Structure and returns: toward a refined understanding of Internet use and social capital

ABSTRACT

This study carves out a promising theoretical space to investigate how general and specific Internet use may facilitate various returns of social capital by separating the structural embeddedness of social capital from the returns of social capital. Drawing on a randomly sampled survey of adult residents in a major US city, we examine how general Internet use, interacted with network diversity, contributes to various returns of social capital: bonding and bridging, online and offline. We further unpack general Internet use to specific Internet use and explore their relations with the returns of social capital. The results show that general Internet use is positively related to all the online bonding, online bridging, and offline social capital returns, whereas specific Internet use (i.e., informational, participatory, and recreational) is only positively related to online but not offline returns of social capital. Network diversity moderates the relationship between general Internet use and offline returns of social capital.

KEYWORDS:

• Internet use
• social capital
• social network
• online
• offline

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Xiaoqian Li is a Ph.D. candidate in Media Studies in the Department of Radio-Television-Film in the Moody College of Communication at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research is at the intersection of social and health effects of information and communication technologies, and digital inequalities and inclusion, in both local and global contexts. She has published journal articles in International Journal of Communication, Computers in Human Behavior, Communication Theory, and so on [email: [email protected]].

Dr. Wenhong Chen (Ph.D. Toronto) is an associate professor of media studies and sociology at The University of Texas at Austin. Her award-winning research has focused on digital inequalities, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement in the U.S., China, and Canada. Dr. Chen's current project examines data and privacy issues from a producer's perspective [email: [email protected]].

Yoonmo Sang (Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin) is an assistant professor in the Department of Strategic, Legal and Management Communication at Howard University. His research areas include:(1) individuals’ attitudes and behavioral intentions regarding new media technologies,(2) civic and community engagement through social media, and (3) legal and policy dimensions of social and emerging media. His scholarly writing has appeared in American Behavioral Scientist, Communication Law and Policy, Computers in Human Behavior, International Journal of Communication, and Telematics and Informatics, among others [email: [email protected]].

Na Yeon Lee (Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin) is an assistant professor in the Department of Media Communication at the Sungshin Women's University in South Korea. Her research interests include journalism, political communication, and new media. Her work has been published in Journalism, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Journal of Health Communication, Asian Journal of Communication, and Information, Communication & Society [email: [email protected]].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the City of Austin, Texas; Moody College of Communication, The University of Texas at Austin.