臺灣民眾在解嚴後是否積極參與社會活動？社會參與的形式有何演變？都是瞭解公民意識的重要議題。最新研究顯示志願結社的趨勢下降，尤其是「工具性」社團參與式微，透露出公民意識似乎益趨薄弱，公民社會的發展面臨危機。本文透過臺灣社會變遷基本調查近年資料，擴大檢視兩種可能孕育公民意識的社會參與形式。「志願結社」直接測量正式的社會參與，「日常接觸」則涵蓋不拘內容的社會活動，兩者都和民眾的政治效能強度、公共議題討論頻率、公民責任義務的評估息息相關。近年來參加社團的趨勢下降，日常生活中的人際接觸則未減少，日常接觸也逐漸包含不認識的對象，初步顯露出即時短暫的社會互動跡象。從這些趨勢顯示，臺灣民眾參與社會的形式趨向多元化，社會連結的原則可能也隨著科技進展而有所調整。「志願結社」如同其他眾多概念，延續社會科學既有的研究傳承；「日常接觸」則依據古典社會學論述及近一世紀來的社會發展，在概念化和測量工具上另求創新，並以臺灣社會的調查研究成果為主要依據，補足從「志願結社」來理解公民意識發展的思維。正如本文研究結果所顯示，公民意識發展的社會參與效應如何，應透過不同研究取徑來加以探索，以多方掌握社會變遷的重要面向。

Recent studies indicate a steady decline in voluntary association membership in Taiwan, which may hinder civil societal development. However, these studies have paid little attention to the role of informal social interactions. Using data from the Taiwan Social Change Survey, I examine voluntary association membership trends vis-à-vis the degree of daily contacts, which I argue is a more encompassing type of social participation. Similar to joining voluntary associations, daily contacts are positively associated with the survey respondents' political efficacy, discussion of public issues, and normative perceptions of citizens' duties and obligations. The extent of daily contacts has remained high since the late twentieth century, although with some changing patterns. In particular, contacts with unknown others increased between 1997 and 2010, indicating more fleeting social interactions. The findings suggest a diversifying pattern of social participation that probably reflects macro-level trends in new technology, social media, and globalization.