This article comes from WeChat WeChat official account:ID：china-youth-study (ID: China-youth-study), Author: Duan Junji (Ph.D. candidate, Institute of Advanced Education, East China Normal University), original title: "Understanding" Social Fear ":Cultural Interpretation of Youth Communication Style", the first picture comes from "Cosmic Exploration Editorial Department"
abstract:Under the dual effects of media rendering and symbol communication, "social fear", as an online buzzword, has become the era semantics of youth culture. It points to the vivid performance of youth communication and contains rich and complex research purport. This paper adopts qualitative research method, and explains how "social fear" is used as the research topic of youth communication mode, presenting the survival orientation, communication culture and the way out of the times of "social fear" youth from different perspectives. At present, the social interaction of "social fear" youth is based on digital media and daily observation of the real world, which is a mixture of multiple psychological states and emotional demands such as fear, anxiety and yearning.
"Social fear" not only refers to the individual understanding of contemporary youth on social interaction, but also represents their living situation in the transformation of the times. Therefore, the dynamic change of communication will and living style urges the younger generation to re-examine the communication relationship in daily life. They need to construct individual identity in the process of self-acceptance, actively expand social paths with a positive and open attitude, and form communication skills and survival concepts that take into account self-consistency and self-confidence in their daily lives.
First, the question: the social fear of contemporary youth
In 2020, China Youth Daily, together with China Academy of Social Sciences and social platform "Exploration", launched a survey to analyze the social situation of the younger generation. Among them, 40.2% people said that they had different degrees of "social phobia", 52.7% people thought they lacked social skills, and 55.6% people were not confident about their own conditions.[1]. Social anxiety, represented by "social fear", has become a major topic in youth culture, which attracts social attention and also has the possibility and necessity of research.
Social phobia（SocialPhobia）, also known as social anxiety disorder（SocialAnxiety）, referred to as "social fear." From the conceptual dimension, "social phobia" at the medical level belongs to the term of mental illness, which needs strict clinical diagnosis before it can be concluded. It is a mental illness with pathological characteristics. The "social fear" at the sociological level points to the living state of contemporary youth in the social process.As a syndrome of self-construction and naming, the "social phobia" shown by most young people is non-pathological, more like a psychological effect of "sitting in the right place", which shows the cultural phenomenon of youth communication.They are afraid of social interaction below the line, and show escape and anxiety when they openly express their views, opinions or attitudes.
Judging from the topics of the times in youth studies, social relations are very important to the development of teenagers, and the interruption of different degrees will have a serious impact. Autism and social anxiety show a positive correlation in the process of youth growth.[2]. The social behavior of "social fear" youth is linked with complex emotions such as fear, shyness and anxiety. Shyness actually implies rich cultural phenomena and values, which can be understood as a "cultural epidemic"[3]. At the same time, it can be regarded as a weakness of self-distrust.[4], can also be understood as a thoughtful and thinking personality.[5]. Young people who are "socially fearful" can’t adapt to the interpersonal atmosphere in social occasions, so they avoid social interaction to reduce the possibility of negative results.[6].
In the context of modern civilization, the individualization of youth development makes the communication between people heterogeneous, which leads to self-awareness and personal boundaries.[7]. By coding the text materials related to "social fear" in digital social platforms such as Weibo, WeChat group and Douban, starting from the narrative subject and narrative scene, the regulation of social character is linked with the expression of personal experience, and the narrative mode of the text is divided into three types: detached narrative mode, regression narrative mode and autonomous narrative mode, which point to the differentiated behavior representation and inner activities of "social fear" groups respectively.[8].
Understanding the realistic representation of "social fear" youth from three aspects: communication behavior, communication psychology and communication form, we can find that the social communication of contemporary youth is influenced by structural factors such as technology, education, culture and economic development. Therefore, it is necessary to guide young people to distinguish and balance the relationship between virtual and real life, realize the organic unity of family, school and self-education, and create a good social communication environment for young people.[9]. Different social experiences(e.g., positive or negative)And associates.(for example, family or strangers)There are significant differences in the level of stress on social media users.[10].
