A “Lightweight” Support Circle: How Urban Chinese Older Adults Reconfigure Online Peripheral Ties Through Low-Cost Digital Practices

Although peripheral ties are essential for social integration, traditional aging theories suggest that they naturally atrophy as older adults withdraw from physical social settings and prioritize intimate relationships. Digital technologies, however, offer new affordances that enable older adults to actively sustain such ties. Through six online focus groups with 32 older Chinese WeChat users (aged 55–74), this study examines how older adults manage their peripheral networks in the digital environment. Three findings emerge. First, older adults maintain a distinct typology of digital peripheral ties—Former Acquaintances, Present-day Acquaintances, and “Net Friends.” Second, they sustain these ties through strategically optimized observational engagement, tracking their networks with minimal interpersonal friction. Third, the benefits of these ties—practical information, identity maintenance, and direct emotional companionship—converge into a lightweight yet meaningful support circle that complements the strong-tie core. By uncovering these practices, this study shows that older adults are active curators of their digital social networks, providing empirical insight into the reconfiguration of late-life social convoys and design implications for age-friendly platforms.