The Influence Of The Wechat’s Usage On The Individual Social Capital Construction

Against the backdrop of emerging development of Mobile Social Media, WeChat has come into the public vision since 2011. It is worthwhile for us to further study and discuss WeChat as for its ever growing user groups and its increasing popularity among users.This study aims at exploring the media usage of WeChat’s users and the users’ individual social capital variation caused by WeChat’s usage in order to find out whether the two of them have some certain of correlation. If they have correlations, what aspects and what impacts to some degree does the WeChat usage behavior have on the social capital construction of users themselves.This study through literature research method Firstly gives clear definitions to the WeChat using (media using) effect, the individual social capital, and the individual social capital measurement; then combs and analyzes present researches. This thesis focuses on illustrating two aspects:the using measurement of WeChat and the individual social capital measurement of WeChat’s users. WeChat’s using (media using) measurement mainly involves using intensity, using type and dependency degree, etc.. The micro-aspect social capital (individual social capital) can be mainly generalized as social connection, social participation, social trust, and life satisfaction. This study though clarification of corresponding concepts builds research model of the correlation between the WeChat usage and the user’s individual social capital.This study through clarification of concepts and combing of researches mainly measures necessary research variables according to the quantitative analysis method and the in-depth interviews. Meanwhile, it verifies the research hypothesis based on the analysis of data combed by SPSS software. The research result shows that the usage of WeChat indeed can help users increase their individual social capitals. And the demographic information of WeChat users has some certain effects on WeChat usage and individual social capital, and the user’s age and education degree are remarkable influence factors. But from the perspective of media usage of WeChat’s users, users’using intensity, using function and dependency degree have significan effects on users’individual social capitals to different degrees, especially on the socia connection and social participation.The study shows that because this study focuses on exploring the individua social capital variation, the demographic variables of WeChat’s users have less impact on independent variables and dependent variables; but these three independen variables, namely, using intensity, using function and dependency degree, have relative prominent impacts on social capital construction; especially, WeChat’s functions of life services and social communications as well as the users’dependency degree have the most prominent impact on individual social capital construction Meanwhile, the factor of activating time of WeChat business has less influence or individual social capital construction.