From the individual choice and preference of media form, compared with visual communication media such as face-to-face and video conference, voice/text communication media such as telephone and instant messaging can increase social comfort and reduce anxiety.[11]. Digital social interaction increases the possibility of companionship and becomes an important way to adjust negative emotions.[12]. Internet emoticons have rich social functions and provide "social compensation" for people with social anxiety.[13]. People who feel fear and anxiety in face-to-face social interaction usually prefer online interaction, because they can communicate anonymously by using nicknames and hiding their identities. They will take the initiative to participate in and integrate into digital social interaction to make up for the negative experience of lack of social support in the real world.[14]And strengthen limited online social relationships.[15].
Young people who are "socially fearful" present a media image of "being good at communication" on the digital social platform, which relieves the negative emotions caused by social fear and anxiety to a certain extent and strengthens their inner confidence and recognition motivation for realistic communication. Compared with other groups, they are more inclined to get emotional support on the Internet platform and constantly strengthen related social behaviors. However, some studies show that social anxiety of teenagers is related to social media.[16]The correlation between social anxiety, fear and internet use becomes stronger with age, especially with online comfort and game time.[17][18].
During the epidemic in COVID-19, the use rate of social media among young people increased significantly, and there was a consistent linear correlation between them and their psychological states such as anxiety and depression.[19]. Groups with strong social skills can increase their activities and get more online social resources through social media, while "social fear" groups use social media to make up for their social defects, but in the end they can’t accumulate resources.[20]. Young people’s fear of communication will continue to the use of social media, and show "social fear" behavior in digital interaction.[21]. The more frequently they use social media, the more likely they are to aggravate their social fear and anxiety.[22].
Young people who are "socially fearful" have a stronger demand for popularity and belonging, and more importantly, they are worried about missing social activities or key information. When they lose popularity on social media, they will bear greater social fear and pressure.[23]. No matter in any era, the way of youth communication is always worthy of attention and exploration. The daily life of contemporary youth reflects a complex mirror image, and "social fear" has become a dynamic presentation of youth communication culture.
Second, research methods
In this study, semi-structured in-depth interviews and observation methods were used to obtain research data.
The first is semi-structured in-depth interviews.Through the combination of questionnaire survey and convenient sampling, 21 young people were selected for semi-structured in-depth interviews. Focusing on the core issues of this study, the interview focuses on the growth experience, family atmosphere, behavior representation, psychological course and self-coping of the "social fear" youth. The main contents include the causes of "social fear", the impact of "social fear" on individual growth and daily life, and communication habits and preferences, in order to present the survival orientation of "social fear" youth more truly and vividly.
The second is observation.Open social platforms such as Weibo and Douban, and social digital media such as Tik Tok, Zhihu and Xiaohongshu are selected as the field points of online ethnography. The discourse expressions of users on different platforms are observed and recorded, and the real face of contemporary youth communication is presented through sample collection and text analysis. Among them, in Douban, I chose the three groups with the largest number of members, namely, "social phobia", "I have serious social phobia" and "I only have a little bit of social phobia"; In Weibo, we choose "# Social Fear #", # Nightmare of Social Fear Crowd # "# Why Social Fear Becomes an Epidemic of Young People #" # Daily Collapse of Social Fear # "and so on. At the same time, we searched on different platforms with "social fear" as the key word, and made in-depth observation and analysis.
Third, "social fear" as a topic of youth communication
In the media age, "social fear", as a generalized concept, contains rich meanings. Social phobia is always intertwined with multiple personality types such as introverted personality, autistic personality, slow-moving personality and pleasing personality. They have both essential differences and internal relations, pointing to the multi-faceted aspects of youth communication. The causes of contemporary youth’s fear of social interaction show the basic characteristics of the coexistence of individualization and universality, which are often closely related to the structural transformation of the whole society and the micro-performance of specific events.
