Favors from facebook friends: unpacking dimensions of social capital

Past research has demonstrated a link between perceptions of social capital and use of the popular social network site, Facebook. Williams' Internet Social Capital Scales, based on Putnam's formulation, tap into sub-dimensions of social capital that have not been broadly used yet may enlighten our understanding of the different ways in which connecting with others online can facilitate access to resources embedded within our social relationships. In this study, we segment Williams' Internet Social Capital Scales into various sub-dimensions using factor analysis and explicate the distinct facets of social capital through a lab experiment in which Facebook users (N=98) request a small favor from their Facebook network. We find that some sub-dimensions play a significant role in getting favors from Facebook friends while bonding and bridging social capital do not significantly predict responses to favor requests.

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