Ⅰ. The era of short videos represents a new context for discourse innovation in ideological and political education

(I) Definition of relevant concepts

Short videos, as the name suggests, are a new form of video communication centered around "shortness". The duration of short videos ranges from tens of seconds, a few minutes, to over ten minutes, with social interaction and recording of life as the main content, satisfying users' needs for obtaining information and entertainment in fragmented time. Short videos are characterized by brevity, speed, and convenient operation, massive resources and personalized push, bidirectional interaction, and interesting aggregation.

"Ideological and political education" refers to "the social practice in which a society or social group exerts purposeful, planned, and organized influence on its members through certain ideological concepts, political viewpoints, and moral norms, and encourages them to autonomously accept this influence, thereby forming moral character and ideology that meet the needs of a certain society and class." In Chinese dictionaries, "discourse" is often interpreted as "speaking, lecturing, and discussing." By reviewing scholars' research findings, discourse can be understood as a linguistic symbol system for communication between subject and object in a specific context. It serves as a bridge and bond for interpersonal communication. Combining the concepts of "ideological and political education" and "discourse," ideological and political education discourse refers to the linguistic symbol system in which educators express discourse content carrying mainstream ideology through methods such as indoctrination, persuasion, and propaganda during educational practice, aiming to influence people's thoughts and guide their practice. It is the conceptual representation and activity carrier of ideological and political education. Distinct political nature, profound ideological content, and strong timeliness constitute the basic characteristics of ideological and political education discourse. These three characteristics differ from general educational and discourse characteristics, reflecting the unique attributes of ideological and political education discourse.

(II) Short video platforms have become a new field for discourse innovation in ideological and political education

Short video platforms, characterized by openness, interactivity, technological advancement, and fragmentation, provide a novel practical domain for the innovation of ideological and political education discourse.

Firstly, traditional ideological and political education primarily relies on one-way indoctrination, constrained by closed settings such as classrooms and lectures, with a limited dissemination scope. Short video platforms, on the other hand, have established an open dissemination environment, breaking the constraints of physical space and time. Educators can disseminate content to global users through short videos, forming a "borderless classroom". Secondly, short video platforms have constructed a bidirectional interactive dissemination model through functions such as comments, bullet comments, likes, and private messages. Educatees have shifted from passive recipients to active participants, and even become content creators. Thirdly, short videos integrate multimedia technologies such as images, music, animation, and special effects, providing visual, contextualized, and story-based expression means for ideological and political education. Fourthly, the short duration and high density characteristics of short videos align with the fragmented time utilization demands of modern society, but also force ideological and political education discourse to undergo streamlined reconstruction. Although this fragmented dissemination requires vigilance against the risk of "superficiality", through serialized and themed content design, a "building block knowledge system" can be formed, maintaining the coherence of educational logic while adapting to fast-paced life.

(III) Endowing short videos with positive significance is the mission of the times for the innovation of ideological and political education discourse

Short videos are a product of the digital era, representing advanced communication technologies and dissemination concepts. Through short videos, ideological and political education can respond promptly to contemporary hot topics and address social concerns, demonstrating the contemporary value and vitality of ideological and political education. This promotes the deep integration of ideological and political education with the development of the times, cultivating high-quality talents who embody the spirit of the times and meet the demands of the era.

In the current era of diverse cultural ideologies interacting, short videos have become an important platform for disseminating mainstream ideologies. Ideological and political education bears the mission of spreading mainstream ideologies such as Marxist theory and socialist core values. By innovating the discourse of ideological and political education through short videos, it is possible to integrate mainstream ideologies into vivid stories and illustrative cases in a more approachable and compelling manner. This allows the vast audience to be nurtured by mainstream ideologies in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere, enhancing their sense of identity and belonging to the country, nation, and socialist path, and consolidating the common ideological foundation for unity and struggle among all members of the Party and the people of all ethnic groups across the country.

II. The Dispelling Effect of Short Videos on the Discourse of Ideological and Political Education

(I) Diversification of subjects reduces discourse authority

In traditional ideological and political education, the subject-object relationship between educators and educatees is clear and fixed, with one-way communication model and centralized discourse mechanism forming a stable distribution pattern of discourse power. The emergence of short videos has disrupted this pattern, enabling anyone to become an information disseminator and knowledge imparter. The authority of traditional ideological and political education discourse faces challenges, exhibiting a significant "decentralization" characteristic.

