Search

Existing research suggests that social media use is associated with higher levels of social capital—the resources contained within a person’s network of friends, family, and other acquaintances. However, in predicting access to these resources, it has been impossible to distinguish the affordances of social media from the underlying advantage of maintaining a favorable social network of relationships on- and offline. Based on data from a representative, national survey, we compare the relationship between social network structure and various activities on Facebook for one type of resource: informal social support in the form of companionship, emotional support, and tangible aid. In addition to a positive association between number of close ties, overall network size and diversity and social support, we find that Facebook status updates and private messaging are independently associated with perceived support. We argue that these affordances are an outcome of the “pervasive awareness” provided by social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study illustrates that over the past 30 years, Americans have become less socially isolated while using public spaces. Based on content analysis of films from four public spaces over a 30-year period, the behaviour and characteristics of 143,593 people were coded. The most dramatic changes in the social life of urban public spaces have been an increase in the proportion of women and a corresponding increase in the tendency for men and women to spend time together in public. Despite the ubiquity of mobile phones, their rate of use in public is relatively small. Mobile phone users appear less often in spaces where there are more groups, and most often in spaces where people might otherwise be walking alone. This suggests that, when framed as a communication tool, mobile phone use is associated with reduced public isolation, although it is associated with an increased likelihood to linger and with time spent lingering in public. We argue that public spaces are an important component of the communication system that provides exposure to diverse messages, brings people into contact to discuss their needs and interests, and helps people recognise their commonalities and accept their differences. The increased tendency to spend time in groups while in public contrasts with evidence from other research that suggests a decline in American public life, and that mobile phones have increased social isolation in public spaces. The increase in group behaviour, women and lingering in public may have positive implications for engagement within the public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study which examined the relationship of information and communication technologies (ICT) with participation in local public life and diversity of people's social networks. Findings attribute people's network diversity to their participation in traditional foci of activity. The researchers argue on the role of the different types of social settings including public spaces, semi-public spaces, religious groups and neighborhood ties in network diversity. Analysis showed few direct relationships between network diversity and the use of ICTs such as Internet use, use of landline phone and mobile phone, social networking services, blogging and instant messaging.

A significant body of research has addressed whether fixed internet use increases, decreases or supplements the ways in which people engage in residential and workplace settings, but few studies have addressed how wireless internet use in public and semi-public spaces influences social life. Ubiquitous wi-fi adds a new dimension to the debate over how the internet may influence the structure of community. Will wireless internet use facilitate greater engagement with co-located others or encourage a form of 'public privatism'? This article reports the findings of an exploratory ethnographic study of how wi-fi was used and influenced social interactions in four different settings: paid and free wi-fi cafes in Boston, MA and Seattle,WA. This study found contrasting uses for wireless internet and competing implications for community. Two types of practices, typified in the behaviors of 'true mobiles' and 'placemakers', offer divergent futures for how wireless internet use may influence social relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]