Professor Zeng Qingxiang, School of Journalism, Communication University of China, believes that , when an individual turns from a passerby to a fan, is achieved through the three psychological mechanisms of self-projection, self-empathy, and self-compensation, from idol identification to self-identification; , Is to complete the process from self-identification to group identification under the psychological needs of respect and self-realization. The series of operations of “fan circle” and “cultivation of idols” not only satisfy the members’ recognition needs on the three levels of cognition, emotion and action, but also transform the static “imaginary community” into a dynamic “interactive”. "Community" has finally achieved the effect of strengthening group identity and enhancing cohesion. How does
"rice circle" construct group identity? The various operations of
"fan circle" include two functions: first, building a platform to promote the group, and secondly mobilizing all fans in the group to participate in various activities and strengthening group identity.
embeds each member into the group network, so that each member has the opportunity and channel to "touch" other members and interact with them. Fan circle organization and communication channels realize matrix, three-dimensional and full coverage, increasing the stickiness between fans, fans and idols, and fans to the group.
personalizes and anthropomorphizes the image of the group into "idols" that are worthy, responsible, amiable and even cute and cute. Under the triple influence of postmodernism, flatness, and entertainment, the daily work and life information of consuming idols has become a habit and a kind of companionship for fans. Under this influence, fans’ emotional involvement and self-projection are becoming more and more. .
ranks idols or group goals into advanced levels, making group goals a step up to the next level like idol careers, allowing all members of the group to participate in data creation, and making members become "watchers" of the activity.
uses the challenges, predicaments, blows and disadvantages faced by idols or groups to mobilize and strengthen member recognition. With the help of idols and special moments of the group,
uses existing or built new spectacles to hold rituals and increase ritual elements and sense of ritual, so as to promote and strengthen people's enthusiasm for participation, increase interaction, and enhance their sense of identity.
More wonderful views
01
Road turn to fans: from identification of others to self-identification
identification, the meaning includes two levels: one is to identify, identify, identify someone or something from the crowd or crowd, that is, to find differences; The second is identity and identity. In addition to the dual connotations of "similarity" and "difference", identity also means recognition and recognition. Since identities are formed in social situations, all human identities are social identities. According to whether the scene is interpersonal or inter-group relationship, identity can be divided into personal identity and group identity. The former is constructed based on individual unique qualities, and the latter is formed based on group membership. Whether it is personal identity or group identity,
contains two aspects: internal and external. Inner personal identity refers to an individual's self-identification, and external personal identity is the classification of individuals by society. The inner group identity refers to the members' sense of group belonging, and the outer group identity is the group classification of members by society. This shows that identification includes not only self-identity, but also other's identification. All idolatry is an identity of the other. American scholars call the audience's admiration for movie stars as "amorous identification", their love for TV celebrities as "sympathetic identification", and their appreciation of pop singers as "associative identification".
Through the discussion of identity crisis, especially Giddens’s discussion of the influence of modernity on self-identity, it is found that the "identity" of people or things will fade and change over time. "In the context of modernity, The changing self is explored and constructed as part of the reflective process that connects personal changes and social changes." “Self-identity is not a trait or a combination of traits possessed by an individual. It is formed by an individual based on his personal experience as a self-reflection understanding.” This leads to identification no longer emphasizing "identity", but more To focus on "recognition and approval." Charles Taylor believes that identificationIt is essentially a kind of moral identity, which shows that identity mainly includes cognition (that is, distinguishing unique qualities) and recognition.
"Fan circle" as a kind of community, its formation firstly originates from "fans"'s recognition and approval of "idol" body or/and mind, including appearance, temperament, EQ, IQ, values, professionalism, and struggle experience , Public awareness, work achievement, etc. Among these other identifications with idols, some are doped with self-identification, that is, fans find that they have something in common with themselves in idols, that is, they regard idols as themselves or who they want to become, forming A kind of self-projection; some are just emotional involvement, without seeing their own shadow in the idol. Therefore, the former can be called self-projected idol identification, while the latter can be called emotionally involved idol identification.