Firstly, short videos have dissolved the boundaries between the subject and object in ideological and political education discourse. Relying on big data technology, short video platforms have formed an information dissemination network centered around interest-based communities. Users enter homogenous groups through algorithmic recommendations, exhibiting a clustering of viewpoints when acquiring information. In this process, the educatees no longer passively receive information, but instead compete for discourse power through comments, secondary creation, and other means, leading to a blurring of the boundaries between the subject and object. Educators have transitioned from being "one-way instillers" to "dialog participants," and the authority of discourse has been weakened due to equal interaction.

Secondly, short videos have eroded the educator's dominant control over information. Under traditional models, educators can transmit positive values by selecting textbooks and controlling classroom content. However, the open nature of short videos has made information dissemination independent of educators' control. For instance, algorithm-driven recommendations may include false information or extreme views, undermining the positive narrative carefully constructed by educators. When hot-button issues rapidly ferment on short video platforms, educators find it difficult to intervene and guide in a timely manner, passively responding to the wave of public opinion. Against this backdrop, educators are unable to control the discourse power through information selection, and the traditional "authority-obedience" relationship is deconstructed. Inter-subjective equal dialog has become an inevitable trend. The educational field has shifted from a "closed classroom" to an "open public opinion field," and the authority of ideological and political education discourse faces the risk of being weakened.

(II) Fragmentation of content disrupts the logic of discourse

The logical coherence of ideological and political education discourse directly impacts the effectiveness of such education. Traditional ideological and political education is a long-term and systematic process, with its cultural education function exhibiting characteristics of systematicness and continuity. The discourse is typically presented in a comprehensive, standardized, and meticulous manner, forming a complete system. The emergence of short videos has transformed information forms from traditional print media to new media combining fragmented sounds and images. Although this fragmented expression, primarily relying on images and sounds, enhances audience memory due to its "short" and "small" characteristics, it still faces significant challenges of being "short but not refined" and weakening the ideological and political education attributes.

Firstly, it undermines the logical coherence of the ideological and political education discourse system. Short videos, through their "short duration + high density" information dissemination model, pose a triple challenge to the logical coherence of the ideological and political education discourse system. Firstly, they fragment the systematicness of knowledge. Short videos break down complete theories into isolated knowledge points. For example, summarizing "the basic principles of Marxism" in30 seconds omits historical background and logical derivation, reducing the theory to slogan-like fragments. Secondly, they simplify complex ideologies. To accommodate fragmented expressions, short videos often overly generalize abstract concepts. For instance, simplifying "core socialist values" into a rolling subtitle of12 words weakens its practical and contemporary connotations. Thirdly, they erode contextual relevance. The dissemination mode of short videos, which is divorced from context, renders viewpoints "disconnected". For example, extracting fragments of leaders' speeches for secondary creation may deviate from the original meaning and undermine the integrity of theoretical interpretation.

Secondly, it disrupts the logical nature of users' thinking habits. The fragmented nature of short videos reconstructs users' cognitive patterns. Firstly, it leads users to rely more on "shallow processing". For example, they quickly obtain conclusions through15-second videos, skipping the questioning and reasoning stages, forming a mindset of "conclusion priority". Secondly, it leads users to lose their ability to think deeply. Long-term exposure to fragmented information leads to the formation of a "short feedback dependency" in neural cognition. For example, after watching edited short videos of "The Age of Awakening", young people mistakenly believe that "revolutionary victory depends solely on passionate speeches", ignoring the complex logic of historical development. Thirdly, it leads users to deconstruct their willingness to systematically learn. When short videos such as "reading 'Das Kapital' in3 minutes" become popular, users are prone to the illusion that they have mastered core knowledge, giving up reading the original works and ultimately falling into a vicious cycle of "the more fragmented, the more ignorant".

