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RESEARCH PRODUCT

What People Make of Social Capital Online: An Empirical Study on the Conversion of Social Capital via Networking Sites

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description

Social capital is considered an important aspect of online social networks and the idea that it can be converted into other forms of capital, is central to the capital concept. Examples of such a conversion are finding a job or obtaining information faster than others. However, the conversion and, therefore, the relevance of online social capital have not been sufficiently researched. Results from an online survey conducted on three German SNS indicate large interpersonal differences in the effectiveness of social capital conversion. They are best explained by the amount of available social capital and active investments in social capital, i.e., networking. Surprisingly, demographic attributes and network size only affect the amount of available social capital, but not the effectiveness of its conversion.