"Traps" in Digital Mediated Activities and the Response: Short Video Practices in a County-Level Posture Training School in China

This study investigates the integration and consequences of short video platforms, such as Douyin and WeChat Channels, which were initially perceived as entertainment, in professional and educational settings at a posture training school for women in a fourth-tier city in central China. Drawing on the anthropology of traps and fieldwork in that school, this study explores how the school staff utilise digital technologies to design and deploy “traps” in different activities to captivate prospective clients/students, encouraging them to purchase training plans and continue consuming. These digital practices include short video marketing, the design and editing of video content, as well as the construction and promotion of values aligned with students' social backgrounds. Beyond attracting target clients, staff also attempt to avoid drawing in undesirable customers through specific trap designs, although this attempt is of uncertainty. The study also finds that the “capture” strategies have complex and ambivalent effects. On the one hand, students' privacy may be jeopardised during filming and posting of videos, raising unexpected ethical concerns; on the other hand, the usage of short videos has empowered some less confident students by improving their self-presentation and identity construction. Through the lens of traps, this study offers critical insights into the intersection of digital technology, business strategy, consumer culture, and the human body. These “traps” create force and dynamics at both the individual and collective levels, affecting the experiences and relationships of those involved.