'Connecting' and 'disconnecting' with civic life: patterns of Internet use and the production of social capital

This article examines the influence of Internet usage on social capital, civic engagement, interpersonal trust and overall life-contentment; while the use of Internet, television and newspaper among Generation X, Baby Boom and Civic Generation are compared. The authors find that people who use the Internet for information have a positive relation with production of social capital, while people who use the Internet for recreation-social purposes have a low level of civic engagement.