数字在场：家庭微信群中的老年情感实践研究

Digital Presence: A Study of Older Adults’ Emotional Practices in Family WeChat Groups

摘要: 在家庭结构小型化、人口流动常态化以及老龄化程度不断加深的背景下，家庭微信群逐渐成为老年人维系家庭关系的重要数字空间。本文以“数字在场”为分析视角，探讨家庭微信群中的老年情感实践及其运行逻辑。研究发现，家庭空间分离所带来的“在场危机”促使老年人通过问候分享、互动参与和关系激活等传播实践持续生产数字可见性，以维持家庭成员身份并获得情感承认。数字在场不仅构成老年人应对现实缺席的重要策略，也成为其维系家庭主体性和家庭归属感的重要机制。然而，数字在场同时存在“可见而未必被关注、连接而未必被陪伴”的现实悖论，其本质上是对现实共在缺失的一种补偿性实践。本文尝试从家庭承认与主体性维持的角度理解老年人的数字媒介使用，为老龄化背景下家庭传播研究提供新的解释路径。

Abstract: Against the backdrop of population aging, increasing family nuclearization, and intensified population mobility, family WeChat groups have become an important digital space through which older adults maintain family relationships. Drawing on the perspective of digital presence, this study examines the emotional practices of older adults in family WeChat groups and explores the underlying logic of these practices. The study finds that the “crisis of presence” caused by spatial separation within families motivates older adults to continuously produce digital visibility through greetings, information sharing, interactive participation, and relationship activation. These communicative practices help them sustain their identities as family members and obtain familial recognition. Digital presence thus serves not only as an adaptive strategy for coping with the absence of face-to-face co-presence, but also as an important mechanism for maintaining subjectivity, belonging, and emotional attachment within the family. At the same time, digital presence reveals a paradox: being visible does not necessarily mean being noticed, and being connected does not necessarily mean being accompanied. In essence, it functions as a compensatory practice for the decline of everyday co-presence. By linking digital presence with familial recognition and the maintenance of subjectivity, this study offers a new perspective for understanding family communication in an aging society.