Research On The Network Society And The Development Of Chinese Political Socialization

Political socialization, as the core of human society, means the formation anddevelopment process of the "political people". In the process of human beings’interaction with the social and political system, human beings accept the politicalculture and education, learn political knowledge, master political skills, internalize thenorms of politics, form the political attitudes, improve the political personality, andplay an active role in social and political process. With the rapid development ofinformation technology and the popularity of computer and internet technology,humans began to enter the Information Age. As the current era of the "fourth media",the network turns to have a close connection with people’s lives, and will have aprofound impact in public political life, especially in the values, political behavior andpolitical psychological characteristics, etc., The “network culture” is formed in such acircumstance. These changes mentioned above will influence and change the politicalenvironment in China. China’s political and social will follow this to change and forma totally different social way compared with the traditional political life.By internet, people can get rich political information and learn political culturethrough various kinds of electronic terminal devices. The creation of virtual contextmakes it convenience for people to play a political role and practice, thus contributingto the cultivation of the political elite. The connotation and denotation of politicalparticipation in network is constantly expanding in virtual environment. It means anew model of political socialization for our citizens is created in this background. The internet’s impact on political socialization can be divided into twodimensions. First at the social level, the features of the network including the lowrequirement, equality and convenience can help to break the information monopoly,and to promote the development of freedom of speech without the restriction of timeand space. It can also advance the construction of modern political values, promotethe shaping of modern political culture and benefit the spreading of the mainstreamideology. On the other hand, the hidden and dispersion nature of the network makesthe original pattern of political power face new opportunities and challenges,. Thus itis possible to increase the power to promote political change.At the individual level, the network will help citizens to form the modernpolitical personality and political attitudes. It can also encourage the citizens toparticipate. At the same time, it often leads to irrational participation and "anarchy,"which need the government to take effective measures for control. Internet as atwo-edged "sword" can brought a rare opportunity on political socialization，as wellas the unprecedented changes in political socialization.This paper starts from the current China’s political status and its features. Afteranalyzing internet’s both positive and negative impact on China’s politicalsocialization, it attempts to explore the network’s political and social function and theimpact on political life, then tries to find the measures to take internet’s advantagesand overcome its shortcomings. The author hopes that it will benefit the healthdevelopment of political socialization.