微信朋友圈:“互联网+”场域中的身份建构与文化表达

We Chat Friends' Circle: Identity Construction and Cultural Expression in the Field of “Internet Plus”

微信朋友圈是近年国内兴起的一种社会文化现象。微信中的朋友圈与现实社会中的朋友圈有共性,但差异更为明显。"熟悉"的"陌生人"和"陌生"的"熟人"是微信朋友圈人际关系的两种主要状态。基于互联网等现代通讯媒介,"朋友"在微信场域中具有多重身份认同和身份建构。通过多样化的象征符号及其表达,微信朋友圈的即时互动和超地域性使其具备了现实朋友圈难以企及的社会资本动员能力和文化张力。微信红包、微信点赞、微言众听、微群讨论甚至微商广告等等,构成了"互联网+"时代微信朋友圈的基本业态和常态。微信朋友圈的出现和流行,在某种程度上看是文化与技术融合的现代性产物。作为文化与技术融合的当代社会交往媒介和载体,微信朋友圈已开始出现了一些后现代社会生活的端倪。

With the development of Internet and communication technology,We Chat is affecting the life of Chinese people with unprecedented depth and breadth. Originally,We Chat was just a new means of communication,but by combining it with ＂friends＂,it creates a We Chat friends circle which has a unique meaning. If examined from the perspective of cultural anthropology,identity,domain and expression it can be regarded as an analytical perspective worth noting.Ⅰ. We Chat,friends and circle： variations in the cultural domain in the age of ＂Internet plus＂We Chat is a free application launched by Tencent,Inc. in January 21,2011 to provide instant messaging services for smart devices. Since then,people have begun to chat and negotiate their affairs using We Chat. We Chat support crosscuts communication operators, and operating system platforms through quickly sending free（ need to consume a small amount of network traffic） voice messaging,videos,pictures and texts by the network. At the same time,it can also stream media content by sharing information and location-based social plug-ins,such as ＂shake＂,＂floating bottle＂, ＂friends circle＂, ＂public platform ＂ and＂voice NOTEPAD＂etc. From then on,We Chat began to enter peoples＇ lives and work in China.The basic functions of We Chat include adding friends, chatting,real-time communication, and We Chat applets,etc. Other functions can be added later. The expansion and upgrading of these We Chat functions reflects the changes in informa-tion technology,specifically in contemporary social life. It is also an important arena for combining the era of ＂Internet plus＂era and culture and technology. It lay the foundation for the formation of a＂circle＂of We Chat and friends.The continuous development of Internet technology notonly constantly promotes the expansion of the function of ＂Internet plus＂,but within the circle of the real world and the virtual world of the internet,it also gives the ＂friends＂a ＂double-nature＂,including both instrumental and foundational. Therefore, in the process of the ＂Internet plus ＂ technology innovation and institutional reform,We Chat,friends and ＂circle ＂constitute a dual field of the implicit and explicit.Ⅱ. The construction of the identity of a WeChat friends circle Based on modern communication media,such as ＂Internet plus＂,the ＂friends＂in the field of We Chat have multiple identities and identity construction. On the one hand,the ＂friends＂in WeChat friends circle are from a QQ address book or QQ address book from mobile phone numbers. On the other hand,new friends can be added by using the We Chat ＂shake ＂plug-in to search for strangers,and add them into a ＂friends＂circle. Moreover,people can also become the ＂friends＂of a new We Chat group after being added into the new We Chat group by their QQ friends or other We Chat group of ＂friends＂.The ＂friends＂of a We Chat group often differ because of the different nature of the ＂group ＂.The process of constructing a colleagues group,or classmates group is essentially a process which goes from ＂real to virtual＂during which the social relationships in reality is extended to the We Chat space which compresses time and space. The reality of social culture is also embedded in the WeChat friends circle to various degrees. Those WeChat groups which pull people into the group via an acquaintance,or people with whom they are not so familiar,or add members through people＇s active searching and who apply to be accepted by the group organizers,have obvious industrial or commercial characteristics. In these cases,most members of the group are relatively unfamiliar with each other. However,they slowly change from being strangers to ＂acquaintances ＂. The process of changing from ＂strangers＂to ＂acquaintances＂is the process of identity construction and cultural identity of the We Chat friends circle.Because of the influence of cultural ideas,human feelings,relationships and the ＂face＂culture of Chinese society have inevitably infiltrated into the circle of We Chat friends. ＂Culture is the link between history and reality,but culture reflects more history than the reality of society,or alternatively,we can say,culture reflects less the reality of society than history. ＂（ Liao Yang,2012）Using this cultural perspective to analyze the cultural phenomenon of the We Chat friends circle,we perhaps can have more understanding of the historical trend of the integration of culture and technology.In the early days of the development of the internet,people in the internet world were mostly virtual,and net names,account numbers or user names were basically the product of self-construction. After the start of the 21 stCentury,communication,information,capital,and resources began to depend more and more on the internet to get involved in people＇s work,production and daily life.Then,the network began to turn into an integrated period of multi-network of the Internet of things and ＂Internet plus＂. At this point,identity construction on the Internet emerged as a virtual re-gression reality. As a public space for information society communication,the We Chat friends circle tries to maintain a closed inner circle within a relatively open virtual public space. Whether people can view or receive information of the friends circle from the other side became a way of social isolation,and We Chat ＂friends＂were gradually shaped into ＂strangers＂＂acquaintances ＂ and ＂familiar strangers＂. In a sense,the We Chat friends circle can be viewed as a social networking domain that integrates technologies such as the internet and instant messaging. The identity construction and cultural identity of a We Chat friends circle is a diachronic and synchronic social and cultural process.Cultural cognition influences identity construction,which then influences social communication. ＂Familiar strangers＂,and ＂strange＂＂acquaintances＂are the two main forms of human relationships in We Chat friends circle.Ⅲ. The Cultural Expression of the We Chat Friends Circle The various We Chat spatial designs and increasingly complete We Chat functions provide the conditions for the diversification and personalized cultural expression of the We Chat friends circle.The cultural expression found in We Chat may be more domain,situational and instrumental because of its rapidness. This attracts attention in our information consuming society.Firstly,through the diversification of symbols and their expressions,the immediate interaction and trans-locality domain of the We Chat friends circle give it the ability for social capital mobilization and cultural tension that cannot be reached via a real circle of friends.With the help of the internet and We Chat and other contemporary social platforms,public voting is becoming increasingly socially capitalized. The We Chat friends circle has become a ＂market for the mobilization of human capital＂. If there are not many ＂friends＂ in the circle of friends,many people will offer themselves to join the ＂We Chat group＂ in order to start ＂canvassing ＂ a rescue.Despite the fact that the We Chat friends circle isessentially a public social space,many people frequently blur the boundaries and dimensions between the private space and public space of the We Chat friends circle. They tend to take the WeChat friends circle as a window and platform for displaying one＇s self or self-display,which brings the popularity of ＂DIY＂to the We Chat friends circle. This ＂trans-locality＂and ＂interactive immediacy＂give the We Chat friends circle in modern society the ability to mobilize social capital and a cultural tension that the real circle of friends cannot match.Secondly, We Chat Red-packets, We Chat praise,We Chat listen to,We Chat group discussion and even We Chat-business advertisements and so on,constitute the normal basic format of the era of the ＂Internet plus＂We Chat friends circle.＂Internet plus＂ is the achievement of the thinking practices of the internet,and it promotes a constant change of socia