Self-projected idol identification contains emotional involvement, but emotionally involved idol identification does not contain self-projection. Aiming at self-projected idol identification, some "fans" first have self-projection and then emotional involvement; others first have emotional involvement and then self-projection.
Idol identification is only the cornerstone of an individual becoming a "fan". The key to becoming a "fan" is to complete the self-recognition of the identity of "I am a fan of XX". In the process, from the identity of the idol to the identity of the fan, there are generally various psychological needs, which can be roughly classified as "projection", "empathy" and "compensation".
projection refers to individuals who see in idols the qualities and characteristics they have or want to possess, and regard idols as "struggle goals", "examples of learning", "ideal self", and "life motivation and spiritual pillars" all fall into this category; empathy refers to individuals transferring their feelings and attitudes towards their parents, siblings, spouses, etc. to their idols. Emotional projections and relationship fantasies fall into this category; compensation refers to individuals who use when their minds are empty, emotionally anxious and lacking Idols fill up, paralyze, and vent, and fans use idol worship as entertainment and socializing.
Ordinary idol identification will promote fans to have a good feeling, but this kind of affection generally stays at a shallow level; but when idol identification is transformed into self-identification of fan identity, personal emotional stickiness towards idols rises greatly, like sublimation For attachment. The attachment based on the self-identity generated by the projected psychological mechanism is "identified attachment", which refers to the person who wishes to become the idol, that is, the idol is his "ideal self".
Attachment based on self-identification generated by empathy includes: "love-style attachment", that is, treating idols as one's lover, "girlfriend fans" and "boyfriend fans" are for this category; "family-style attachment", That means treating idols as their own children, younger brothers, sisters, etc., "mother fans", "sister fans" and "brother fans" belong to this category; "friend attachment" means treating idols as their own friends and partners, and "partner fans" "Friends fans" are for this category. Attachment due to empathy can be collectively referred to as "lover/friend-like attachment". Attachment based on self-identity formed by compensation psychology can be called "substitute attachment", that is, idols are used as substitutes for their missing parts.
In addition, self-identification arising from projection, empathy, and compensation may cause a small number of individuals to have a kind of "drug-like attachment" to idols, that is, many fans are too deeply involved in their relationship with idols. Pathologically chasing stars.
02
rice into the circle: from self-identification to group identification
is undeniable. After an individual recognizes his fan identity, some of them are satisfied with the state of star chasing alone (ie solo fans, loose fans), but most of them have a high degree of self-identity Fans will be driven by various needs such as sociality, sense of belonging, emotional exchange, information understanding, and helping "idols" to form or find like-minded groups to form or join "rice circles".
At the same time, like-good groups can also strengthen self-identity, because if an individual’s self-identity can’t find likes and cannot form a scale, it’s easy to be regarded as a heterogeneous and not recognized by society, which will undoubtedly shake self-identity. Forming or joining a group of like-minded people, the sense of alienation and shame will disappear quickly. This is the mechanism by which the smaller the crowd, the more the need for the group. Individuals in the
fan circle group often differ in many aspects, such as nationality, race, work, experience, etc., and even the reasons for the same "idol" are also very different, but they have the same identity, that is, they love the same idol. Every "rice circle" has an invisible groupBorders such as South Korea, Japan, and China’s “fan circles” all have strict fan membership systems, which can not only ensure the quality of the same, maintain the boundaries of the group, but also strengthen the group identity of individuals who obtain group membership. Therefore, after successfully entering the circle, an individual's self-identity often seamlessly transforms into a group identity.
