Source: China Youth Daily
Is it "Utopia" or "Shura Field"——
More than 90% of college students surveyed believe that anonymous social networking is risky
Recalling the scene when he first downloaded the anonymous social app, Zhang Lenian is still deeply impressed. At night, she had just stepped into the university campus and looked at the software available in the app store in boredom. When the finger resides on the screen, an anonymous social app with a sense of design from icon to name, she is keen to accept new things. With great curiosity, she downloaded the app and looked forward to exploring a world she had never understood before.
Xiao Ze, who has met many friends through anonymous social software, believes that in an anonymous social environment, everyone is more likely to show their truest side and make friends who really fit with themselves. In the four years of using anonymous social apps, Xiao Ze talked with the seniors of the same major who graduated for many years about his future plans, helped Malaysian students who had just arrived in China to adapt to life, and exchanged troubles with peers who were 2,000 kilometers away and were also anxious about the college entrance examination.
Netizen "Jujube" likened anonymous social software to "the 2.5 dimensions of life", "meaning an 'expression utopia' built by myself, between comics and reality." However, the social circle under anonymity cannot fully become the ideal peach blossom source, "There are many malicious people in anonymous social software, plus many software planners like to take the 'find soul mate' as a marketing point, resulting in the dating function being ignored." ”
With the vigorous development of anonymous social networking, major anonymous social software quickly completed the accumulation of users, and the "2020 New Generation Social Trend Insight" report released by a company affiliated with an anonymous social app revealed that post-95 and post-00s are the main force of its users. In order to explore the views of young people on anonymous social software, China Youth Daily and China Youth School Media conducted a questionnaire survey for college students across the country, and a total of 3620 valid questionnaires from 175 colleges and universities were collected. According to the survey, 35.52% of the college students surveyed said that they had used anonymous social applications, and 90.69% of the respondents believed that anonymous social networking had some risks.
When anonymous social networking heats up quickly
In the "anonymous community" built by a social software, a topic discussion post called "What are you thinking when insomnia" attracted Xiao Ze's attention, and he slowly typed a line of text: "My art test and college entrance examination results must not fail my family." What he did not expect was that he soon received many replies from strange netizens. Messages with the words "Come on, good night," "Come on, you're the best," and "Just try hard, don't be too stressed" appeared under his post, and the flickering screen illuminated the sleepless night. Today, he has studied broadcasting and hosting art at a university in Fujian Province, and he once again recalls this experience and expresses his gratitude to these strangers for their encouragement.
The introverted Xiao Ze said that he has some "social fears" and prefers to vent his emotions through anonymous social interaction. Under the "protection" of anonymity, you can unload all kinds of pressures and burdens in the real society and update the dynamics frequently. "I can talk freely about my life feelings, make interesting passages, and show the voice of my new learning." Xiao Ze also shared his weight loss mental journey from 180 pounds to 110 pounds with anonymous strangers on the Internet, often getting a lot of comments and likes, and several times also received the app home page recommendation. Soon, Xiao Ze was integrated into the anonymous community of "seemingly gentle".
Returning to social needs, Xu Yunlei bluntly said that the purpose of her anonymous social networking is very clear - "it is to fall in love" . At the beginning of the year, her girlfriend shared with her her experience of successfully "taking off a single" on an anonymous social software, and recommended that she also try it. Itching Xu Yunlei began this "search journey" under hesitation. "In reality, my dating circle is relatively narrow, and there are not many boys I contact, but I can meet more boys in online social networking and have more opportunities to choose." Xu Yunlei said, "Anonymous social networking is not like real-name software, you need to take into account the real factors, you can more directly understand the most real state of the other party, I think this is very important for the next interaction." In addition to chatting, Xu Yunlei also often "vents" small emotions such as spit and anxiety that she does not want to post in the circle of friends through anonymous social software.
Zhang Lenian, who studied at a university in Anhui, said that he met a friend of the same grade through anonymous social networking software in his freshman year. "We chatted intermittently. Happy things will be shared, unhappy things will be complained. Although she will also share and communicate with friends around her, for Zhang Lenian, this anonymous friend of the strange world makes her more relaxed, "The anonymous environment makes us more free, and there is no burden of communication." Even in the private affairs of the family that are never mentioned in ordinary days, Zhang Lenian will occasionally talk about it in the anonymous world.
