A new empirical and peer-reviewed study provides “the first evidence that online networks are able to produce social capital. In the case of bonding social capital, online ties are more effective in forming close networks than theory predicts.” Entitled, “Tweeting Alone? An Analysis of Bridging and Bonding Social Capital in Online Networks,” the study analyzes Twitter data generated during three large events: “the Occupy movement in 2011, the IF Campaign in 2013, and the Chilean Presidential Election of the same year.”
What is the relationship between social media and social capital formation? More specifically, how do connections established via social media—in this case Twitter—lead to the formation of two specific forms of social capital, bridging and bonding capital? Does the interplay between bridging and bonding capital online differ to what we see in face-to-face world interactions?
“Bonding social capital exists in the strong ties occurring within, often homogeneous, groups—families, friendship circles, work teams, choirs, criminal gangs, and bowling clubs, for example. Bonding social capital acts as a social glue, building trust and norms within groups, but also potentially increasing intolerance and distrust of out-group members. Bridging social capital exists in the ties that link otherwise separate, often heterogeneous, groups—so for example, individuals with ties to other groups, messengers, or more generically the notion of brokers. Bridging social capital allows different groups to share and exchange information, resources, and help coordinate action across diverse interests.” The authors emphasize that “these are not either/or categories, but that in well-functioning societies the two types or dimensions develop together.”
Read the full post here: Social Media Generates Social Capital: Implications for City Resilience and Disaster Response and read the social network study here.