"Zhuangzi Qiushui" has a cloud: "Well frogs can’t talk to those who are in the sea, but they are confined to emptiness; Summer insects can’t talk to the ice, but also to the time; Qushi can’t talk to Taoists, but be tied to teaching. "[24]. The bondage and shackles of "social fear" youth come not only from external time and space, but also from the inner world of different individuals. The following will explain more vividly how "social fear" has become the topic of the times in youth communication from the living context, individual needs and media choice of youth growth.
1. The complex dimension of the growth process
In the process of the growth of contemporary youth, different factors play up their living conditions.On the one hand, parental rearing patterns directly affect the temperament types of young people, showing the internal connection between individual survival and social loneliness."Sociality and father’s severe punishment can significantly predict the factors of love loneliness; Mother’s emotional warmth, mother’s intervention and protection, and father’s intervention have significant predictive effects on social loneliness factors. "[25]. The effective interaction between family emotional education and social communication has become the key reference to understand the lonely situation of "social fear" youth.
On the other hand, the way of family organization is an important motivation for the choice of youth communication.The family identity of the only child ensures that they can enjoy the preference from their parents and family, and at the same time, it also causes loneliness as a single growing individual. Even though they subjectively think that they have strong communication skills, they are not reflected in the comparison of their communication behavior with non-only children.[26]. The only-child generation lacks the companionship of brothers and sisters in the process of family growth. "I don’t have any brothers or sisters around me. I usually live alone. Later, I gradually got used to being alone, didn’t know how to socialize, and was more afraid of dealing with others."(Respondent MN)The persistence of loneliness intensifies their anxiety and fear of socializing. Their negative beliefs about themselves and their resistance to others make them avoid socializing more and more, raising the risk of loneliness in their future lives. It can be said that the dynamic layout of national policies provides more possibilities for the growth of the next generation of youth groups.
In 2020, Southern Metropolis Daily published the Insight Report on the Life of Young People Living Alone in 2020 jointly with the social platform "Exploration". In this survey, questionnaires were distributed to young users aged 18-35 on the "Exploration" platform. Among them, 64.83% of the young people chose to make new friends through social software. At the same time, as many as 38.56% of young people said that they live alone because they "enjoy solitude and like freedom". The younger generation, represented by "post-00 generation", shows a strong demand for "living alone" and "being alone", aiming at ensuring that the body and mind are not negatively affected by the objective real world as much as possible, and developing digital communication in the virtual space constructed by social platforms with the help of mobile terminals such as mobile phones, tablets and computers. This shows that online dating has become an important option for contemporary young people living alone to meet their social needs and relieve their loneliness, and living alone is the main reason for the weakening of social skills. "I grew up in an environment of only children. When I was a child, I liked to be alone. When I grew up, I liked to live alone, and I refused and feared socializing more and more. Especially after living alone for a long time, I don’t know how to communicate with people in reality. "(Interviewee CZ)
In this sense, "social fear" and "living alone" are actually mutually causal. At the same time, the change of living environment and adaptability will also affect the social concept of young people. For example, the role change in the transitional stage is likely to lead to the repositioning of self-cognition and become an important factor to induce survival loneliness. "Every time I enter a new environment, I am particularly scared and need a long period of self-adaptation. When I am still in an adaptive state, others have established stable social relationships, and it is difficult for me to integrate into their circles. "(Respondent MN)
Therefore, the relative loneliness in the process of growing up and the individual choice of future life style have caused contemporary youth to misunderstand the way of communication: they are not afraid of social communication, but the loneliness of growing up experience and daily life orientation has inhibited their communication consciousness and interaction ability. What is directly related to the lonely situation is the character cultivation of young people who are afraid of society. "My personality is slow and I won’t be particularly enthusiastic, so people feel that it is difficult to get along with. After a long time, others gradually stopped paying attention to me, and I was used to being alone. The incomprehension of the outside world will make me more afraid of socializing. "(Interviewee YGT)
In the process of contemporary youth’s social integration, different stages of personality development may lead to the problem of unbalanced adaptation, which may lead to negative psychological States such as anxiety, inferiority, fear and isolation. At the same time, the game, separation and deviation between individual personality and social personality are the key reasons for contemporary youth to have different cognitive behaviors and social choices. The formation of "social fear" is an external behavior representation oriented by internal personality differences, and its essential reason lies in the lack of inner security.
