Guanxi in an age of digitalization:toward assortation and value homophily in new tie-formation  

作　　者：Anson Au 

机构地区：[1]Department of Applied Social Sciences,The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,Hung Hom,Kowloon,Hong Kong,People’s Republic of China

出　　处：《The Journal of Chinese Sociology》2022年第1期156-174,共19页中国社会学杂志（英文）

基　　金：a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

摘　　要：How do people form personal ties?A consensus holds in sociological and social net-work scholarship that in-person networks are dominated by status homophily and that guanxi networks rely extensively on balance.This article argues that social networking sites(SNSs)reconceptualize the character of homophily and tie-formation altogether in guanxi networks.Drawing on 50 semi-structured interviews with Hong Kong youth from 2017 to 2020,this article examines how the technical capabilities of SNSs and principles of guanxi culture come together to erode status boundaries,create access to larger networks,and cause spillovers of information and tie strength.As a result,the basis of tie-formation in guanxi networks on SNSs shifts from balance to assortation and status homophily to value homophily.In this transformed calculus of tie-formation,two typologies of values rise to the fore:substantive values that reflect opinions and interests,as well as structural values that reflect networkability.

关 键 词：GUANXI Social networks Tie-formation DIGITALIZATION Value homophily 

分 类 号：F49[经济管理—产业经济]