Facebook: befriending and social capital

Abstract

The goal of this research paper is to give an insight into the way Dutch young adults use Facebook to create new ties and keep in contact with existing ties, thereby gaining bridging and bonding social capital. Results based on an online questionnaire among 90 Facebook users show that Facebook is mostly used to keep in touch with already existing strong-tie relations. This indicates that mostly bonding social capital is gained through the use of Facebook. However, a relationship between the amount of usage and bridging social capital was also found. The number of offline friends was a significant predictor of the number of friends added to the online network, indicating that the people in the online network are mostly existing relationships. The respondents also indicated that they knew 90% of their Facebook friends in person. These results indicate that Dutch young adults use Facebook in a different way than their American counterparts. Americans also use it with the intention to meet new people, thereby gaining bridging social capital. The difference between the two is believed to stem from the difference in users' contexts. The Dutch appear to be more inward-looking in terms of their Facebook use as opposed to their American counterparts, who are both outward-looking and inward-looking.