After the emotional and belonging needs are met, people will work hard to meet higher levels of respect and self-realization needs. When a fan's self-identification is based on idol identification, correspondingly, his need for respect and self-realization is also based on the idol's respect and self-realization. When fans project themselves onto their idols, the achievement of the idol’s goals will motivate them to achieve their goals, and the greater success of the idol will motivate themselves to pursue greater progress; when fans empathize with their idols, every progress made by the idol , Every step up to the next level, just like the success of their relatives and friends, they have also gained glory; when fans seek compensation from their idols, every joy and every success of the idol undoubtedly fills their own The emptiness makes myself happy again and again. Therefore, the rise of the idol career and the victory in the competition with his colleagues are not only the source of respect, happiness and self-realization for his fans but also for his fans.
When an individual belongs to a group, the satisfaction of his respect (including self-respect and respect for others) and self-realization depends on the favorable result of comparison between groups (that is, becoming a dominant group). In this way, the respect and self-realization of the "fan circle" has become the "idol" in various competitions, winning the championship, occupying the C position, and obtaining endorsements.
Therefore, in public and private, the victory of "Idol" in competitive activities and resource competition is not only related to the honor and disgrace of the entire group of "fan circle", but also to the self-esteem of each fan. Therefore, an individual’s sense of self-worth in a certain aspect stems from the group qualifications he obtains and the society’s positive evaluation of the group. Based on this, group identity is defined as: an individual’s perception that he/she belongs to a specific social group, and group membership has emotional and value meaning for him/her.
Because "growing idols" do not rely solely on fame and talent, but mostly rely on popularity and traffic to win, this has led fans to crazy "krypton gold" and crazy "making data" for their "idol". . The respect and ideal realization of idols are tightly bound to the honor, happiness, and self-realization of fans and "fan circle". Therefore, fans "investment", "control comment", "round blogging", "anti-black", "accepting machine" and "exploring class" "It can not only improve the ranking and self-esteem of idols, but also improve one's pride. With the help of fans, "Idol" can also gain a great sense of pride and recognition from ordinary "naked" to bright "idol".
People establish group identity in order to improve their self-esteem through identity group. Therefore, when group identity is challenged or threatened, group members will adopt various strategies to defend group identity to preserve self-esteem. Under the identification mechanism, as long as there is competition for activities and resource competition, groups are likely to be hostile to each other, and groups are likely to be hostile to each other. The mechanism of "cultivating idols" has given "fan circle" a strong voice, and "idol"'s career and own reputation are in their own hands, which greatly promotes fans' willingness to participate, Participation enthusiasm, therefore, it is logical for fans to spend time, energy, and money to chase stars. Especially when idols occupy the first place in Weibo Super Talk with their own support, win various competition championships, and win the endorsements of various commercial activities, this allows fans to deeply and truly experience the "self-realization" and the gain of subjectivity. Full display of pleasure.
If the self-esteem and self-realization gained by chasing "worship idols" through self-projection, self-empathy, and self-compensation on idols in the past are somewhat illusory, then chasing "cultivation idols" through their own truth Gold, silver and silver voted to send the idol to the award-winning platform. Seeing the disappointed and lonely expressions of competitors' fans, the resulting sense of pride and self-realization was an out-and-out, 100% real experience. Z1z
has an article that points out that the core factor of the "rice circle" is emotion, and it would be biased to ignore the emotional factor and to analyze it with sociological principles alone. In essence, emotion is only the first step to form idol identity, which is the foundation of the "Star Chasing Building"; the core element of the "Rice Circle" is recognition. It is the "design drawing" of the Star Chasing Building, which controls the emotions and actions of fans . Without identity, emotions will soon go with the wind, "identification, that is, the active cognition and evaluation, emotional experience and action of the actor's unique qualities or characteristicsCommitment.” Therefore, it is recognition that contributes to the strong appeal and mobilization power of the "fan circle" organization.
