The Internet and social capital
Essential readings
Antoci, A., Sabatini, F., Sodini, M. (2011). The Solaria Syndrome: Social Capital in a Hypertechnological Growing Economy. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. In press.
We develop a dynamic model to analyze the sources and the evolution of social participation and...
Antoci, F., Sabatini, F., Sodini, M. (2012). See You on Facebook! A framework for analyzing the role of computer-mediated interaction in the evolution of social capital. Journal of Socio-Economics, DOI:j.socec.2012.04.024
Empirical studies have documented a decline in indicators of social participation in the last...
Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook "friends:" Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 (4), article 1
This study examines the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online social network site...
Important readings
Gentzkow, M., Shapiro, J. M. (2010). Ideological Segregation Online and Offline. Quarterly Journal of Economics, forthcoming
We use individual and aggregate data to ask how the Internet is changing the ideological...
Park, N., Kee, K. F., Valenzuela, S. (2009). Is There Social Capital in a Social Network Site?: Facebook Use and College Students' Life Satisfaction, Trust, and Participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14 (4), 875-901
This study examines if Facebook, one of the most popular social network sites among college...
Gil de Zúñiga, H., Jung, N., Valenzuela, S. (2011). Social media use for news and individuals’ social capital, civic engagement and political participation. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, forthcoming
Traditional news use activates people’s civic and political involvement and is also related...
Matzat, U. (2010). Reducing problems of sociability in online communities: Integrating online communication with offline interaction. American Behavioral Scientist 53 (8), 1170-1193
Social network researchers claim that relations offline affect relations online. However, it is...
Bauernschuster, S., Falck, O., Woessmann, L. (2011). Surfing Alone? The Internet and Social Capital: Evidence from an Unforeseeable Technological Mistake. SOEP WP 392
Does the Internet undermine social capital or facilitate inter-personal and civic engagement in the...
Steinfield, C., Ellison, N., Lampe, C. (2008). Social capital, self-esteem, and use of online social network sites: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 29 (6), 434-445
A longitudinal analysis of panel data from users of a popular online social network site, Facebook...
Sabatini, F., Sarracino, F. (2014). Online networks and subjective well-being. MPRA Paper 56436.
Does Facebook make people lonely and unhappy? Empirical studies have produced conflicting results...
Sabatini, F., Sarracino, F. (2014). E-participation: social capital and the Internet. MPRA Paper 55722.
We add to the literature by conducting the first empirical assessment of how online networking...
Geraci, A., Nardotto, M., Reggiani, T., Sabatini, F. (2018). Broadband Internet and social capital. IZA Discussion Paper No. 11855
We study how the diffusion of broadband Internet affects social capital using two data sets from...
Reading list archive
Lippert S., Spagnolo, G. (2006). Internet Peering as a Network of Relations. Discussion Paper 191, SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems, Free University of Berlin
We apply results from recent theoretical work on networks of relations to analyze optimal peering...
Ljunge, M. (2012). Trust drives Internet use. University of Copenhagen Dept. of Economics Discussion Paper N. 12-09
This paper estimates the effect of trust on internet use by studying the general population as well...
Madden, M., Smith, A. (2010). Reputation Management and Social Media. Pew Internet & American Life Research Center
More than half (57%) of adult internet users say they have used a search engine to look up their...
Madden, M., Zickuhr, K. (2011). 65% of online adults use social networking sites. Pew Internet & American Life Project
Fully 65% of adult internet users now say they use a social networking site like MySpace, Facebook...
Masclet, D., Pénard, T. (2011). Do reputation feedback systems really improve trust among anonymous traders? An experimental study. Applied Economics, DOI 10.1080/00036846.2011.591740
Feedback systems are claimed to be a crucial component of the success of electronic marketplaces...
Matzat, U. (2004). Academic communication and Internet Discussion Groups: transfer of information or creation of social contacts? Social Networks 26 (2004) 221–255
This paper analyzes the role of Internet Discussion Groups (IDGs) in informal academic...
Miyata, K., Kobayashi, T. (2008). Causal relationship between Internet use and social capital in Japan. Asian Journal of Social Psychology 11, 42–52
Based on longitudinal data collected from a random sample panel survey, the present study found...
Park, N., Kee, K. F., Valenzuela, S. (2009). Being Immersed in Social Networking Environment: Facebook Groups, Uses and Gratifications, and Social Outcomes. CyberPsychology & Behavior 12 (6), 729-733
A Web survey of 1,715 college students was conducted to examine Facebook Groups users'...
Pénard, T., Poussing, N. (2010). Internet Use and Social Capital: The Strength of Virtual Ties. Journal of Economic Issues 44 (3), 569-595
This paper aims to understand how Internet users may improve their social capital by investing in...
Pénard, T., Poussing, N., Suire, R. (2011). Does the internet make people happier? CEPS/INSTEAD Working Paper 2011/41
As people are spending more time online, it is important to evaluate the impact of Internet use on...
Rainie, L., Purcell, K., Smith, A. (2011). The Social Side of the Internet. Pew Internet & American Life Research Center
The internet is now deeply embedded in group and organizational life in America. A new national...
Robinson, J. P., Martin, S. (2010). It use and declining social capital?: More cold water from the general social survey (gss) and the american time-use survey (ATUS). Social Science Computer Review
Early studies of the impact of information technology (IT) on society suggested that it had a...
Ruffle, B., Sosis, R. (2010). Do religious contexts elicit more trust and altruism? An experiment on Facebook. Ben-Gurion University, Department of Economics, mimeo
We design a decision-making scenario experiment on Facebook to measure subjects’ altruism and...
Sabatini, F. (2011). Can a click buy a little happiness? The impact of business-to-consumer e-commerce on subjective well-being. EERI_RP_2011_12
This paper presents the first empirical investigation into the effect of e-shopping on subjective...