“底层主体性时代”:理解中国网络空间的新视域

The Era of Underclass Subjectivity: A New Perspective of Understanding China’s Cyberspace

中国网络空间正在经历深刻的底层化过程。着眼于互联网的整体转型,本文尝试以"底层主体性时代"这一相对系统的解释框架,探索网络舆论场意见表达的时代特征与网络空间深层重构的长期趋势。研究发现,底层价值取向作为网络空间的关键立场基准,成为网络空间好感度最高的指标,成为各类社会思潮争相取悦的对象;底层群体作为网络空间的关键意见群体,正在以其声量和影响力,形塑着中国的网络舆论场;"底层客体性时代"向"底层主体性时代"的转变,成为理解网络空间演进方向的新视域。这些现象的背后,是多级信息生产、平台商业逻辑与网络空间底层三者互动而成的深层网络机制。

China’s cyberspace is witnessing a fundamental change of underclassifization. Taking a relatively systematic interpretation frame of "the era of underclass subjectivity",this study focuses on the overall transformation of the Internet and attempts to explore the time characteristics of opinion expressing within the Internet public opinion field as well as the long-term trend of the deep reconstruction process of cyberspace. Drawing on the research considering the representation and mechanism of the era of underclass subjectivity, we found that for today’s cyberspace, the value orientation of the underclass not only works as a key benchmark for its stand, but also has become the most important index to measure its favorability and thus the most important object which various social thoughts vying to use. Besides, as the key opinion group in cyberspace, the underclass, with its powerful voice and extensive influence, is shaping the Internet public opinion field in China. As these findings imply, the transition from "the era of underclass objectivity" to "the era of underclass subjectivity" is offering a new perspective for us to understand the evolution direction of China’s cyberspace today, while behind it we can also see the inner mechanism impacted by the multi-level processing of information production, the logic of platform industry and the underclassifization nature of today’s cyberspace.