微信春节红包在中国人家庭关系中的运作模式研究——基于媒介人类学的分析视角

Research on the Operation of Spring Festival “Hong Bao” of We Chat in the Chinese Family: From the Perspective of Media Anthropology

本文以传统春节红包运作的流动范围、流动方式和流动的性质与功能为参照框架,从媒介人类学的视角对微信春节红包在中国人家庭关系中的运作模式进行了分析。研究发现,微信春节红包的流动范围并不仅限于家庭内部,在流动方式上以"抢红包"为主要发放形式,其流动路径在结构上构成了不同于传统春节红包的"去顶金字塔"结构,并呈现出使家庭关系扁平化的趋势,其性质可以界定为一种具有仪式性的互动游戏。因此,微信春节红包在中国人家庭关系中的运作可能对后者产生相应的影响,包括触动以纵轴为中心的传统家庭关系、消融家庭与社交的边界及解构家庭节庆的神圣空间等三个方面。尽管微信春节红包和传统春节红包不能相互替代,但前者对技术的依赖大于后者,因而在未来可能会被更具共享性和和互动性的娱乐方式所替代。

According to the framework based on the operation of traditional Spring Festival ＂Hong Bao＂, this paper analyzed the operation of Spring Festival ＂Hong Bao＂ of WeChat in the Chinese family from the perspective of media anthropology in three dimensions ： flowing area, mechanism, attributes and functions. The study found that the flowing area of Spring Festival ＂Hong Bao＂ of WeChat is not limited to family. About flowing mechanism, the main distribution form is ＂snatch ＇ Hong Bao＇ ＂. Its flowing path forms a structure of ＂pyramid without top＂ which is different with the traditional Spring Festival ＂Hong Bao＂ and demonstrates the tendency of flattening the family relationship. Its attributes can be defined as an interactive game with ritual. Therefore, the operation of Spring Festival ＂Hong Bao＂ of WeChat in the Chinese families may change the traditional family relationships which centers on clan, blur the boundary between family and social, and deconstruct the sacred space of family festivals. The two kinds of ＂Hong Bao＂ can not replace each other, but Spring Festival ＂Hong Bao＂ of WeChat is more dependent on technology than traditional ＂Hong Bao＂, which may be replaced by entertainment ways that with more sharing and interactive in the future.