Abstract:

The rise of network society has brought far-reaching influence on the structure of Chinese traditional social relations. Based on the analysis of structural characteristics of network society and Chinese traditional “acquaintance” society, the effects of network society on Chinese traditional social relations are explored. The formation of personal relationship in network society is on the basis of digital information, and is a society state endowed with three attributes of technology, individual and society. Chinese traditional society is essentially an acquaintance society, with a differential sequence in its structure. Network society has changed the constructing mechanism of individual and social interpersonal relationship, and has formed a multiple interpersonal pattern after the relative separation between subject and object. It also has formed a mutual action mechanism in the relationship structure of the traditional acquaintance society – independence and adhesion at the individual level, and overall dispersion and local condensation at the group level.

Key words: network society, traditional society, acquaintance society, society relation structures