03
static change: "imaginary community" to "interactive community"
joins the "fan circle" according to their needs, The result of willingness to make independent choices is a kind of post-induced social identity. However, some social identity is based on innate characteristics or group membership, such as race, gender, nationality, etc. Individuals can neither choose nor can Control, even incapable of deconstruction, and only passive recognition. This is called pre-endowed social identity. The construction of social identity has always been closely related to social status, social roles, and social identity, especially inseparable from social identity. It can be said that society Recognition is the recognition and approval of social identity. Most of the identities conferred by nature cannot be changed by people except for recognition, but the post-formed identities can be changed. Although "everyone is born equal", the group will be affected by the social structure The reason is that there are great differences in resource allocation and power size, which are divided into superior groups and disadvantaged groups.
has more power and more resources, and its social status is generally higher and can better satisfy The respect needs of group members, therefore, individuals often struggle to obtain membership in a superior group with a higher status, that is, “people go to a higher place.” Although all identities are based on identity, not all identities can be Identity, because although identity can be generated by the dominant system, it can only become identity when the individual internalizes it and constructs its action meaning around this internalization process.
The unidentified identity includes some pre-assigned types Identity. For example, transgender people basically do not identify with their own innate gender before they can be changed through surgery. Many immigrants choose to immigrate because they do not identify with their country when they were born; they also include some post-formed identities, such as those who are studying. University, work unit, etc., this kind of unidentified post-formed identity is like pre-acquisition, and usually comes from forced choice or expediency.
As mentioned above, identity includes three levels: cognition and emotion , Action. The reason for this forced choice or expedient social identity to fail to form identity is usually that there is a contradiction between cognition, emotion, and action, which creates identity crisis and identity anxiety. If the group boundary has potential Permeability and mobility are strong, and time goes by. Even if the degree of social identity decreases or disappears, due to the mechanism of withdrawing from disidentified groups and joining aspiring groups, the identity crisis and identity anxiety of individuals will also disappear due to withdrawal and joining, and their self-esteem will also disappear. This can be maintained. The “climbing the wall” and “stepping back” in the “rice circle” of
are behaviors to get rid of the identity crisis. If the social solidification is severe and the group boundary permeability is weak, the disadvantaged groups will engage in various ways with the dominant groups. Confrontation, their identity will be strengthened. The passive acceptance of
social identity does not mean opposition or resistance, but may also be joy and fortune. Therefore, the first type of society and the partial type of forced choice later Meeting identity also brings social recognition. Not only that, if the social identity that is first given or forced to choose cannot be changed at all, the identity based on this identity will be very strong.
Therefore, in certain situations, no choice is often the best strategy for building loyalty. Social identity can be divided into active and passive construction logics. Regardless of whether it is the first type or the second type, whether it is actively constructed or passively constructed social identity, although the group and its boundary exist, if there is no interactive field, no event participation, the group is just an "imagination" for ordinary members. "Community" is a static existence. If a group only exists statically in the imagination, its members will often be like scattered sand, which will undoubtedly affect the members' positive cognition and positive emotions of the group, and also affect the members' behaviors that are beneficial to the group.
"Fan Circle" implements a series of operational strategies for "cultivating idols" mainly to mobilize fans to actively participate in various activities, call for interaction between idols and fans, fans and fans, and objectively promote member recognition Improve and enhance group cohesion. These strategies are of great reference for the construction of various levels of group identity (including national identity and ethnic identity) in the postmodern and "entertainment to death" era, and can be roughly summarized as follows.
is the first to embed each member in the group network, so that each member has the opportunity and channel to "touch" other members and interact with them. The fan circle organization and communication channels achieve matrix, three-dimensional, and full coverage-fromPublic broadcasting of Chaohua and Tieba, private connection to QQ groups and WeChat groups; from online virtual communication spaces to offline real places to get along. This not only weaves each fan into the group network, but also increases the stickiness between fans, fans and idols, and fans to the group. The communication between idols and fans is certainly a stimulant, which can enhance the sense of identity of the group; the interaction and friendship between group members are also important factors that enhance group cohesion. It is this kind of interaction and friendship that makes fans a "consumer producer" of information. Many fans call their "rice circle" "big family". The interaction of "family" members has led to a large part of the information disseminated in the "fan circle" is the second creation of fans' "poaching" of idol information.
