TITLE:
The International Communication Effectiveness of China’s Image from the Perspective of Soft Power Pillars: A Case Study of Internet Celebrity “IShowSpeed”
AUTHORS:
Chunyan Yao, Anping Liu
KEYWORDS:
International Communications, IShowSpeed, National Image, Soft Power Pillar
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.2,
February
14,
2026
ABSTRACT: The live streams of internet celebrity “IShowSpeed” during his 2025 China Tour have been widely circulated, exerting a significant influence on international audiences’ perceptions of China. From the perspective of soft power pillars, this study employed Python for targeted web scraping, collecting the top 100 English high-vote comments from each of his 8 China Tour live streams on YouTube. Through content analysis, it explores how non-traditional communicators craft content for to shape China’s national image overseas. Findings indicate that overseas audiences are highly interested in the vitality of Chinese urban life and diverse cultural scenes in the videos. This is reflected in the dual advantages of high penetration rate and high positive sentiment ratio in culture and heritage and sustainable future dimensions. In contrast, governance-related comments present a paradox: high positive sentiment yet low penetration. Comments on culture and sustainable future are mostly positive; few viewers focus on governance, most of those do offer positive feedback. This study concludes that the celebrity offers a new pathway for China’s soft power construction. Its core value lies in breaking cultural cognitive barriers through life-oriented content design and scenario-based communication. To maximize such effectiveness, efforts should focus on leveraging strengths, avoiding weaknesses, pursuing precise audience alignment, and synergizing with other communicators to enhance the overseas communication impact of China’s national image.