2. Multiple inhibition of communication needs
In the process of young people’s growth, negative communication experience reduces their psychological feelings and future expectations for interpersonal interaction. The resulting self-suggestion and negative reinforcement lead to the cognitive dislocation of young people’s social relations, which affects the individual’s subjective well-being, self-acceptance and social responsibility. They may not be born with "social phobia", but are influenced by specific communication objects, communication environments and communication events, resulting in communication fear. Family rearing patterns play a key role in character formation, and parents’ attitudes and positions directly affect the behavior representation of youth communication. For example, the denial from close social objects such as family and friends during the growth process. "My parents are typical repressive education and always blame me for the bad reasons. In fact, I especially need comfort and encouragement, but all the people waiting for me are indiscriminate denials and attacks from my relatives. I feel that I can’t establish a close relationship with my parents, and I have no ability to get close to others. "(Interviewee ZR)
When the number of negative reinforcement reaches a certain level, young people habitually choose silence: they begin to be afraid of saying the wrong thing, leaving a negative impression and being criticized and denied. Their desire for expression and communication needs are constantly suppressed, and the negative evaluation from outside limits the possibility of establishing meaningful social relations among "social fear" youth. "I always feel insecure, afraid of being rejected, and even more afraid of the embarrassment after being rejected. When the negation of others is beyond my tolerance, I will do nothing, say nothing, and never try again. "(Interviewee WN)
Therefore, "disaster comes from the mouth", "talking too much will lose" and "silence is golden" have become the communication rules of "social fear" youth.They are mistaken for "introverted", "self-enclosed" or "inarticulate", but in fact they regard the labeled "social fear" as a negative way of self-protection.
Verbal violence and psychological attacks in intimate relationships will often cause profound psychological trauma to young people in the growing stage, and will rise from subconscious to realistic cognition in future communication. "My trust in intimate relationships is very low, and I am always afraid that the other party will suddenly hurt me or leave without warning."(Respondent SXJ)Intimacy is built on the dual basis of high trust and deep dependence, and it is also accompanied by social risks of being hurt. "Every time I make a risk assessment of social relationships, the first thing I consider is whether I will be hurt in this relationship, and then I decide whether to try to socialize, which eventually leads to more and more fear of socializing."(Interviewee DWY)Young people always seem to be dominated and dominated by external forces, and the possibility of guidance leads to passive anxiety. When this kind of emotion cannot be resolved and self-consistent, it will condense into stagnation or fear. In this sense, "social fear" stems from the demand of young people for internal self-consistent understanding and external positive evaluation, that is, they are eager for recognition.
At the same time, fierce academic competition, heavy work content and complex interpersonal relationships frame young people in a structural space, which inhibits the enthusiasm for communication and the need for interaction. Young people are in the rising period of individual growth, and the estimation and judgment of self-ability are not mature. The negative evaluation from the outside affects the subjective cognition of the inner world. They regard their daily situation as a dilemma or embarrassment, and they are afraid to show it publicly, but they also refuse to care and greet with kindness. "If someone suddenly cares about me, they will feel strongly uneasy and anxious. Because I think this inexplicable concern is either that the other party has something to find me, or that they want to further establish a close relationship with me. But in either case, I will be very scared. "(Interviewee MC)
This is a deep-seated self-deficiency: the failed communication experience is transferred to various scenes, which affects the communication strategy and active choice. When young people can’t integrate into the circle of communication, or even be on the edge of no sense of existence, they will be in a state of self-doubt with a hole in their hearts for a long time. This change will lead to the absence of subjectivity, and the feelings of loss and confusion will prompt them to begin to shape and strengthen "social fear."
