Bowling Online: The Internet and the New Social Capital

The decline thesis proponents in the social capital literature have largely ignored the fastest growing venue for new social capital formation – the Internet. We argue that the Internet is making a larger impact than the current research acknowledges. Using survey data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project combined with a survey of college students, we confirm a strong positive relationship between online social networking and political participation. Further, we present evidence that, at least in 2008 election, there was a bias toward voting for Democrats among those who utilized online social networking services including Facebook and Twitter. The implications of these results are discussed. *An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Political Science Association. This is a revised version of that manuscript which was published in our book, Rebooting American Politics: The Internet Revolution (Rowman & Littlefield). Robert Putnam (1995A, 1995B, 2000) makes the sweeping claim that decaying social capital, or the interconnectedness between people, is causing a decline in political participation. Further, that as a result the viability of democracy is threatened. While many have challenged this premise (Althaus 1998; Arneil 2006; McDonald and Popkin 2001; Portes 1998), we offer a different perspective. Rather, we suggest that the Internet is shaping a new kind of political participation and engagement. It is creating networks and interactivity on scales that are larger in scope and implication than at any time in American history. Thus, we present an alternative view of the American political future that is substantively different from the theories of declining participation and lower rates of belief in the system that have dominated the scholarship within political behavior. Concurring with Putnam, we also suggest that democracy is rooted in an understanding of social networks and communicated ideas but believe that, potentially, the Internet is a solution to decaying social capital and the decline of political participation. It promotes social capital through networking with a speed and interactivity and versatility that were never before possible. While the ultimate implications of this modern Internet society are and will be unclear for some time, the initial data suggest that there is a far more rich and diverse engagement of people with government than political scientists have been willing to concede. Specifically, the findings presented here suggest several things. First, people are networking on the Internet in variety of different ways including social network sites, emailing, and blogs. Second, the degree to which people are doing so varies across demographics. This variation is fairly consistent across the national sample and student sample we utilize here. Third, and most central to the premise here, heightened social networking on the Internet is positively related to political participation, both voting and broadly defined, in both datasets even when controlling for traditional predictors of such. Finally, for exploratory purposes, we look at the possibility that social networking could actually be related to vote choice. Interestingly, we find that among the typically young respondents in the student data, those who do more networking on the Internet are more likely to vote for Democrats. Before moving on to the analysis, we present a theory as to the likely impact of the Internet on participation and discuss the literature that has explored similar questions. Rethinking the Participation Puzzle Within this literature, perhaps the most widely disseminated and durable explanation of the continued viability of democratic government and its more recent decline is Robert Putnam’s (1995A, 1995B, 2000) theory of social capital. Putnam contends that democracies are dependent on social capital or social connections that generate trust. “Social capital” is defined as the “norms of reciprocity and networks of civil engagement” which are created by participation in groups such as civil organizations (1995A: 167). People, engaging with each other though social and civic groups, create bonds tying and investing them into the greater society. It also works well in providing the mechanism for the transmission of information along the lines theorized by Page and Shapiro (1992) and Popkin (1991). Isolated people cannot share experiences and make informed aggregate decisions. Nor are they able to develop working heuristic shortcuts. Some have suggested that the Internet may stimulate participation by increasing voter information (Tolbert and McNeal 2003). Social networking via the Internet may be the impetus for increasing voter information. Returning to the original puzzle, social capital has become a popular lens to use in describing the perceived decline in turnout and participation in the U.S. electoral system. Various measures have been used to illustrate that the United States has managed to combine declining turnout with increasingly unbalanced voting electorates that over-represent the upper classes (Burnham 1987; Leighley and Nagler 1992; Rosenstone and Hansen 1993). These observations dovetail with Putnam’s explanation that the decline of social capital, as measured in large part through decreasing participation in civic groups and civic activities, is leading to fewer voters and a less viable democracy. Putnam presents many factors that may or may not be hurting social capital, but he saves particular emphasis for the negative role of television which correlates with anti-civic behavior. The underlying proposition is that only though the revival of civic groups such as the once popular bowling league can the foundations of American democracy be stabilized (Putnam 1995B, 2000). Before addressing Putnam’s chief assumptions, it is noteworthy that while the decline thesis has been dominant within the literature, it is not unchallenged. There is some suggestion that both the perceived lack of information and the progressively lesser turnout are produced by poor measures rather than true representations of trends (Althaus 1998; McDonald and Popkin 2001; Achen 1975). Nonetheless, it is beyond the scope of this article to again take-up the methodological debate. We attack the underlying theoretical premise itself. The major problem with the decline thesis itself is that it presumes a fairly static environment and an unchanging greater society. Presuming for a moment, that Putnam has correctly identified that shared interaction and engagement is foundational for democracy, his static view of human interaction leads to a faulty prescription. How people interact and engage with each other is not the same today as it was immediately after World War II. In searching for evidence of these phenomena, Putnam seeks out measures based on civic institutions that are either no longer extant or are in serious decline leading him to predict a less optimistic democratic future. We suggest that any measure of civic engagement that relies on an analysis of the means of interaction is flawed. For example, a measure of social interaction could be done by counting the number of conversations an individual has with different people within a day. If one were to measure these conversations by face to face communication the trend would be stark. After the invention and dissemination of the telephone, the measure would surely show decline, even if in reality, people were speaking to each other with greater frequency by means of telecommunication. Challenging the Decline Thesis The difficulty with assessing any theory of participation is in making sure that what is measured is a fair representation of how people engage each other during a fixed temporal period. Yet, nothing remains fixed over time. Technology growth is affecting the way that government goes about its tasks in almost every aspect. While there is little argument that the Internet has changed the nature of political campaigning, it often is difficult to measure this change. Thus, the impact often is addressed more speculatively rather than with empirical data. If one is to take issue with Robert Putnam’s prevalent theory that a disconnected society is causing a decline in American democracy, the first issue has to be the measure. The continued 1 The question of whether Internet use is related to political participation has been explored using empirical data but primarily not within the U.S. context. Both De Vreese (2007) and Vromen (2007) found that online activities are positively related to political participation in Holland and Australia, respectively. Rice and Katz (2004) do find a relationship between longtime Internet usage and offline forms of political activity in the U.S. but they do not look specifically at the effect of social networking on political participation. None of these studies are framed within social networking theory. That said, other researchers have also identified a relationship between online social networking and political participation/civic engagement in the United States (Bode 2011; Gainous and Wagner 2011; Pasek, More, and Romer 2009; Valenzuela, Park, and Kee 2009). disengagement of Americans from the political system is the subject of significant research. Supporting Putnam’s approach are broad measures of participation. We are witnessing declining participation, declining voting patterns and lower rates of belief in the system (Rosenstone and Hansen 1993). In short, the American Democratic Model is threatened and many view the likely future with pessimism based on these trends. We propose that the Internet may be the solution to reconnecting society. Scholars have theorized that institutional structure can lead to lower rates of turnout and participation. More directly, the volume of elections at multiple levels hurts both the ability of citizens to stay informed as well as their a