Snack culture, short and light cultural contents we may enjoy making use of spare time irrespective of places and occasions, is characterized by speed, short time, and simplification.
Birth of Snack Culture and Its Power of Growth, “YOU”
The term, ‘Snack Culture’ originated from the US IT & media magazine 『Wired』 in 2007 which carried the article saying, “A bite-sized format would be the key cultural code”. On the background of it is the concept of web 2.0 of ‘openness’, ‘participation’ and ‘co-ownership’. In 2006, TIME selected “YOU” and “YOUTUBE” as ‘Person of The Year’ and ‘Invention of the Year’ each and commented the reason was “YOU” started to dominate this informationoriented time. This was the signal that “YOU” would act as an active participant not simply as a receiver of Internet information and create a new social phenomenon, digital democracy.
The birth of smartphones, evolution of communication service and development of infrastructure have eased the users’ burden for communications charges. The circumstances in which we can freely watch large-sized video contents moving to another place comparatively without any burden became the footing of the spread of Snack Culture.
At last it is the time possible for everyone to run his own broadcasting channel! And the UGC(User Generate Content) creator called as BJ, Youtuber or Contents Creator has become the most ideal job.
A Fad to Graft Snack Culture to the Broadcasting System
Snack Culture influenced the existing broadcasting system mainly in the area of item selecting and the processing form. Appearing of real variety shows and the growth and conversion to daily light themes are the examples. The trend is lighter themes and messages on a natural processing way with frank ways of talk though the framework was already planned and organized.
In the earlier days the contents service re-editing programs into clipped videos and supplying them to the video platforms and SNS were regulated and actively expanded. And it is very probable that this process of experiences impacted on program planning in selecting themes and organizing forms and speed and the programs were made fit for clipping.
The sudden rise of Snack Culture has decreased the TV viewer ratings of the teens to the thirties. Of course, they have not watched the broadcasting contents on TV but consumed them mainly on other various platforms regardless of places or time according to their needs. The broadcasting world made various attempts approaching web dramas or web shows on which field the concerned men have piled up their know-hows but did not make any dramatic changes. Like their confession that they approached web contents and online video contents thinking them as the similar but simple version of TV contents so whatever they made it was just a low quality program, not an Internet-based program, it was difficult to understand the different forms of earning models per media and the contents creating characteristics and apply them to the field.
Now 94% of online video viewers watch the re-edited clipped videos of TV programs and 83.3%
watch the UGC creators’ contents. But the fact that the young people of 10-20s watch the creators’ contents and web-based contents more than the other age groups comparatively is the problem to solve in contents making and business model planning from now on.
Contents Market Reorganized By Online Video Platforms as a Center
The competitiveness among the online video platforms is so fierce. As the mobile video advertisement scale renewed the highest record day after day, it is actually the mobile video advertisement competition. According to Nasmedia’s research on the Internet users published in April 2021, the mobile Internet users’ main purpose is various : entertainment, communication, searching information and resources, news, mobile shopping, Internet banking and education/learning. The online video use rating increases year after year and the users use videos mainly on the smartphones.
The top online video platform is Youtube(91.8%). The rate of the users who even search information on Youtube is as high as 57.4%. Especially, Netflix using rate rose up so high though it is not a free OTT service. As for the domestic video platforms, ‘WAVVE’ was launched in 2019 and ‘TVING’ has been reinforced but they are not on the move or NaverTV using rate seems decreasing.
On the other hand, the global video platforms let the audience stay longer on it by using ‘recommendation algorithm’ on the basis of AI and analyzing big data in each of their specialized way and make profits through exposing advertisements. I hope the domestic video platforms would have competitiveness and system superior to the global video platforms by analyzing each of their key to success and discriminating strategies.
Trendy Korean Webtoons and TV Dramas
The most representative broadcasting collaboration with Snack Culture in Korea is definitely webtoon-based dramas. The webtoonbased dramas broadcast by both groundwave broadcasting stations and other program providers like tvN are Misaeng: Incomplete Life, The Sound of Your Heart, Itaewon Class, True Beauty, Confession Couple, Taxi Driver, and Nabilera, and this collaboration has been the trend since the late 2010’s that about seventy six webtoonbased dramas have been released by this time, September 2021.