Second, personalize and anthropomorphize the image of the group into “idols” who are worthy, responsible, amiable and even cute and cute. Under the triple influence of postmodernism, flatness, and entertainment, people are accustomed to doing serious things in laughter and joking, and they are accustomed to worshiping idols and authority while looking up instead of looking up. In the past, worship was to sanctify idols, but now worship is to secularize idols. This kind of psychological need to look up with idols is also reflected in the fact that fans regard idols’ renewal backstage work status as "welfare", and they also talk about idols’ renewed daily life status. The daily work and life information of consuming idols has become a habit and a kind of companionship for fans, and fans' emotional involvement and self-projection become more and more under its influence.
Third, classify idols or group goals and advance them so that group goals are like idol careers and become a step-by-step step. Let all members of the group participate in the creation of data, so that members become "watch participants" of the activity, just like "raising "Family idols", the growth of the group is also "raised" by the members. The more time and money members devote to the growth of the group, the more fans’ sense of self-realization and group identity will be incorporated into the group’s achievements, and the stronger the sense of group identity. Just like people raising children, the more time and energy they invest, the more emotional they are for children. deep. "How to retain fans, the most important thing is actually a sense of participation", and participation "the most important thing is to spend money." Dispatching all members to participate in the realization of group goals can give fans a strong sense of accomplishment, "Every point of TA's achievement includes my contribution."
Fourth, use the challenges, difficulties, blows, and disadvantages faced by idols or groups to mobilize and strengthen member recognition. Z4z fans usually act like "the more abused the idol, the more they support him" in order to maintain their idol and their dignity. Therefore, fans will come forward when idols or groups are abused. In particular, group members with a strong sense of identity or illiquidity will do their best to defend their disadvantaged group interests. Difficulties or unfair treatment can help strengthen the phenomenon of identity.
Fifth, with the help of idols and some special moments of the group, such as idols’ birthdays, idols get promoted, use existing or build new wonders, hold rituals, and add some ritual elements and sense of ritual to people’s ordinary daily life The meaning in the ordinary is to promote and strengthen people's enthusiasm for participation, increase interaction, and enhance the sense of identity.
In a nutshell, the various operations of the "fan circle" include two functions: first, building a platform to promote the group, and secondly, mobilizing all fans in the group to participate in various activities and strengthening group identity. The interaction of various levels and scenarios within the group transforms the absent, static, "atomic" member "imaginary community" into a virtual or embodied presence, dynamic, closely connected and aggregated members "Interactive community".
In the "imaginary community", although all members have the same identity, there is potential meaning and emotion sharing, and potential joint actions, but due to the lack of interaction between them, no real group excitement and collective memory are formed. The group identity is weak. But in the "interactive community", fans achieve true meaning and emotional sharing through the writing of symbols, emotional stimulation, and action planning, and unity of action, which then forms group excitement, collective memory, group unity, and group identity. Strengthen and become stronger. In short, under the dual interactive call of support from daily activities and rituals at special moments, the cognition, emotions and actions of group members that tend to group and idols formed by group members are mutually strengthened and fed back.
04
Conclusion On
, “rice circle” often exhibits behaviors that are different from ordinary people, such as “I am so poor that I eat soil every month and I spend money to move my idols.It’s clear that the school can’t get down the 800-meter sprint in order to pick up the plane.” These behaviors are often not understood and even stigmatized. Although identification begins with recognition, Once it is formed, it determines people’s cognitive framework, emotional attitudes, and behavioral performance. As a cultural phenomenon, the "rice circle" has a short history, but it shows people the mechanism of identity construction and reinforcement in the decentralized era. shows the identity of the power of .
source: "academic frontier" magazine on October 2020 (micro-channel abridged)
author: Professor School of Journalism Communication University of China Zeng Hong
original Editor: Ma Bingying
new media Editor: Li Siqi
vision: Liu Jie
(picture from the Internet)
