The quality of online social relationships
Communications of the ACM - How the virtual inspires the real
Growing up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation
Growing up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation
Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement, and Interaction
Social Consequences of Internet Use: Access, Involvement, and Interaction
BT Technology Journal
User loyalty and online communities: why members of online communities are not faithful
Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on INtelligent TEchnologies for interactive enterTAINment
A typology of social networking sites users
International Journal of Web Based Communities
| Hi-index | 0.00 |
This study explores the relationship between three distinct dimensions of social capital (bridging, peer-bonding and family-bonding capital) in social network sites (SNSs). We ask what kinds of social relations are sought by SNS users and whether the usage of new SNSs contributes to family bonding. A representative sample of the Norwegian internet population shows that 25% use SNSs to communicate with family members once a week or more often, but peer bonding is significantly more frequent (53%). Further, male users are significantly less interested in future family contacts in SNSs than females. Both online bridging and family bonding differ significantly between age groups. Answers to an open-ended question demonstrate a wish to strengthen relationships with friends and acquaintances in SNSs. Contact with family is not reported as a main motivation for using SNSs (1%), while other social relations account for 74% of the motivations. However, the results of the study indicate that the majority of the respondents experience SNSs as a part of their daily communication routines, both to bridge new online contacts and to strengthen bonds with their existing offline ties.