Research on the Characteristics and Guiding Strategies of College Students’ Stratified Online Social Circles

Against the backdrop of the in-depth popularization of mobile internet and algorithm recommendation technologies, college students’ online social interactions have exhibited prominent characteristics of stratified social circles. Online social circles bonded by shared interests, majors and values have become the primary venues for contemporary college students to conduct daily socializing, acquire information and express emotions. Drawing on theories including the Differential Mode of Association, Information Cocoons, Group Polarization and Uses and Gratifications, this paper systematically sorts out the external characteristics and formation logic of stratified online social circles among college students, and focuses on analyzing the dual developmental impacts brought by stratified social circles on young students. From four dimensions—universities, online platforms, society and families, and students themselves—it integrates and proposes systematic guiding strategies, aiming to resolve practical problems such as cognitive limitations, social barriers and value deviations caused by closed social circles. This research strives to promote college students to build an open, inclusive, rational and healthy integrated online-offline social model, and provides theoretical references and practical ideas for the innovation of online ideological and political education in universities.