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Abstract
This article focuses on how the term “Platonic relationships” is used by Chinese Internet users when discussing online relationships. The study relies primarily on personal narratives of online relationships, opinions provided by members of several domestic social sites, and an online survey. Used in the Chinese online context, “Platonic relationships” can refer to exclusively Internet-based relationships, but with no implication of seeking for the Cartesian self. Playing with “Platonic relationships” by containing the relationships online symbolizes an act of defiance against the ordinarization of enchanting and engrossing online affections by banal, everyday life. Chinese netizens strategically exploit the Internet to fulfill their emotional needs in order to improve the quality of their daily life.
Notes
1. This is market research conducted by IAC, a US company specializing in providing online interactive service to retail industries and JWT, the largest advertising agency in the US.