Anonymous social products can be traced back to 2011. At that time, the founder of a social networking site distributed a postcard in the area around his home, and the residents sent back a postcard with a secret letter, which was selected and posted on the website by the founder. In September 2011, he followed the mobile tide and launched an app of the same name in the app store, which was a big fire. The application's test waters knocked on the door of anonymous social networking, and since then, similar anonymous social software at home and abroad has emerged in an endless stream.
Why is anonymous social networking popular with young people? Duan Xinxing, a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Public Administration of China University of Mining and Technology, introduced according to the interview experience with college students in the past, in the eyes of many college students, online anonymity can better release emotions, express themselves, and even vent negative emotions. In an anonymous world, more relaxed, more free, to achieve depersonalization, decentralization.
A social experiment intertwined with loneliness and curiosity
Recalling the original intention of downloading the anonymous app, Xiao Ze bluntly said that he was out of curiosity: "What is the charm that makes so many people attracted?" Driven by the curiosity, he tried to download an anonymous social software, and he did not expect to have fun at once. In his view, in the anonymous community, some people share interests and hobbies, and some people post complaints about real life, "it feels like an 'fig leaf' for anonymity, and many emotions that are inconvenient to express in the real space are released here."
According to Xiao Ze, in an anonymous social software, the system will match the corresponding microphone object according to the user's characteristics. "When you've been talking for 5 minutes, you can choose whether to show your profile to the other person and whether you want to continue talking." Xiao Ze said that his family has been busy with work for many years, and it is difficult to wait until his parents are at home to talk to them, but the response is often a simple "um" and "oh", and the opportunity for in-depth communication is rare. As a result, the lianmai function in the virtual social network has become the most attractive design for Xiao Ze. "There are a lot of people here to chat with me. Whenever I am depressed late at night and have nowhere to release, I share my emotions here. ”
Duan Xinxing said that college students use anonymous social software mainly to contact the outside world, followed by making friends and playing incidental games. By conveying information and exchanging emotions, we turn our attention online when offline social interactions are not satisfied. In Duan Xinxing's view, college students are in a critical period of life growth, and it is crucial to correctly guide college students to socialize. "The structure of 'herringbone' is mutually supportive, and people are social animals, and they should go out of the network and into real interpersonal relationships." Studies have found that compared with normal college students, college students who are obsessed with the online world are more indifferent to real interpersonal relationships and less good at real interpersonal communication. ”
Zhang Lenian defines this anonymous social experience, which has never been experienced before, as a "pure land". Different from the offline social experience, the advantages of online anonymous social "more convenient to spit" made Zhang Lenian at that time very moved. In her view, when encountering people and things that want to complain in real life, there is always a crossover of the circle of friends, there is no way to complain bitterly, there is always a psychological burden, "but the safety of anonymous social spit is higher, and the possibility of intersecting with the circle of friends is basically 0, and there is no psychological burden." ”
According to the survey results of the media survey, 73.84% of the college students interviewed believe that young people download anonymous social software because they are introverted, have few friends in real life, and are willing to make friends through this channel; 63.65% think that the anonymous environment helps to release stress; 49.53% think that the reason is that they can safely say secrets and complain; 43.01% say that downloading such software is to pursue anonymous happiness and stimulation; 39.64% think that the anonymous environment divided by interest can achieve group identity. Find people who are similar to their hobbies; 35.80% agree that this is a way to expand their social circle.
Duan Xinxing introduced that the correct guidance of college students to communicate, one is to cultivate their positive and optimistic, rational and peaceful mentality, pay attention to the mental health of college students on the Internet, through lectures, group counseling, etc.; the other is to carry out small discussions through college student peer counseling, "such as college students participating in purifying the network environment and discussing what I can do in it." The post-00s generation is an 'e-baby', a digital life native, and it is necessary to pay attention to their online mental health. ”
"Anonymity is creating a 'utopia' for users to interact with, but good space depends on the self-discipline and discipline of each user." Xu Yunlei's attitude toward anonymous social networking is more positive, believing that it can help people expand their circle of friends, and there are also many friends who love movies and music, "but everyone should pay attention to screening and protect their legitimate rights and interests while opening their hearts." ”
The 2.5 dimension of young people, is it "utopia" or "shura field"
"Wrapped in sugar crust, maybe poison." In Xiao Ze's view, there are certain risks in the anonymous social environment, and a little attention will cause harm to users. "The biggest problem is the leakage of privacy, and whether personal information can be secured is worrying." Xiao Ze said that sometimes a photo shared casually may be speculated about the specific activity area, inadvertently sliding from the "anonymous state" to the "real name state".
