From CDs to Algorithms: Intergenerational Resistance and Cultural Reconstruction among Dao Lang's Fans under Social Identity Theory

Abstract

The cross-generational dissemination of Dao Lang's Rakshasa Sea in 2023 reflects the differentiated construction of intergenerational identity among fan communities amid China's media ecology from the CD era to the algorithmic era. Drawing upon social identity theory, this study employs discourse analysis and netnography to examine fan practices across short-video comment sections, Douban groups, and Bilibili secondary-creation zones. Findings reveal that fans born between the 1960s and 1980s, grounded in their embodied experience with physical media, construct collective memory through nostalgic narratives that elevate the artist as a spiritual totem of grassroots culture. Conversely, post-90s and post-00s generations fans leverage algorithmic recommendation systems, deconstructing earthy aesthetics and reinterpreting the work through secondary creation to generate novel cultural meanings. This intergenerational resistance operates across three dimensions: media technology, cultural values and identity formation. The cultural reconstruction in the digital age constitutes a bidirectional movement—encompassing both the adaptive media adjustments of middle-aged and elderly fans and the deconstructive innovations of younger fans—ultimately crystallizing into a stratified identity system of "core-periphery-intermediary." This dynamic substantiates the theoretical extension of social identity theory through algorithms as cultural intermediaries.