's circle of friends is ruining the lives of young people.
Introduction
A recent article entitled "I'm Latent in Shanghai's "Celebrity Socialites" Group and Become a Socialite Observer for Half a Month" suddenly became popular. The article vividly describes some young women using the "fighting" method of "pinduoduo" to cling to the so-called "ladies" life, such as "fighting" expensive afternoon tea in luxury hotels, "fighting" Gucci stockings and so on. They are nothing more than imitating a certain so-called "upper society" or aristocratic life to build their personal image on social platforms. In addition, according to media surveys, there is also an industry chain that creates a personal image for 5.99 yuan to show off photos and plans, 98 yuan to modify the position of the circle of friends, and software to take you around the world. This kind of "exquisiteness" is commonly called fake exquisiteness.
1, Moments: a self-display platform
The "WeChat Data Report 2019" released on the WeChat platform in 2020 shows that the number of WeChat monthly active accounts in 2019 was 1.151 billion, an increase of 6% over the same period last year.
It can be seen that WeChat has become our most frequently used social platform today. We use WeChat all the time to maintain our interpersonal communication, and we often add or meet new friends through various channels, unconsciously The "friends" in the friend list gradually increase, among which there are familiar friends and some friends who are "like friends". The Moments of Friends is one of the main functions of WeChat. It gradually evolved into “see Moments to understand someone’s personality and hobbies”. Therefore, many people pay more attention to the things shared by their Moments through pictures, videos, and sharing. Music and other methods to create their circle of friends, presenting the image they want the audience to understand.
WeChat Moments is a virtual self-display and social space, based on the existence of real life and social interaction but different from real social life. Here, the user makes a selective self-disclosure, in which each text and each photo is a carefully selected and trimmed "mimetics" state, rather than a real life scene.
Sociologist Goffman once said that people need to play different social roles in accordance with different social norms in social life. The place where specific role-playing is required is called the front desk, and the more private place with no audience and where you can relax is called Backstage. However, with the popularity of WeChat Moments, people are keen to show the originally private backstage life in Moments, and they also like to watch other people's lives behind the screen, which leads to the foregrounding of the backstage.
On the one hand, the front-office of the background makes people feel "supervised", which inspires people to live a more benign lifestyle. Open the WeChat Moments and we will find that many people check in early, check in reading, check in fitness, etc., which shows that WeChat The circle of friends has the function of urging people to shape good habits.
On the other hand, the foregrounding of the background has also led to the user's sense of being "watched", which unconsciously hopes to present a more idealized self when publishing the life state, which leads to the "distortion" of the self. For example, people will revise pictures to make the published information closer to self-expectations, rather than real life images.
2, The like symbol of the circle of friends
As shown above, if you search for the keyword "circle of friends" in the Xiaohongshu, there will be "friend circle like sentence", "circle of friends like picture" and other associations about like Keywords, from this point of view, most people are still very concerned about the likes of the circle of friends.
As explained on Baidu Encyclopedia, the word "Like" was originally an online language, derived from the "Like" function of major online communities, and was later extended to a certain content on the Internet (such as a post, an article or A Weibo, etc.) express approval and love. Hayes et al. conceptualized "likes" as a language-like communication form that does not require specific language expression and can promote communication and interaction. Likes can not only express the identity of the content, but also express care and encouragement for others, and can make the likes feel caring and attention. It is a typical meaning construction derived from the "interaction" between the two parties. It is here. In this kind of "you come and go" communication, the friendship of friends in the traditional concept is extended and maintained.
The small act of liking is actually a non-verbal sign covering multiple meanings. Non-verbal signs include actions, expressions, postures, etc. In human communication activities, the use of non-verbal signs is quite common. Mead believes that the interaction between people is a process of meaning interaction, and the transmission of meaningPassing is through the use of symbols. Like as a nonverbal symbol, it is a tool for social interaction and meaning transmission. Behind the "fake exquisiteness" of
3 and , vanity is at work
Exquisiteness is an endless thing. In terms of attitude, we cannot say that only the top level of exquisiteness is true exquisiteness, and that everything else is fake exquisiteness. But if photos of neat work stations are posted in the circle of friends, the real scenes are usually half-bitten apples next to the keyboard, takeaway boxes that have not been thrown away after eating, and messy pen holders. This is fake and exquisite, not because he can’t be neat. , But because he doesn't go tidy.
When we are pursuing "exquisiteness", what are we pursuing? Are you pursuing self-improvement and satisfaction, or are you pursuing "the short-term pleasure of getting approval and care"?
In fact, the pursuit of pseudo-exquisiteness for symbolic signs is the servant of exquisiteism living under the defined "popular" aesthetic standards. Behind the "fake and refined" not only reflect the problems of young people's personal consumption concepts and mentality, but also some objective factors. For example, some banks and financial institutions have not conducted in-depth investigations to understand the personal financial status of credit card applicants, and even advertised in order to complete the performance Misleading young people to handle many credit cards, etc.
On the one hand, "fake exquisiteness" may increase economic pressure on young people who are addicted to it, thereby emptying themselves, harming families, and overdrafting the future; on the other hand, it will promote the social atmosphere of consumption for the purpose and consumption. , The atmosphere of unrestrained material enjoyment is formed imperceptibly.
On the more positive side, in order to achieve "exquisiteness" and to make oneself "more exquisite", people can also stimulate their inner motivation to be a better self, obtain better income, or follow the "exquisite" Argument, to achieve their own "financial freedom."
End
References:
1. Wan Huiying. The characteristics of personal image construction in WeChat Moments[J]. News Research Guide, 2020, 11(21): 92-93.
2. Liu Yingyang. WeChat Moments Symbols Interactive An Analysis of Boundary and Privacy[J]. News Research Guide, 2020,11(20):89-90.
3. Tiange. The "fine decoration" of the circle of friends[N]. Meizhou Daily, 2020-10-24( 002).
4. Hu Chunyang, "Interpersonal Communication" [M]. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2016.
Xu Feiya, a communication undergraduate student, School of Journalism, Fudan University.
