2. Outline
●
Definition of Social Capital
●
Pre-SNS research and theory
●
Post-SNS research and theory
●
●
Recent developments:
Examples of social media increasing social
capital
Conclusion
3. Definition of Social Capital
●
Wellman et al. (2001)
–
–
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Participatory capital
–
●
Network capital
Community Commitment
Builds on analysis by Putnam on the
decline of social capital and civic
involvement (1996).
Two kinds of social interactions: bridging
and bonding.
4. Definition of Social Capital
●
●
Valenzuela et al. (2009)
Social capital: “The resources available to
people through their social interactions.” (p3)
–
●
e.g. social trust, civic engagement, life
satisfaction, political participation.
Uses Scheufele and Shah's framework (2000):
–
Intrapersonal
–
Interpersonal
–
Behavioural
5. Wellman et al.: pre-SNS analysis
of online media and social capital
●
Three theories of the internet's effect on
social capital:
–
Utopian – Internet use increases social
capital offline.
–
Dystopian – Internet use decreases social
capital offline.
–
Supplementary – Internet use
supplements social capital offline.
6. Does the internet
increase/decrease social capital?
●
●
●
●
Utopian
The internet improves
offline communication.
●
●
The internet increases
offline interaction.
●
“Nonlocal community”
can bridge gaps in
geography.
●
●
Dystopian
Online interactions
inferior to offline
interactions.
Online activity
competes for time with
other activities.
Absorption.
Alienation, loneliness,
depression.
8. Research and Conclusions
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Looked at survey conducted using Nat Geo website visitors
(1998).
Network capital: Found that internet use neither replaces offline
communication nor increases it.
Participatory capital: Tracks and supplements offline patterns.
Community commitment: Online community commitment
decreases due to exposure to unfavourable behaviour. Offline
community commitment no pattern.
Argues that this tracks a general trend away from strong socially
controlling communities towards individualisation, fragmentation.
Limitations of data prevent strong inferences.
Overall, they find that internet use is supplementary and doesn't
have enough impact to support either utopian or dystopian views.
9. Valenzuela et al.: post-SNS
analysis of social media & social
capital
●
●
Authors observe flaws in earlier research
which fails to recognise the dynamic nature of
internet use e.g. compared to TV.
Looks at the effects of Facebook use on social
capital through:
–
–
●
Social trust – Life Satisfaction
Civic engagement – Political Partication
As Facebook facilitates both bridging and
bonding, it can potentially increase all kinds of
social capital.
10. Research and Findings
●
●
Survey of college students from two diverse universities in
Texas.
When index of intensity of Facebook use was varied from
the lowest value to the highest value, they found:
–
Life Satisfaction was ceteris paribus 14.5 percentage
points higher for high use.
–
Social trust was 4.7 points higher.
–
Civic engagement increased 16.1 points for Facebook
use and 9.5 points for Facebook Groups use.
–
Political participation increased ceteris paribus 27.4
points for Facebook Groups use.
–
Most variables, including demographic variables were
insignificant.
12. Valenzuela et al. Conclusions
●
●
●
●
“The results show a stronger association of
Facebook use with the intrapersonal and
behavioral components of social capital than with
the interpersonal dimension.”
This doesn't mean that Facebook makes people
more satisfied etc., it could be that it attracts
these people.
What the small increases do mean though is that
theories of isolation and alienation are not valid.
However, even this analysis is limited and
somewhat outdated.
13. YouTubers
●
●
●
The basic form of social capital, as defined
by Valenzuela et al., is “It is the resources
available to people through their social
interactions”.
YouTube stars are able to use New Media
to garner massive followings on YouTube,
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
Able to use their fan base to enact
change/support a cause/raise money for
charity.
14.
15. Arab Spring
●
“Utilised social media as an effective means to
spread information and promote insurgent
agendas.” (Lindsey, 2013)
–
●
●
Facebook events, real-time tweets about the
events, YouTube videos showing the violence,
Reddit feeds dedicated to the events.
Powerful influencers came out of social media
use → Wael Ghonim and the Egyptian Revolution
(Oehmke, 2012)
Social media became such a powerful tool for
organising events that many nations shut down
the internet.
16. Fandoms
●
●
The creation of Fandoms, especially on Tumblr, is
an example of community-building via social
media.
You can “follow” people with similar interests to
you.
–
●
●
e.g. comic book art, Photoshop, TV shows.
Television producers/writers know the power
behind fandoms and carefully consider what they
want when crafting episodes.
Fandoms are seen as powerful and very
connected communities.
17. Conclusions
●
●
●
●
●
Existing research doesn't support the idea that social
media use significantly affects social capital.
Positions which maintain a view of distinct
online/offline spheres fail to capture reality.
Social media can certainly facilitate increased social
capital (as shown in examples) despite what
pessimists argue.
Therefore we should look to promote these forms of
use.
This suggests a case for a positive attitude towards
the relationship between social media and social
capital.
18. References
‘23 People Who Didn’t Know the Titanic was Real’, Twisted Sifter, available at
http://twistedsifter.com/2012/04/people-who-didnt-know-the-titanic-was-real/
[accessed 26/11/13].
Lindsey, R.A. (2013), 'What the Arab Spring Tells Us About the Future of Social
Media in Revolutionary Movements', Small Wars Journal, Available online at :
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/what-the-arab-spring-tells-us-about-thefutureof-social-media-in-revolutionary-movements/ [accessed 26/11/13].
Oehmke, P. (2012), 'The Unwilling Revolutionary: Egyptian Activist Wael
Ghonim's Quest for Peace', Spiegel Online, available at
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-unwilling-revolutionary-egyptianactivist-wael-ghonim-s-quest-for-peace-a-812884.html [accessed 26/11/13]
Valenzuela, S.; Park, N.; Kee, K.F. (2009), 'Is There Social Capital in a Social
Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students’ Life Satisfaction, Trust, and
Participation', Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 875–901.
Wellman, B.; Haase, A.Q.; Witte, J.; Hampton, K. (2001), 'Does the Internet
increase, decrease, or supplement social capital?', The American Behavioral
Scientist; 45, 3; ABI/INFORM Global, pg. 436.
