ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that while the cultural rules of traditional Chinese guanxi valorize strong ties and close proximity, SNSs are invoking a kind of networked individualism in liquid guanxi by disrupting these schemas about tie strength and proximity in social support decisions. Drawing on interviews of Hong Kong youth SNS users, this chapter demonstrates that (1) social support is sought from proximal weak ties because SNSs allow for greater bandwidth and relatability of information exchange, enough to inspire confidence, availability and trustworthiness in soliciting and providing social support for; and (2) social support is selectively solicited from alters among different groups with greater network diversity, representing a unique breed of diverse social capital as alters scattered across different geographies embody different cultural values, sources of information, and repertoires of resources. Across both patterns, social currencies catalyze the formation of trust by reproducing exchange patterns that substitute for small favors that have hitherto been in-person.