3. Differential perception of digital dividends
In the digital age, young people’s contact age is advancing, and their growing environment and living style all point to the network scene constructed by digital media. Rich media forms and convenient mobile terminals have broadened the communication scope of young people and become more and more suitable for the communication logic of digital media. The wide application of digital social platform makes "cloud communication" become the active choice of contemporary youth, pointing to a media way of life. When they can’t find external recognition and psychological comfort in real communication, they turn to create new media identities on digital social platforms. "I usually like to play games and know many friends in the game. I will create an image I like in the game and then interact with everyone. This kind of happiness attracts me very much, but it also makes me more and more afraid of realistic communication. "(Interviewee YJ)
The openness and anonymity of social networks provide technical support for young people to establish relationships and accommodate themselves. In the past, the traditional communication mode centered on relatives and neighbors was gradually replaced by media digital interaction. Although this change has not caused the personality defects of young people, the growth experience and survival experience linked with digital technology have affected their communication practice in real life. Undeniably, the digital social platform provides a diverse communication space for contemporary youth, and relieves individual loneliness and loss. At the same time, the dependence and addiction to virtual social interaction leads to the reality of alienation. More importantly, the "social fear" youth wrongly estimated the "communication dividend" brought by the digital platform.
When digital media has become the main platform for social communication, the "social fear" youth have gradually formed the communication concept of "nothing to meet, something to chat online". This concept not only reflects the youth’s fear and resistance to meeting offline, but also implies a relatively closed style of doing things. They don’t want to establish too close relationship with others, and they don’t want to cause trouble and trouble to each other. "I talk about everything with all kinds of netizens, and it feels very real. But in reality, I don’t know what to say, I don’t want to trouble others, and I don’t want others to trouble me. "(Interviewee WN)
"Social fear" youth indulge in the virtual convenience brought by social platforms, and meet the communication needs of daily life with the help of flexible digital media. This way of communication caters to the digital existence of contemporary youth and provides diverse media experiences. However, "there will be some people who like to be trapped in the’ information cocoon room’, stubbornly prefer and choose everything they want to see and accept easily, and let themselves stop in the comfort zone"[27]. "I prefer the communication on social platforms, I feel more comfortable, and I don’t have to communicate with people face to face. The happiness brought by this online socialization is very real, and I feel that I don’t need offline companionship. "(Interviewee WKN)
While enjoying the free atmosphere created by the communication comfort zone, the "social fear" youth also ignore the communication value contained in the real life and the objective world. Their enthusiasm for digital communication does not seem to dispel the most fundamental anxiety and fear in their hearts, but further causes "group loneliness" in real life. Based on the long-term perspective of social communication, realistic communication is not only an effective strategy for young people to get rid of the dilemma of "social fear", but also adds active factors and dynamic elements to the interpersonal atmosphere of the whole society.
Fourth, the communication orientation of "social fear" youth
Contemporary young people have a strong sense of self-protection, are used to being alone, but lack a sense of security, and are wary of social interaction. In the deep heart of the "social fear" youth, it seems that they have been asking key questions such as "what is the purpose and significance of communication" and "how should I handle myself in communication". "The revolution of communication means changes the social communication concept, space and scope of communication subjects and people’s social communication relations, so that the social communication methods in different historical periods show different characteristics and contents."[28]. "Social fear" not only reflects the communication orientation of contemporary youth, but also links vivid and complex survival images. Young people classify themselves into a specific circle by labeling themselves and establishing "personal design". Its essence is the lack of self-security and the anomie of individual understanding.
