As I’m writing a whitepaper on social capital, social software, and methods (more to come later) I would like to point to Dmitri Williams, a scholar of Internet studies, especially game studies.
In his article from 2006 he calls for a rethinking of methods when it comes to the study of social capital in online settings as opposed to studies in off-line situations. He argues that the only question Internet studies (aimed at studying impact on relationships) have adressed so far is the question of how the Internet may affect off-line relationships instead of asking about the nature of relationships online.
He’s got a good point there, and I’m eager to investigate his suggested method, Internet Social Capital Scales, which he thinks will encompass the study of both bridging and bonding social capital online as well as off-line.
2 comments so far
Sounds really relevant and interesting. I believe there is a lot more or less reflective research on online social relations that does not take the online aspect seriously into consideration. And this is without mentioning what happens when the device should also be taken into account. So look forward to more inspiring posts ;)
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Thanks a lot, Riem. And you are so right about the device. Hopefully that perspective is to come in the near future.