Expressive And Instrumental:Research On Social Capital Of WeChat Moments

The change of social capital in cyberspace is a problem that has been debated in the academic circles in recent years.On the one hand,the network minimizes the constraints of interpersonal relations and resource flows,and the possibility of social capital is greater;on the other hand,the digital divide may further divide people along with socio-economic status,power,knowledge,etc.,and the acquisition of social capital becomes more difficult.In the age of social media,the operation of social capital will be more complicated.On the one hand,users can link to more resources through social networks;on the other hand,the complex information in social media makes users uncomfortable.Based on Linnan’s social capital theory,this paper mainly discusses the social capital mobilization in the WeChat moments.Through questionnaires and in-depth interviews,this paper analyzes how users get and mobilize social capital in the WeChat moments,and it has produced what kind of rewards are used to explore how the actions in the WeChat moments have affected social capital.This article has five chapters.The first chapter explores how the WeChat moments has become the cultivation space for social capital.With the extension of the WeChat moments from the acquaintance relationship to the pan-relationship,the user’s actions in the WeChat moments have also evolved from the initial expressive actions to more and more instrumental actions.WeChat moments has laid the structural foundation,action foundation and social network foundation for the development of social capital through its own platform advantages.On the basis of the first chapter,the second chapter further explores how users invest in social capital based on social network foundation,structural basis and action basis.The third chapter analyzes how the actor mobilizes social capital through the interaction of users in the WeChat moments.According to Lin Nan’s theory,instrumental action relies on the weak relationship of heterogeneity.But in practice,instrumental actions often rely on strong relationships to support,and weak relationships in social networks often interact more in expressive actions.The fourth chapter discusses the rewards of the two actions in the WeChat moments.The original intention of the WeChat moments was the emotional communication between acquaintances.Therefore,the rewards obtained were mostly expressed in terms of expressive returns,and the instrumental returns that were available were limited.The fifth chapter is a reflection on the two actions in the WeChat moments.With the growing number of strangers in the WeChat moments,the WeChat moments is no longer a space for free speech.The user’s expressive actions have too many concerns and are increasingly restrained.The various instrumental actions in the WeChat moments have turned it into a commercial space in which users consume human relationships,consume the privacy and trust of acquaintances,and influence the development of interpersonal relationships.As more and more users can’t communicate freely in the WeChat moments,active interaction becomes passive interaction,the use of WeChat moments is greatly reduced,and social capital is also deeply affected.