1. The survival image of "social fear" youth
The "social fear" youth expressed anxiety and fear about all compulsory behaviors, such as compulsory participation in parties and being forced to speak on stage, and comforted themselves with the psychological hint that "no one will remember me". They are afraid that the external eyes will focus on them, just as the all-round surveillance from the camera makes them feel restless. When the "social fear" youth meets an acquaintance on the road, they pretend not to see it and bow their heads and walk away quickly; When encountering similar groups, the fear of two-way convection forms a special tacit understanding. When they perceive each other’s social dilemma, a strong sense of substitution will bring negative perception. They judge social preference and state through each other’s behavior, language wording and facial expressions, so as to make interactive choices.
In real social situations, they prefer to communicate through words or emoticons, rather than offline, voice chat or video conversation. Therefore, "if you can type, don’t call" has become their social rule. At the same time, the career choice of "social fear" youth is deeply influenced by individual communication preferences, which greatly limits the diversified practice of career types. "When I started looking for a job, I chose to operate because of social fear, because it belongs to Internet technology work. You only need to do your own thing, don’t have too many offline contacts with others, and send text messages at most."(Interviewee YJ)
Young people who are "socially fearful" at social gatherings always passively join the chat, but their anxiety and nervousness often make them "topic terminators". "In all kinds of parties, I am like a’ little transparent’. Even in the WeChat group chat, I don’t dare to speak, because I am particularly afraid that no one will respond after I send a message. I am often ignored after sending messages. No one has spoken for a long time, and then I am reluctant to speak. "(Respondent MN)This kind of live experience exaggerates their fear of communication and even faces the possibility of "social death". As a popular term of digital social platform, "social death"(referred to as "social death")Mostly refers to making a fool of yourself in public.
In the daily life of "social fear" youth, the negative impact of "social death" is obvious. In order to avoid excessive attention or careless mistakes, they are more and more afraid to appear in public and express their views, because participating in multi-person gathering activities will increase the probability of falling into a "large-scale social death scene." They are in a state of tension and embarrassment all the time, for fear of finding themselves being paid special attention to. Young people who are "socially fearful" don’t want to expose their "not decent" status in public, because they have perfect expectations for the rhythm and order of daily life and try to build and maintain "personal design". "Young people create’ personal design’ not only for the purpose of flaunting individuality, but more importantly, it is to attract the attention of the target circle and seek identity."[29]. When this stable situation is broken and the perfect "personal design" is subverted, the "I", as a public individual, has a shrinking mentality and fear because of the lack of identity. In other words, the key cause of "social fear" is anxiety about the imperfect "establishment of contacts".
Digital media such as bilibili, Weibo and Douban have built a public platform for social communication of "socially fearful" youth, and provided a buffer zone and an opportunity for trial and error for them to change from "inner fear" to "proactive" mentality. For example, in the Douban platform, "social phobia keeps warm", "I have serious social phobia" and "I only have a little bit of social phobia" are the three groups with the largest number of members, and the total number has exceeded 150,000. They take the initiative to find other individuals who are also "social fears" on the digital social platform, and exchange and encourage each other while establishing weak communication relationships. They selectively turned to offline communication under the condition of stable online relationship, which became a positive attempt to improve the state of "social fear"
At the same time, "social fear" youth try to establish and operate WeChat group or QQ group, and share successful social experiences under the supervision of group friends. They encourage each other to focus on the positive and positive interactive experience, and gradually rebuild the confidence and motivation of social interaction. Young people’s inner expectations and actual acquisition of social platforms show individual differences, such as seeking psychological comfort or obtaining specific suggestions. Their purpose is not to share the pain, but to integrate care and rebuild their self-identity through listening and observing. No matter what form the "social fear" youth takes, it will eventually lead to the change of concept and mode of social communication.
