Social network activity and social well-being

TLDR

Prior research links social networking site use to social capital, but mainly relies on self‑reports from college students. This study aims to validate a self‑report social capital scale with Facebook data, test its applicability to older and international users, and examine which online activities relate to social capital and loneliness. The authors analyze directed interactions (wall posts, comments, likes) and passive consumption of friends’ posts (status updates, photos, conversations) on Facebook. They find that directed communication boosts bonding social capital and reduces loneliness, while bridging social capital depends mainly on network size; in contrast, higher passive content consumption lowers both bonding and bridging social capital and raises loneliness.

Abstract

Previous research has shown a relationship between use of social networking sites and feelings of social capital. However, most studies have relied on self-reports by college students. The goals of the current study are to (1) validate the common self-report scale using empirical data from Facebook, (2) test whether previous findings generalize to older and international populations, and (3) delve into the specific activities linked to feelings of social capital and loneliness. In particular, we investigate the role of directed interaction between pairs---such as wall posts, comments, and "likes" --- and consumption of friends' content, including status updates, photos, and friends' conversations with other friends. We find that directed communication is associated with greater feelings of bonding social capital and lower loneliness, but has only a modest relationship with bridging social capital, which is primarily related to overall friend network size. Surprisingly, users who consume greater levels of content report reduced bridging and bonding social capital and increased loneliness. Implications for designs to support well-being are discussed.