(III) Personalized push limits the content of discourse

Short video platforms implement personalized push based on users' interest-driven behaviors, gradually forming a "TikTok-style" information attention habit among young people, trapping them in an "information cocoon". Although this mechanism enhances user engagement, it squeezes the dissemination space of mainstream ideology, resulting in limitations on the content of ideological and political education discourse.

Firstly, the algorithm mechanism solidifies the barriers of "information silos". Short video platforms accurately identify user preferences through algorithms and continuously push homogenized content. For example, users who have long been interested in entertainment content have their homepage almost dominated by celebrity gossip and funny videos, while short videos related to current politics and socialist core values are marginalized. This "catering to their preferences" push logic gradually deprives young users of opportunities to encounter diverse viewpoints, forming a closed information ecosystem. The Party's innovative theories find it difficult to break through the algorithm barrier and reach the target group.

Secondly, user preferences dominate content selection, weakening the willingness to explore. Young users rely excessively on the instant gratification brought by short videos and are accustomed to passively accepting algorithmically recommended content. For example, a certain college student only follows "game guides" and "beauty tutorials" on Tiktok, and directly swipes away the short videos on the theme of "rural revitalization" actively pushed by the platform. Over time, users' desire to explore new things decreases, and the dissemination of mainstream ideology is forced to be limited to specific circles, significantly weakening the coverage and penetration of ideological and political education discourse.

Thirdly, interest-based communities reinforce homogenization of values. On short video platforms, users join specific communities based on their interests, where value consensus is formed through likes and reposts. For example, in "fan groups", fans often unconditionally support their idols' words and deeds, and even attack rational voices criticizing their idols. This homogenizing environment makes young people more receptive to extreme views within the group, and leads to a rejection of official ideological and political education content, further limiting the effectiveness of discourse dissemination.

(Ⅳ) The trend towards pan-entertainment has diminished the value of discourse

Driven by the "traffic economy", the trend of pan-entertainment in short videos has become increasingly severe, eroding the seriousness and value-guiding power of ideological and political education discourse, and posing a challenge to mainstream social value recognition.

Firstly, there is an influx of vulgar content that deconstructs serious issues. Some creators deliberately create sensational and parody content to attract attention. For instance, they interpret historical events in a humorous manner, portray heroic figures as "comic characters", or disseminate historical nihilism through "pseudo-science" short videos. Such content blurs the boundaries between right and wrong, tends to entertain young users' cognition of history and morality, and weakens the credibility of ideological and political education discourse.

Secondly, subcultures challenge mainstream values, leading to a disorder of values. On short video platforms, subcultures such as "sorrow culture" and "lying flat culture" are widely spread through forms such as "playing memes" and emojis. For example, young people use "lying flat" as a self-deprecating way to avoid the responsibility of striving, or associate the label of "patriotism" with "unfashionable videos", thereby dispelling its sacredness. These subcultures challenge mainstream values with a rebellious attitude, leading some young people to feel alienated from the core socialist values, and the recognition of ideological and political education discourse decreases accordingly.

Thirdly, the logic of prioritizing traffic distorts the criteria for value judgment. The "number of likes" and "number of shares" of short videos have become core indicators for measuring content value, giving rise to the chaotic creation phenomenon of "doing whatever it takes for traffic". For example, internet celebrities fabricate "stories of selling misery" to gain sympathy, or maliciously hyped up social contradictions to attract attention. Such behaviors have led young users to form a distorted value system where "traffic is justice", ignoring the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty. The value-guiding function of ideological and political education discourse has been severely weakened.

III. Reconstructing the Discourse of Ideological and Political Education through Short Videos

(I) Active participation: reshaping discourse authority

In the context of short videos, although the boundaries between the subject and object of ideological and political education discourse are blurring, anyone can potentially become a disseminator of information and a teacher of knowledge. However, precisely because of this, short videos have also brought opportunities for ideological and political education discourse. Ideological and political educators should actively participate, fully exert their subjective initiative, and use short videos to reshape discourse authority. To achieve this goal, firstly, ideological and political educators should upgrade their own concepts, clearly take students as the starting point, and adopt a comprehensive, objective, open, and inclusive attitude towards the impact of short videos on ideological and political education discourse; secondly, ideological and political educators should attach importance to improving their own qualities, constantly updating their knowledge structure and skill levels to adapt to the needs of the short video era. This includes but is not limited to learning short video shooting and editing skills, network communication mechanisms, user psychology analysis, etc., in order to better grasp educational opportunities in the context of short videos; finally, with the social attributes of short video platforms, ideological and political educators can also establish interactions with the educated, collect feedback, and adjust content in a timely manner to make it more in line with the needs and interests of the audience.

