Audience Motivation and Social Relationship Transformation through Mobile Red Packet Interactions during Chinese New Year
List of Authors
Li Yiyang, Tirzah Zubeidah
Keyword
China, Red Packet, Informal Learning
Abstract
Based on the interaction of mobile red envelopes during the Chinese Spring Festival, this study explores how digital technology can reconstruct social relations and informal learning paths in traditional festival ceremonies. Through a mixed methods approach, the dynamic game between technical scripts and user practices in the digitalization process of red envelopes was revealed. The gamification design of WeChat red envelopes (such as random algorithms and social fission) has transformed traditional giveaways into data-driven interactive rituals. While activating intergenerational informal it has also exacerbated emotional performance, digital generation gap, and privacy risks. Research has found that: (1) The motivation for participating in red envelopes presents an intergenerational paradox - the entertainment needs driven by dopamine in the youth group coexist with the emotional maintenance demands of the elderly. Neuroimaging shows that they activate the nucleus accumbens (reward mechanism) and the posterior cingulate cortex (kinship memory), respectively; (2) Social relationships have shifted from Fei Xiaotong's ‘hierarchical pattern’ to a ‘dual chain spiral structure’ that combines strong connections and small world network characteristics, with red envelope data becoming a new indicator for quantifying social capital; (3) Informal learning presents a 'reverse knowledge flow', where elderly people use localization strategies (such as the three finger amplification method) to combat the platform's youthful design bias, but technological fear and algorithmic discrimination still hinder digital inclusion. The study proposes the Digital Red Envelope Ethics Evaluation Matrix to provide a policy framework for intergenerational equity, cultural fidelity, and emotional integrity in technology design, advocating for a governance path of ‘technology society’ collaborative evolution.