Lessons from Facebook: The Effect of Social Network Sites on College Students' Social Capital 1

This study examines if Facebook, one of the most popular social network sites among young adults in the U.S., fulfills the promise of civic journalism: to spark attitudes and behaviors that enhance public life and civic action. Using data from a random web survey of college students in Texas (n = 2,603), we find moderate, positive relationships between intensity of Facebook use and students' life satisfaction, social trust, civic participation and political engagement. The associations between Facebook usage and students' social capital are detectable even when taking demographic, socioeconomic and socialization variables into account. These findings highlight important lessons for journalists and media interested in reconnecting individuals, especially young adults, to society and public life. Lessons from Facebook 3 Lessons from Facebook: The Effect of Social Network Sites on College Students’ Social Capital Moral panic is a common reaction to new forms of communication. The advent of television spawned fears of mass idiotization. Similarly, in the early 90s, critics held the diffusion of Internet as evidence of individuals’ increasing alienation from society and public life. The story with social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook and MySpace is not any different. Unsafe disclosure of information, cyberbullying, addiction, risky behavior and contacting dangerous communities are but a few of the concerns raised in the media about the use of online social networks. As could be expected, researchers have begun to put to empirical test these claims, reaching a more balanced understanding of SNS. Existing research shows that young people are motivated to join these sites to keep strong ties with friends, to strengthen ties with new acquaintances, and, to a lesser degree, to meet new people online (Acquisti & Gross, 2006). At the same time, sites like Facebook allow them to exchange news and discuss issues, both public (e.g., the 2008 U.S. presidential election) and private (e.g., movie tastes). In this paper, we examine if social network sites, given their nature and capabilities, have the potential for creating new pathways to civic and political participation. Specifically, we use original survey data to test several hypotheses regarding the influence of Facebook usage on college students’ social capital, a multidimensional concept that includes life satisfaction, social trust, civic participation and political engagement. In doing so, we also aim to gain a better understanding of “who is and who is not using these sites, why and for what purposes” (boyd & Ellison, 2007, p. 224). Lessons from Facebook 4 The impact of online social networks on social capital can be achieved in myriad ways. For instance, common interest groups can help users coordinate for collective action. At the same time, regular exchanges between users can foster trust and norms of reciprocity that are key antecedents of community life. Likewise, news feeds allow users to keep in touch with what is going on “out there. ” In this context, social network sites may fulfill many of the promises of civic journalism, such as delivering shared, relevant information to its users and providing a place for exchanging ideas (Merritt, 1998). Moreover, in an era of shrinking audiences and damaged credibility in public institutions, it is vital for the media to help citizens connect to society and facilitate civic action (Rutigliano, 2007). Consequently, journalists and traditional news organizations can learn important lessons from social websites on how to engage individuals, especially young adults, in public life. Defining Social Network Sites Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, Cyworld, Bebo and other social network sites are, perhaps, the best examples of O’Reilly’s (2005) Web 2.0 environment, where audiences have become coauthors on interactive websites. In a similar fashion as blogs, SNS allow individuals to present themselves to other users using a variety of formats, including text and video. Just like chat services, SNS incorporate a list of other users with whom individuals share a connection. But unlike any other web service, SNS allow individuals to make visible their list of connections to others and to traverse their social networks (boyd & Ellison, 2007). Hence, more than virtual 5 Commonly referred to as social media, this genre of Internet-based services includes blogs, wikis, podcasts, content-sharing sites (e.g., Flickr, YouTube), collaborative productions (e.g., Wikipedia, OhMyNews) and virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life). Lessons from Facebook 5 communities born online, SNS are usually online communities created and maintained to reflect offline relationships. While the technological features of social websites are similar, the cultures that emerge around them are not (boyd & Ellison, 2007). Facebook first catered to American college students before opening its doors to anyone with an Internet connection. Orkut was developed in the U.S., but at some point almost two-thirds of its users were in Brazil. Hi5 became popular in South America, while Cyworld still dominates in parts of Asia. Segmentation across social network sites is achieved on a demographic basis, too. For instance, members of aSmallWorld are by invitation only. Likewise, prospective members of BeautifulPeople are voted in according to their physical appearance. Some SNS are targeted specifically at minorities (e.g., BlackPlanet, MiGente) and religious denominations (e.g., MyChurch). Even pet owners have been targeted by social websites (e.g., Dogster, Catster). Because there are different types of social networks, conclusions drawn from one platform cannot be easily generalized to another platform (Hargittai, 2007). This study tackles this limitation by focusing on Facebook only. An Overview of Facebook Facebook was created in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes as a site for Harvard students only. Shortly after, it expanded to any college student with a . edu e-mail account. Between Fall 2005 and Fall 2006, Facebook expanded to high school networks, first, work networks, later, and, eventually, to Internet users in general. According to comScore Inc.’s rankings of top websites, in 2008 Facebook.com was ranked as the 6 An interesting graphic comparison of the popularity of different social network sites around the globe can be found at http://www.lemonde. fr/web/infog/0,47-0@2-651865,54-999097@51999297,0.html Lessons from Facebook 6 16th most visited website on the Internet in the U.S. (comScore, 2008a), with 34 million unique visitors by January 2008, and as the 13 most popular website worldwide (comScore, 2008b), with 98 million unique visitors by December 2007. As of March 2008, Facebook reported having 67 million active users (those who have returned to the site in the last 30 days), with more than half of them returning daily and spending an average of 20 minutes per day on the site (Facebook, 2008). Like most social network sites, Facebook provides a formatted web page into which each user can enter personal information, including gender, birthday, hometown, political and religious views, e-mail and physical addresses, relationship status, activities, interests, favorite music and movies, educational background and a main personal picture. After completing their profile, users are prompted to identify others with whom they have a relationship, either by searching for registered users of Facebook or by requesting their contacts to join Facebook (usually by e-mail). Once someone is accepted as a “friend,” not only the two users’ personal profile but also their entire social networks are disclosed to each other. This allows each user to traverse networks by clicking through “friends’” profiles, so that one’s social network snowballs rapidly across people and institutions (Walther, Van Der Heide, Kim, Westerman, & Tong, 2008). This capability is the backbone of Facebook and other SNS and what attracts millions of users around the globe. Facebook profiles also include two types of messaging services. A private system, which is very similar to a webmail service, and a public system called “The Wall,” where “friends” leave comments to the owner of the profile that can be viewed by other users. Usually, “The Wall” contains short messages that reflect sentiments, common activities between “friends,” or call attention to external websites or events. Lessons from Facebook 7 To keep users updated about their social circles, Facebook has two features: “News Feed”, which appears on the homepage of each user, and “Mini-Feed”, which appears in each individual’s profile. “News Feed” updates a personalized list of news stories throughout the day generated by the activity of “friends” (e.g., John added the Rolling Stones to his favorites, Jane changed her status to “single” again, etc.). Thus, each time users log in, they get the latest headlines in their social networks. “Mini-Feed” is similar, except that it centers around one individual. Each person’s “Mini-Feed” shows what has changed recently in their profile and what content or modules (“applications”) they have added. Because individuals can delete from their own “Mini-Feed” stories they do not like, users retain control of who gets to read or see what about them. Among the most popular modules users can incorporate to their profiles is “Facebook Groups,” which allows users to create and join groups based around common interests and activities. The “Groups” application displays each individual’s groups as well as groups their “friends” have joined recently. Thus, an important share of the civic and political impact of Facebook should occur within groups developed by users and organizations. What is Social Capital? There seems to be a consensus that social capital is an important feature of healthy, effective democracies (Putnam & Goss, 2002). But what exactly is social capital? A cursory review of the l