Will Facebook save or destroy social capital? An empirical investigation into the effect of online interactions on trust and networks

Arbeitspapier

Studies in the social capital literature have documented two stylised facts: first, a decline in measures of social participation has occurred in many OECD countries. Second, and more recently, the success of social networking sites (SNSs) has resulted in a steep rise in online social participation. Our study adds to this body of research by conducting the first empirical assessment of how online networking affects two economically relevant aspects of social capital, i.e. trust and sociability. We find that participation in SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter has a positive effect on face-to-face interactions. However, social trust decreases with online interactions. Several interpretations of these findings are discussed.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: EERI Research Paper Series ; No. 02/2014

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models: Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation ; Network Formation and Analysis: Theory ; Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes ; Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
• Subject: Social participation ; online networks ; Facebook ; Internet-mediated communication ; social capital ; broadband ; digital divide

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Sabatini, Fabio ; Sarracino, Francesco
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI)
• (where): Brussels
• (when): 2014

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/142666
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET