网络圈层分化与“偶然的个人”——从《德意志意识形态》看数字时代的个体困境

The Fragmentation of Online Communities and “The Contingent Individual”—The Individual’s Dilemma in the Digital Age as Seen through The German Ideology

摘要: 数字技术的深度发展推动人类社会进入信息生产主导的新阶段，网络圈层分化成为数字时代典型的社会现象。用《德意志意识形态》中“偶然的个人”理论分析网络圈层分化通过认知、社交、认同三层面对个体的锁定，发现圈层化成为数字时代个体新的“偶然生存条件”。在数字时代下摆脱圈层个体的生存困境，需要个体主动破圈发挥主观能动性、平台规范算法承担治理责任、社会搭建桥梁构建跨圈层对话机制，三方协同发力，消解算法霸权与圈层固化的束缚，让数字技术回归服务人的全面发展的本质，在数字时代的必然性中探寻个体自由发展的现实路径。

Abstract: The rapid advancement of digital technology has propelled human society into a new phase dominated by information production, with the fragmentation of online social circles emerging as a defining social phenomenon of the digital age. By applying the theory of “the contingent individual” from The German Ideology to analyze how the fragmentation of online communities confines individuals across three dimensions—cognition, social interaction, and identity—we find that this fragmentation has become a new “contingent condition of existence” for individuals in the digital age. To resolve the existential predicament of individuals trapped within these circles in the digital age, three parties must collaborate: individuals must proactively break out of their circles and exercise their agency; platforms must regulate algorithms and assume governance responsibilities; and society must build bridges to establish mechanisms for cross-circle dialogue. Through this tripartite effort, we can dismantle the constraints of algorithmic hegemony and the solidification of social circles, allowing digital technology to return to its essential purpose of serving the comprehensive development of humanity, and thereby chart a practical path for the free development of the individual within the inevitabilities of the digital age.