As International Women's Day approaches, Zhihu's original high-quality storytelling platform, Salted Stories, launches its "Red Salt Celebrates Herself" theme for the female lead season event. Handpicked from a pool of 15 stories that break through limitations and stereotypes, this event showcases a diverse array of captivating female narratives. With its distinctive style, Salted Stories aims to redefine the genre of "strong female protagonist" in online literature.
Short stories, as a branch of online literature, have experienced explosive growth thanks to Zhihu's unique product and operational model. Zhihu's Salt Storytelling, with over half of the market share, has emerged as the pioneer and leader in the short story genre. Among them, as the platform with the most active young female readers, Salt Storytelling has attracted a large number of female creators and works with female-centric themes.
Data shows that over 80% of Salt Storytelling's users are female, mostly living in first-tier and new first-tier cities, and are predominantly women born in the 1990s and 2000s (Gen Z). In terms of aesthetic taste, female users are highly interested in themes like female empowerment, showcasing a strong desire for stories centered around "female power," which has continually improved both in quantity and quality on Salt Storytelling.
Meanwhile, female readers no longer perceive female-themed stories as superficial or stereotypical, but rather as reflecting the authentic characteristics and expectations of contemporary women. Whether it's the early well-known works like "Zhihu's Three Supreme," or the currently popular works like "Igniting the Spark," "Palmistry Woman," and "Exchange Marriage," they all embody the characteristics of Salt Storytelling's leading female protagonists – "clear-minded, intelligent, independent, career-driven, and not solely focused on romance."
The recent launch of the female protagonist season event on Salt Storytelling aligns with user content consumption trends and distinctive creative features. The 15 selected female-centric stories showcase distinctive writing styles and character development. "Washing Away the Glitz" portrays a non-stereotypical female lead who lacks the typical halo effect and plot conveniences, instead, gradually awakening to her true self and transforming her life. "Igniting the Spark" tells a non-mainstream time-travel story where the female lead is not confined to traditional narratives of family struggles or intimate relationships but instead embodies patriotism throughout the story, earning widespread acclaim from readers for its "broad scope" and "rewriting time-travel history."
Zhihu's Salt Storytelling's creation of female-centric content also offers new perspectives for the film and television industry. The successful adaptation of "Washing Away the Glitz" into a film in 2023 marked the beginning of Salt's "big female lead" theme in visual media. Additionally, works like "Igniting the Spark" and other female-centric pieces are set to enter various stages of film and television development. In the future, Zhihu's Salt Storytelling aims to inject more vitality and potential into female-centric film and television dramas, potentially becoming another treasure trove for "big female lead" visual content.