2. "Social laziness": a misunderstood way of youth communication
In intensive communication, young people are always covered by a lot of emotional needs and information content. They need to understand the other, learn empathy, and at the same time lose their self as independent individuals to some extent. At present, some young people call themselves "social phobia" but they are not afraid of socializing. Instead, they regard "social phobia" as an identity tag, which constitutes the narrative material of youth communication culture. They have a specific concept of communication and interactive ability, express their true will to reduce communication by calling themselves "social phobia", and show a strong sense of irritability to ineffective and low-quality social interaction. "Some’ bureaus’ are purely for drinking, eating and singing. I just pushed them off. It doesn’t make any sense. It is a very illusory and entertaining invalid social interaction. I really don’t want to participate."(Interviewee JH)
"Contemporary youth pay attention to their inner world, refuse to be socially sticky, and hope that their personal space will be respected by others while not bothering others. They don’t want to be disturbed, but they are eager to be hugged. "[30]. This kind of youth is cautious about communication and interaction, and hates hypocritical and superficial social relations, so it is misunderstood as "social phobia". Their behavioral representation points to "social laziness"("social laziness")And "social fear" is a skillful communication mask, and the so-called extroversion is only their basic means to deal with different social scenes. When they encounter ineffective social interaction, "social phobia" has also become an effective strategy to reduce, avoid or stop social interaction.
"Social lazy" youth do not exclude "one-on-one, one-on-two" social interaction, but when the number of people interacting at the same time exceeds the psychological tolerance boundary, they will have serious inner discomfort and anxiety. What they need is relatively independent and self-directed communication rights: they don’t need to respond and understand each other’s information, emotions and status in an all-round way, and they don’t need to worry about whether the other party makes negative comments on themselves. "If the number of social people exceeds my psychological acceptance, and the half-baked friends get together, I will feel very upset and want to get up and leave in minutes."(Interviewee CDC)
Social communication is not a negative factor that interferes with daily life. The key lies in whether and to what extent they need to socialize. Their comfort and companionship to the outside world are at a low demand level, and they form meticulous observation ability and strong empathy ability in selective silence. The inner spiritual strength has given them enough support and support, and they tend to constantly surpass themselves in self-examination and understanding, while the entanglement and connection of external communication is more like a mental burden.
Compared with external factors such as the number of friends, interactive platform and social atmosphere, "social lazy" youth pay more attention to the quality of communication and the way of interaction. They yearn for deep communication and enjoy the comfort and peace of mind brought by the process. They can live in harmony with family, friends and other close people. Even without close interaction, they are not alone. Instead, they gain more physical liberation and spiritual freedom, which is a high-level spiritual self-consistency. "Every time I crustily skin of head to attend a party, it takes me a lot of time to slow down, just like storing energy. So I slowly began to reduce unnecessary social consumption and turn it into a driving force for self-growth to make myself comfortable. "(Interviewee YQ)In other words, this is an "independent joy".
"’Independent Lohas’ is a new understanding of the state of’ loneliness’. It retains the part of loneliness and maverick spirit, and at the same time makes this state of harmony and nobility less difficult to touch. "[31]. The "social lazy" youth are not short of contacts, but eager to establish high-quality contacts. They set a unique threshold for communication, show their individual way of thinking and logic, and become more strict and picky about the choice of communication objects. Although they always involuntarily show inertia to some social scenes, their essence is different from the anxiety and fear of "social fear" youth.
V. Discussion and Enlightenment: Overcoming Fear in Communication
In the media age, "social fear" has become a cultural topic of youth communication. As a generalized concept and social phenomenon, it presents multiple interpretation paths. For example, "social fear" can be understood as the resistance of contemporary youth to "digital generalization", and they are eager to be separated from dense and heavy social networks; You can also interpret "social phobia" as a personalized social choice, choose different communication strategies for different objects, or chat enthusiastically or cherish words like gold. "Social fear" does not seem to be a problem to be solved, and the younger generation will always find their own way of communication. It can be understood as the survival orientation of youth groups, and its rationality of existence is endowed by the inevitability of the times. "Conquering magic with magic" is a popular term in digital social platforms. For the "social fear" youth, they can use the psychological hint of "overcoming the fear of communication with communication" to awaken their deep understanding of social communication.
