ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the shifts in tie-activation in Chinese guanxi in an age of digitalization. To unearth role of SNSs in making use of ties, this chapter draws upon interviews with youth SNS users in Hong Kong and statistical evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey to excavate practices of emotional management. Qualitatively, this chapter theorizes three forms of emotional management: (1) managing emotional reactions, such as to regulate likeable and dislikeable emotions; (2) managing emotional conveyances, particularly as users attempt to navigate norms of emotional perception in posting content; and (3) emotionally detaching themselves from content to avoid emotional overload. Quantitatively, this chapter asks to whom individuals turn to when in need for emotional support – and how SNSs impinge upon this calculus. Results show that personal SNS use increases the odds of seeking out close family for emotional support among non-youth, but decreases the odds of seeking out close friends for such help among non-youth and youth.