"If you don't come, I'll buy you 1,000 'phone bombings'!" On the eve of the Lantern Festival, Xu Yunlei was "threatened" by netizens she had met on anonymous social platforms. After repeated explicit refusals, although the other party did not continue to pester. But the scene of being "threatened" still made her afraid. She believes that if you don't have enough trust in the other party, don't rush to exchange contact information, and don't disclose too much of your private information. Xu Yunlei introduced that some anonymous social platforms will remind users to protect personal privacy information in a prominent position on the chat page, "but the anonymous environment is still easy to provide opportunities for people who are on the edge of the law." If you encounter a stranger in the chat and ask "about", Xu Yunlei will directly report the complaint to the other party.
As a "passer-by" who has used anonymous social apps, Zhang Lenian maintains a neutral attitude towards such software. "There are potential risks in an anonymous environment, and there are reports in the news. Emotional scams, money scams, personal privacy leaks... Even endangering personal safety may occur, so it is still necessary to use caution. In her view, college students should treat "stranger socializing" with a rational attitude and maintain calm judgment at all times. "While doing a good job of self-protection, don't be tempted on the edge of the law."
According to the survey of the media of the middle and young schools, 66.46% of the college students interviewed believe that the anonymous environment is conducive to the spread of untrue and improper remarks, 64.17% said that the anonymous environment is difficult to hold accountable for fraud and other acts, and 54.17% believe that it is easy to encounter bad people and cause property losses in the anonymous environment. At the same time, information security is difficult to guarantee (61.77%), full of violence, pornography and other bad information (54.17%), leading to the spread of negative emotions (48.59%), and aggravating online violence (45.72%) are also the main risks that college students surveyed believe exist in an anonymous environment.
In fact, most of the anonymous social software that has sprung up like mushrooms cannot escape the fate of a short-lived one. Only 3 months after its launch, the first anonymous social app was quickly taken offline due to being full of defamation, violence, pornography and other bad information; and some anonymous social apps that were derived later were also forced to go offline due to content supervision, information security and other issues after short-term user growth, ending dismal.
In the face of the rapid development of information technology and diversified social means, Duan Xinxing believes that regulators should effectively perform their duties and purify the network atmosphere. The platform party has the responsibility to do a good job of itself, and must not let it go in order to attract traffic; college students must also maintain self-discipline. "Effectively curbing the negative effects of the network is the result of the joint governance of universities, network regulators, public opinion, and college students, and all parties can perform their duties in order to jointly create a good network environment for college students."
After the first half of her freshman year, Zhang Lenian joined 3 student clubs, and the increasing pressure of coursework and rich club activities filled her life, and the anonymous social app that had made her shine was also uninstalled by her. "The friends I made in real life are enough to support my social circle." Zhang Lenian admitted that his desire to talk and make friends has been met in real life. Nowadays, she prefers offline real contact and getting along with each other more than online anonymous social networking.
In the topic post discussing "anonymous social", some netizens compared the real-name social software to the exhibition version of the "refined version of themselves", and regarded the anonymous social app as a sharing screen to share real life with others, "running from real name to anonymous, enjoying the 'half-cooked' atmosphere without baggage, you can better record life and release yourself." But the secret garden that has just been opened is still full of thorns. Some netizens frankly said: "After all, the anonymous environment is different from reality, and after the problem in the heart is solved, it will say goodbye to it." ”
(At the request of the interviewee, the students interviewed in this article are pseudonyms)
China Youth Daily, China Youth Network trainee reporter Luo Xi Cheng Si Intern Wang Junli Source: China Youth Daily