(II) Content control: Enhancing discourse logic

In the context of short videos, although fragmented content has fragmented the logical coherence of the ideological and political education discourse system and the logical coherence of users' thinking habits to some extent, relevant departments, such as education departments and network supervision departments, can still enhance discourse logic by macroscopically controlling short video content, avoiding excessive generalization, and repeatedly refining and polishing. Firstly, education departments can initiate short video production competitions to encourage teachers and students to create short videos with ideological and political education themes. Through competitions, positive rewards and affirmation can be given to short videos that accurately convey ideological and political education concepts, have clear logic, and are accurately expressed. Secondly, network supervision departments can conduct content and logic reviews for short videos involving ideological and political education content. For those short videos that are correct in content but have poor logic or may even mislead users, video authors are required to make modifications or take them down, in order to promote self-discipline within the industry. At the same time, a serious attitude should be taken to warn others outside the industry. Finally, relevant departments can also invite professional ideological and political education experts, teachers, and short video creators to discuss and provide guidance and suggestions on how to correctly and logically express ideological and political education content in short videos, thereby helping relevant personnel improve their ability to grasp the logical coherence of the ideological and political education discourse system in the process of creation and dissemination.

(III) Seizing Opportunities: Promoting Discourse Popularization

In the context of short videos, although the content of ideological and political education discourse is somewhat restricted due to personalized recommendations on short video platforms and the preferences of the audience, compared to traditional ideological and political education discourse, today's discourse also boasts a larger and broader stage. The communication between educators and educatees is no longer limited to traditional classrooms, but can unfold in a broader cyberspace. This requires ideological and political educators to seize opportunities, keep pace with the times, and utilize short videos to promote the popularization of discourse, making ideological and political education discourse a possible main content of personalized recommendations on short videos and a possible preference choice for the audience. For example, by employing innovative expression methods and technical means such as animations, short drama films, documentary clips, micro-lectures, interactive Q&A sessions, etc., profound ideological and political concepts can be transformed into forms that are easy to understand and accept, vividly conveying the content of ideological and political education, and allowing the public to receive education in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. This not only enhances the effectiveness and attractiveness of education through edutainment but also expands the audience base of ideological and political education.

(Ⅳ) Strengthening supervision: enhancing the value of discourse

In the context of short videos, due to the complexity of the online environment and the promotion of the traffic economy, the tendency towards pan-entertainment on major short video platforms has become increasingly severe, thereby weakening the discourse value of ideological and political education to a certain extent. Therefore, relevant departments must strengthen supervision, use compulsory means to avoid value disorder, and enhance the discourse value of ideological and political education. Firstly, the government should formulate strict regulations. For violations such as spreading rumors and vulgar content, clear definitions should be established, and corresponding legal responsibilities should be set up for punishment. Through legal means, it is ensured that the tendency towards pan-entertainment is effectively controlled, and the correct value orientation is disseminated and strengthened. Secondly, short video platforms should strengthen review and supervision. Special content review teams can be established to conduct prior review of content uploaded by users, ensuring that it conforms to the correct value orientation and preventing the spread of harmful information. At the same time, platforms can reward creators and content that actively disseminate positive ideological and political education through the establishment of an evaluation system, encouraging the production of more high-quality content. Finally, relevant departments should work together to cultivate users' media literacy. The short video space is virtually complex, and it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity of short video content. Coupled with the fact that most educatees are in the critical period of value cultivation and shaping, it is particularly important to button up the first button of life. Relevant departments can carry out online and offline publicity and education activities simultaneously, guiding the public, especially young users, to consume online information rationally, distinguish harmful content, and consciously stay away from the pan-entertainment tendency of vulgarity, philistinism, and kitsch.

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