Starting from the interpersonal communication theories that have incorporated the use of information and communication technologies (Walther, 2007, 2011, 2017) and the perpetual interconnectedness to understand human behavior in interaction with others (Walther et al., 2015), the current paper approaches challenges brought by the network society in the way we bridge our online and offline self. Castells’ concepts are primarily used to explain macro-phenomena, for example, social movements (Castells, 2015), political and socio-economic transformation around the world (Castells, 2017), and to a lesser extent in discussing meso-phenomena, such as social isolation, exhaustion, the commodification of human interactions and interpersonal conflicts arise as part of individual’s adaptation to the Information Age. The current paper creates links between Castells’ main concepts of the network society theoretical framework and three meso-theories used in the interpersonal communication field to explain people’s online behavior in interaction by focusing on the characteristics of the communication medium: The social presence theory, Media richness theory, and the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE). Sharing Castells’ optimism on how network society creates efficiency and innovation in human interactions, we draw attention to less optimistic aspects related to the constant pressure of constructing relationships through virtual reality.

从包含使用信息和通信技术的人际传播理论（Walther，2007，2011，2017）和理解人类在与他人互动中的行为（Walther et al.，2015）的永久相互联系开始，本论文接近网络社会在我们连接线上和线下自我的方式中带来的挑战。Castells 的概念主要用于解释宏观现象，例如社会运动 (Castells, 2015)、世界各地的政治和社会经济转型 (Castells, 2017)，并在较小程度上用于讨论中观现象，例如随着社会孤立、疲惫、人际交往的商品化和人际冲突的出现，这些都是个人适应信息时代的一部分。本文将卡斯特尔的网络社会理论框架的主要概念与人际传播领域用于解释人们在互动中的在线行为的三个中观理论联系起来，重点关注传播媒介的特征：社会临场感理论、媒体丰富性理论和去个体化效应的社会认同模型（SIDE）。分享 Castells 对网络社会如何在人类互动中创造效率和创新的乐观态度，我们提请注意与通过虚拟现实建立关系的持续压力相关的不太乐观的方面。