A Study On The Para-social Relationship And Construction Mechanism Between Elderly Network Anchors And Viewers

Under the dual role of China’s active aging and vigorously promoting the digital process,a large number of elderly people who face the problem of the degradation of real relations try to adapt to the change of media technology,and actively integrate into the network society to expand online communication opportunities.In recent years,many "silver haired trendsetters" have joined the live streaming army,relying on live streaming platforms to actively present and express themselves,rebuild social relationships and optimize elderly life through continuous interaction with audiences,and become active practitioners of active aging in the digital age.This paper combines the Para-social relationship theory and emotional interaction theory,adopts the network ethnography and in-depth interview method,and follows the research logic of the type,strategy,motivation and optimization measures of the construction of the Para-social relationship between the elderly network anchor and audience.Through live observation,it is found that there is a difference between the construction of the Para-social relationship between the elderly network anchor and audience.Most elderly online anchors focus on their own emotional experiences and goals,and tend to immerse themselves in constructing different types of "true" relationships with true emotions and emotions: family type Para-social relations,"Laotie" type Para-social relations,friend type Para-social relations and buyer type Para-social relations.Subsequently,this article uses emotions as a clue to conduct strategic analysis on the construction practices of different types of Para-social relationships among elderly online anchors.Unlike young anchors competing for commercialized intimate relationships,elderly online anchors pay more attention to their own emotional experiences and goals,and tend to invest in constructing different types of "true" relationships: connecting with online "family",using intimate words to close emotional distance,revealing their inner understanding and achieving deep emotional identification;Voluntarily help the "Laotie",provide them with instrumental support to establish cooperative friendship,and encourage each other to achieve emotional resonance based on similarity;Friendly hospitality to ’friends’,giving them respect and maintaining appropriate emotional distance.In addition,some elderly online anchors may construct "fake" relationships for economic purposes,set up "weak" roles,or use platform PK rules to create intimacy,thus forming a buyer oriented Para-social relationship with the audience.With the construction of different Para-social relationships of elderly webmasters,the audience will form a corresponding feedback mechanism,which is specifically manifested as: the family type Para-social relationship has the highest emotional feedback,followed by the "Laotie" type,and the friend type is the lowest.The economic feedback of the audience is most prominent under buyer oriented Para-social relationships.Therefore,in the interaction process between elderly anchors and audiences,summarize the reciprocal essence of the benign operation of the mechanism for constructing Para-social relationships,and elaborate on the evolution and rupture of Para-social relationships.Specifically,if elderly online anchors and viewers receive feedback that meets their own needs after engaging in relationship investment,it will encourage them to generate positive emotions and repeatedly participate in the construction of Para-social relationships under emotional drive to achieve a virtuous cycle.Conversely,if the needs of the relationship subjects are not met,it will lead to the rupture of Para-social relationships.Next,we delved into the internal motivations behind the construction of Para-social relationships between elderly online anchors and audiences.Most elderly internet anchors construct Para-social relationships out of emotional needs to make up for the "flaws" in real family and friend relationships,while some elderly internet anchors focus on maintaining buyer oriented Para-social relationships out of economic needs,in order to obtain economic benefits and improve material life.The main motivations for the audience to construct Para-social relationships include entertainment stress relief,virtual companionship,and identity realization,among which entertainment needs are more obvious.Finally,propose response measures to enhance the health network relationships of the elderly under active aging from the micro,meso,and macro levels.Elderly internet hosts should consciously grasp the scale of online communication and be cautious of falling into digital addiction;Families actively play a practical support role for the elderly population internally,and the live streaming platform strengthens the control of elderly live streaming content and the construction of elderly addiction prevention systems externally;The government is accelerating the improvement of the regulatory legal system for the online live streaming industry and collaborating with social forces to promote media literacy education for the elderly.