'Flash meets' - China's latest youth craze
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For Yan Qing, his flash-meet partners must be good talkers. Whether they fit in together is not so important. "When I chat with old classmates, I find we have already talked about this in college, we talked about that last year, and in the end we are left with nothing else to talk about but houses, jobs and all kinds of gossip. Talking with strangers for a change is refreshing," he said.
About 31.3 percent of respondents said they felt they had to make new friends because their old social circle was shrinking, and 29.1 percent said they could bare their hearts to strangers.
Therapist Meng Peixin said establishing a relationship with a stranger reduces pressure, on condition that the people involved are psychologically healthy. It can help people make a new start and escape the pressures of their old social circle. The "social distance" between strangers means they may be relatively relaxed in each other's company.
Meng's opinion is echoed by the survey results. When asked why "flash meets" became so popular, 43.0 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement "it meets people's desire to escape familiar environments and seek novelty in a strange city with strangers," and 45.0 percent felt "you can feel more relaxed with strangers than acquaintances."
In the survey, 22.9 percent of the respondents agreed that traveling with strangers helped relieve anxiety, while 61.9 percent recognized "flash meets" as an opportunity for people to tell their troubles to others.
"'Flash meets' are a novel experience," Yan Qing said, "but they won't change my 'geek' character. It would be really hard for me to change my life style." Yan Qing thinks of himself as a total home bird, joking that "give me a cable to connect to the Internet, and I will move the Earth." Last year, he spent the entire May Day holiday at home alone.
According to the survey, 61.2 percent of the respondents agreed that "flash meets" are a superficial form of communication, as opposed to 27.9 percent who said they could meet people's entire communication needs.
"These short-term relationships fit modern society very well," said Meng Peixin. "Some people may be able to establish deep relationship with 'flash meet' partners, but that only happens occasionally."
About 40.9 percent of respondents said people would feel lonely if "flash meets" were their only way to communicate with others. Another 45.9 percent said that when a real crisis occurs, only old friends are able to help.
"In the future, people may have several social circles," Meng Peixin said. "'Flash meets' will not be the only way of meeting people, but they will be an opportunity to find new friends and create new social circles."
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