However, virtual socialization is not the best strategy to solve the problem of "social phobia" among young people: the "social cocoon room" built by excessive addiction to digital media will make the "social phobia" youth confined to the self-defined communication comfort zone and regard it as an excuse to avoid real socialization.Their communication habits are constantly shaped and assimilated by virtual technology, and they fall into a psychological cycle of "the more they avoid, the more they fear". On the one hand, young people should embrace the convenience brought by social media, on the other hand, they should embrace the real life world without filters and soft light.[32]. Contemporary youth, as "digital aborigines", feel, experience and enjoy the convenience brought by technological changes in their media existence. At the same time, they also need to accept and embrace the objective real world and undertake more social responsibilities and mission of the times. What the "social fear" youth can really expect is not technology, but themselves as the main body of society, and they are vivid and agile others in real life. They need to bravely contact the diversity and complexity of real communication and truly integrate into society in the experience of feeling the temperature of interaction.
Among the digital media represented by Zhihu, Douban and Weibo,Accompanied by "social fear" is the discussion of "social cattle": if "social fear" is a downward social comparison of young people, while "social cattle" indicates an upward social comparison, young people regard groups with superior social skills than themselves as imitators and potential social idols."Social cattle" caters to the communication mentality of young people, arousing collective resonance and promoting the change of communication methods. They began to try to break the traditional communication routine and strive to liberate themselves from the repressed and restrained interactive state. "Social Cattle" is a public performance with excellent and vivid communication skills, which represents an important aspect of youth communication culture. This is not just the media consumption of digital show, but a true and vivid outline of the media communication state of contemporary youth.
In the communication narrative of contemporary youth, "social fear" and "social cow" are the multiple representations of their psychological state. They are two sides of the youth communication culture, reflecting the symbolic mirror image of the youth’s way of life, and providing rich material sources and cultural samples in the interaction between the two poles. The concern of "social fear" youth about the phenomenon of "social cattle" not only reflects the real pain point of social communication, but more importantly, projects their group yearning for excellent communication ability. Compared with the "social fear" youth, the social character of "social cattle" youth reflects vivid and rich colors. Their thinking habits and communication styles are not framed by the rigid rules of real life, and they have the autonomy of the body and the freedom of the mind while breaking free from the shackles. The media image they created on social platforms has become an elusive "personal design" for "social fear" youth, which not only refers to the communication concept of youth groups, but more importantly, focuses on their desire for communication ability.
"No one is an island." Young people can regard "social phobia" as a strategy to avoid ineffective social interaction, but it does not mean that they always maintain fear in their daily communication. Self-acceptance is an important prerequisite for young people who are "socially fearful" to gain self-awareness and the right to choose, and the key lies in integrating them into daily communication practice. When young people have the willingness and ability to communicate, the main contradiction is how to establish communication relations in the communication atmosphere constructed by society.
On the digital social platform, the "social fear" youth exchange successful or unsuccessful experiences through media interaction, and in the process of sharing experiences, the practical motivation for social attempts in real life is generated. Active and comfortable communication activities are the internal needs and realistic expectations of all young individuals, and they are also the core components of the whole society. Facing the unknown world, young people are always full of active power to actively explore and keep curious. Their ideas are in a critical shaping period, and their communication with the outside world is influenced by multiple factors. In the media age, the emergence and popularity of "social fear" directly points to the truest self-presentation in the hearts of young people.
Similarly, the living situation of young people is also in the stage of dynamic evolution, and the associated communication methods also show a vivid and complex trend. Contemporary youth don’t need to follow the structured communication ideas and rigid communication rules, but look for their own communication methods in the process of establishing communication beliefs, accumulating communication courage and developing communication habits. Perhaps only in this way can they face up to their deep anxiety and fear of communication, make new efforts, new attempts and new changes in the process of self-reconciliation and self-acceptance, integrate into daily life with a more positive attitude, and contribute to stimulating the vitality of social and cultural communication.
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This article comes from WeChat WeChat official account:ID：china-youth-study (ID: China-youth-study), Author: Duan Junji (Ph.D. student, Institute of Advanced Education, East China Normal University)
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