互联网使用、线上社群嵌入与社会距离——基于CSS2021的实证研究

Internet Use, Online Community Embeddedness and Social Distance—An Empirical Study Based on CSS2021

摘要: 社会距离是衡量社会融合与社会心态的重要指标，互联网能否缩小群体间的社会距离，关系到数字社会建设的实际成效。本文基于2021年中国社会状况综合调查(CSS)数据，构建了一个“互联网使用–线上社群嵌入–社会距离”的分析框架，旨在探究互联网使用对居民社会接纳度的影响及其内在机制。研究发现：1) 互联网的使用能显著提升社会接纳度，表明“使用鸿沟”比“接入鸿沟”更关键。2) 线上社群嵌入扮演了双向的竞争性中介角色：桥接型社群通过促进跨群体接触，产生正向间接效应，缩小社会距离；而黏合型社群则通过强化内群体认同，产生负向间接效应，扩大社会距离。3) 线下社会参与对线上互动具有正向调节作用，能够放大桥接型社群的积极效应，构成一个有调节的中介模型。4) 社会接纳的效果存在维度分化，信息型使用主要增进对处境不利群体的接纳，而娱乐型与工具型使用则主要增进对生活方式多样性的接纳。研究结论为推动数字包容、优化网络生态提供了实证依据。

Abstract: Social distance is an important indicator of social integration and social mentality. Whether the Internet can narrow social distance between groups bears on the effectiveness of building a digital society. Using data from the 2021 Chinese Social Survey (CSS), this study constructs an analytical framework of “Internet use - online community embeddedness - social distance” to examine how Internet use affects residents’ social acceptance and through what mechanisms. Results indicate that: 1) Internet use significantly enhances social acceptance, suggesting that the “usage divide” is more critical than the “access divide”. 2) Online community embeddedness plays a competing mediating role in opposite directions: bridging communities reduces social distance by facilitating intergroup contact, whereas bonding communities increase it by reinforcing in-group identification. 3) Offline social participation positively moderates online interaction, amplifying the bridging effect and forming a moderated mediation model. 4) Furthermore, the effects vary by dimension: informational use mainly promotes acceptance of disadvantaged groups, while entertainment and instrumental use mainly promotes acceptance of lifestyle diversity. These findings provide empirical evidence for advancing digital inclusion and optimizing the online ecosystem.