Research On The Website Of Marriage And Dating Based On Social Network Theory

Love and marriage is an eternal topic in our life. In modern society, this basic desire of people for love is in contradiction with reality due to so many limits. So thats why dating website come into being. The dating websites are a new love engine which generate new rules for dating and develop people s sociality in an unprecedented degree. Marriage involves many issues such as social communication and proliferation. Concerned that, dating website bears profound social meaning. In the book "The Rise of Network Society ", Manuel Castells writes:"our media is some kind of metaphor, and the metaphor creates our culture." Taking advantage of web2.0, dating websites change the traditional relative network which based on blood, area nd work relationship. They builds new models of social network which is more open while the social capital is being created. Dating websites bear so many social functions that it means a lot to social vicissitudes.Firstly, my study angle is from sociology and communication theory. By placing dating website in grander vision, this research will transcend the previous study which relied on simple and utilitarian description for phenomenon. The social network theory in sociology is applied into dating website, thus combining the person, the micro network and grand macro social system.Secondly, I use a method of integrating point and sphere. On one hand, This article introduces the evolution of dating website development in china to help people comprehensively understand the background and history. On the other hand, taking " jiayuan. com" as example, this paper discusses the website’s structure, content, the social network it builded and the social capital it produced. From phenomenon to essence, the all-round dimension of dating website will be revealed objectively and profoundly.Thirdly, a series of theories,"Small World","Six Degrees of Separation","Weak Tie ","Structural Hole" and "Social Capital", are being used to explore the nature of "guanxi" in dating websites: they locate in structural holes where weak ties are converging. People are getting rid of space and time limits in ancient times by convenient, rapid and instant online communication."Double social network ", the inside and outside social network they construct, will turn familiar strangers into intimate lovers,and weak ties into strong ties.Finally, the core part of this paper is the characteristics of "social network", so the discussion on social function and meaning is necessary for dating websites. In my conclusion, the dating websites has four functions:information flow for social participation; sentiment flow for sense of belonging; decompression valve for contradiction and economy growth. The dating website is a barometer of politics, economy and culture which can better explain the changes happened in social structure and value.