ABSTRACT

‘Friends from WeChat groups’ has become a novel mediated friendship facilitated by WeChat, a dominating social media in China. Based on ethnographic fieldwork on the use of the smartphone among older people in Shanghai, this chapter brings focus on this specific social category and its consequence in social life. The ‘friends from WeChat groups’ category, which is mediated not only by social media, but also by the shared past and ideals of friendship among older people in China, finds its niche in people’s social lives after retirement. The increasing significance of ‘friends from WeChat groups’ provides a particular perspective for understanding the evolving concept and practice of friendship in a society where Confucian and communist legacies intersect with the social possibilities facilitated by digital media.