"Digital Gateways, Cultural Flows: A Mixed-Methods Comparative Analysis of Platform-Specific Soft Power Dynamics in the Globalization of Pakistani and Chinese Cinema (2018–2026)"

Abstract

This paper analyses the different ways Facebook, YouTube, and WeChat mediate the globalization of Pakistani and Chinese cinemas in the years 2018- 2026. The study combines the analysis of engagement of twenty purposely sampled films quantitatively using a mixed-methods design, qualitative analysis of the content of the platform-specific promotional materials, and semi-structured interviews with industry professionals and diaspora audience in Toronto, London, and Dubai. The results indicate that three different forms of platform-mediated globalization exist, with YouTube being an algorithmic engine of discovery, where the content of Chinese science fiction and animation is more likely to reach high viewership rates because of the use of genre-based global taste structures; Facebook as a network-based diaspora infrastructure, whereby Pakistani cinema is more likely to reach high engagement rates (5.8%) than Chinese cinema (2.4%), due to community-oriented sharing practices; and WeChat, which is theorized as enclave globalization, which is the confined and trust- The analysis creates a structural imbalance: Pakistani cinema globalization is reliant on western-owned space, whereas Chinese has access to infrastructural independence by its local platform ecosystem. The results contribute to the platform studies with the theorization of enclave globalization as a unique form of circulation of culture, the challenge to monolithic approaches to digital globalization by displaying the specific paths of platforms, and the long-term centrality of diaspora audiences in transnational media flows. The paper advances the academic research on South-South cultural exchange and provides practical implications of cultural policy makers and industry practitioners operating in the fractured environment of global digital infrastructure.