Will Facebook save or destroy social capital? An empirical investigation into the effect of online interactions on trust and networks
Year: 2013
Type: report
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Studies in the social capital literature have documented two stylised facts: first, a decline in measures \nof social participation has occurred in many OECD countries. Second, and more recently, the success of \nsocial networking sites (SNSs) has resulted in a steep rise in online social participation. Our study adds \nto this body of research by conducting the first empirical assessment of how online networking affects \ntwo economically relevant aspects of social capital, i.e. trust and sociability. We find that participation \nin SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter has a positive effect on face-to-face interactions. However, \nsocial trust decreases with online interactions. We argue that the rising practice of hate speech may \nplay a crucial role in the destruction of trust.
Authors: Fabio Sabatini, Francesco Sarracino
Language: English
Topic: Social Capital and Networks
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1637694032