The Impact of Time Online: Social Capital and Cyberbalkanization

Abstract

Hypotheses and research questions about the Internet displacing social capital, atomizing users, creating loneliness, and creating new forms of community were addressed through an original survey of Internet users. A key innovation of this research is that it collects parallel measures of social capital for online and offline contexts, which can then be compared. The results show that while Internet use does suggest a displacing effect, it is also a source of new, qualitatively different social capital. However, there is no connection between Internet use and atomization (or out-group antagonism), and the latter is actually lower online. Taken together, the results suggest that the Internet is no panacea but is not a direct source of problems either. More likely is the case that the costs and benefits for individuals will be predicted by their personalities and particular kinds of Internet use. The results are discussed, along with their implications for theory and future research.