism and Communication at Nanjing University. 

Edited by WANG YOURAN