The reason why remarkably many popular webtoons were re-produced into dramas is stability of profit model. It has been hard to obtain profits in producing web-dramas because advertisement rates for other platforms like NaverTV, compared to producing costs, are so low. On the other hand, webtoons of which popularity among the public is easy to notice has an enormous advantage in deciding how much to invest and how many resources to put in when media mixing with webtoons in the field of genres like TV dramas or films where massive budgets should be required. And it is comparatively easy to understand the original version and film it thanks to their visual concreteness. In addition, through Snack Culture, it is possible to attract the audience, to predict and secure popularity and profits, to manage creative and various stories of Korean webtoons and to expect the subsidiary profits from abroad.
New Journey to the West is the example well
Showing broadcaster’s discriminating strategy from the mobile contents. New Journey to the West season1 was released only on NaverTV targeting the Internet platforms, and the season2 was released simultaneously on both NaverTV and a television station, tvN in which it was programmed and re-edited according to the broadcasting deliberation regulations. But it was not a successful online content compared to the expectations. And the season3 was broadcast only as a TV edition and the highlighted video clips or the unreleased footages have been posted continuously on the Internet.
And Channel 15YA was set up in May 2019 and the unprecedented attempt was made: a short clip like a preview is for TV and the full version is for Youtube channel. It is because the concerned had confirmed that the audience had been split into two channels when they had released the season2 simultaneously on both NaverTV and tvN and selected the platform considering characteristics of programs and media. Channel 15YA has more than 3.53million subscribers by the time, September 2021 and the channel is still on now.
Learning and Understanding Through Snack Culture
Jisikchannel-e is an extremely successful broadcasting content having Snack Culture characteristics. Jisikchannel-e, different from the existing web-contents genres, has a unique form and is a long-running program having been broadcast since September 2005 in EBS. You may watch it on the EBS website and also on its Youtube channel for free.
The very short, 5-minute form of Jisikchannel-e was unique and epoch-making. Jisikchannel-e is so short and the form is simple but the content is not light. And it was just the beginning of it. EBS’ unique short form contents have been tried from then on and such are Daily 10-Minute English, One Bite TOEIC, All the World’s Rules, Giant Peng TV, Gymnastics Refreshing Brains, and 10-Minute Blank TV.
Especially, the ‘Giant Pengsu’ series was the program planned and produced suitable for the Snack Culture trend. The series was released on both TV and Youtube channel but has been more loved on Youtube. And among the series ‘Pengsu, Star Creator from the Antarctic’ was born through the online contents, consoling and affecting many people including MZ generation.
The Coexisting Era with Snack Culture
As the mobile users increase in this busy and complicated society, the Snack Culture trend seems to keep going. And Metaverse will challenge energetically as much as has been expected. Like the video platforms recommend contents by analyzing the users’ activities and dispositions, the broadcasting companies had better consider analyzing big data and AI technologies through integrating, connecting and merging with the mobile services. And at the same time we, the broadcaster need to find out the way to quench the cultural, emotional and educational thirst Snack Culture cannot do.
Broadcasting has played a role as a media supplying information, entertainment, culture and emotions most cheaply to the public till now. We should try to care about the best way to share the contemporary ideas and understanding with the audience coexisting with Snack Culture.
Ryu Nam-e majored in library and information scienece in college; master of Arts on culture contents; worked in management department, IT project department and planned, produced and developed programs, games, on-line e-learning contents, textbooks and reality contents in EBS; and worked as plan & budget department, on-line business department manager and now working as new business & contents department CP and as Korea Munhwa Contents Agency director; produced programs such as One Bite TOEIC, Daily 10-minute English, Shall We Talk, Cook Ten Minutes, Fun Learning, Jumpup, and Gymnastics Refreshing Brains.
Translated by Park Eun-sun
* 《Cultura》 2021 October (Vol. 88) *
