Events

Abstract:  As the Internet is more and more incorporated in everyday life, the discussion of its potential effects on social capital has received much attention but is not much studied.  This talk presents the results of a longitudinal study of a panel of Internet users (n=500) in Israel.  Using Structural Equation modeling, the link between motivations for social media use and the effects of media use on bonding and bridging social capital were investigated.  The results indicate that the motivation for social media use and the type of social media used (email, blog, social networking sites and participation in open chat rooms) have different effects on bonding and bridging social capital.  The implications of this study will also be discussed.

Speaker:  Gustavo Mesch is a senior lecturer and former chair of the department of sociology and anthropology, and senior research associate at the Minerva Center of Youth Studies at the University of Haifa, Israel.  He is studying patterns of Internet use and the role of the Internet in adolescents' social relationships and the nature of social networks online and offline in Israel through time.  He is a co-principal investigator in a study comparing the longitudinal effects of locally based mailing lists on social capital, political effectiveness and neighboring in U.S. and Israeli neighborhoods.

Light lunch will be served.

Please RSVP to Amanda McGarry by March 31st.