This study examines how short-video use is associated with the subjective social integration of people with disabilities. It conceptualises social integration across three dimensions – self-integration, relational integration and emotional integration – and investigates the differentiated roles of duration of use, content preferences and motivations for use. Drawing on social capital and intellectual capital perspectives, the study further develops a knowledge-network pathway to explain how platform-mediated relationships and information may be converted into knowledge, relational and institutional-action capabilities.
The study employed a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. A questionnaire-based quantitative study in Shanghai, with 468 valid responses and an analytical sample of 344 respondents who had used short-video applications. Respondents with visual and hearing disabilities constituted the majority of the sample. The questionnaire measured duration of use, content preferences, motivations for use and three dimensions of subjective social integration. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple-response analysis, cross-tabulated Pearson chi-square tests, two-tailed Spearman's rank-order correlations and simultaneous-entry ordinary least squares regression. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple-response analysis, cross-tabulated Pearson chi-square tests, two-tailed Spearman's rank-order correlations and simultaneous-entry ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. It should be noted that this study employs OLS regression rather than structural equation modelling (SEM), given that the primary aim is to examine the direct associations between specific usage behaviours and each dimension of social integration, rather than to test a comprehensive structural model with latent constructs and mediation pathways.
Duration of short-video use was not significantly associated with overall, relational or emotional integration, although it was weakly and positively correlated with self-integration and its subdimensions of self-identity and participatory behaviour. Content preferences exhibited differentiated associations: preferences for humorous narratives, talent-related content and everyday-life content were positively associated with self-integration, while everyday-life, news and humorous content were associated with relational integration. Motivations for use also operated in different directions. Entertainment and relaxation, socialising and broadening one's horizons were positively associated with particular dimensions of integration, whereas purposeless browsing or passing time was negatively associated with self-integration and relational integration. The models had modest explanatory power, suggesting that what people watch and why they use short-video platforms may be more relevant to social integration than duration of use alone.
The cross-sectional and self-reported data do not permit causal inference. The sample was restricted to Shanghai, recruited through social organisations and predominantly comprised respondents with visual or hearing disabilities. The findings therefore cannot be directly generalised to non-users, other regions or people with intellectual, psychosocial or multiple disabilities. The modest explanatory power of the models also indicates that social integration is shaped by factors beyond platform use. Future research should employ stratified or quota sampling, longitudinal and experimental designs, digital trace data and digital ethnography, together with accessible and participatory research procedures adapted to different disability groups.
Public authorities, platform companies, rehabilitation professionals, welfare programme designers and disability organisations should establish sustained collaborative mechanisms centred on accessible platform use, actionable information, relational support, emotional safety and institutional connections. Platform accessibility should move beyond enabling initial access towards ensuring sustained, equitable and safe participation. Disability-related information should also be made searchable, credible and convertible into rehabilitation, employment, welfare and rights-related action.
The findings challenge technologically deterministic assumptions that platform access, visibility or prolonged use automatically produces empowerment and social integration. Responsibility for digital inclusion should not be transferred to people with disabilities themselves. Meaningful integration requires the conversion of visibility into respect, information into actionable knowledge and institutional resources, and online interaction into relationships grounded in trust. It therefore depends on coordinated efforts to address inaccessible design, algorithmic discrimination, online stigma and exclusionary offline conditions.
This study contributes to the literature in three respects. Firstly, it develops a multidimensional and subjectively oriented framework that distinguishes among self-integration, relational integration and emotional integration in short-video environments. Secondly, it demonstrates the differentiated associations of usage duration, content preferences and motivations with social integration, thereby moving beyond binary measures of platform access. Thirdly, it conceptualises short-video platforms as knowledge-network infrastructures through which bonding, bridging and linking social capital may be converted into individual intellectual capital. This extends intellectual capital research beyond organisational knowledge management to encompass marginalised groups, public value and social integration in a platformised society.
