Does the Internet Increase, Decrease, or Supplement Social Capital?

Does the Internet Increase, Decrease, or Supplement Social Capital? Social Networks, Participation, and Community Commitment

BARRY WELLMAN, ANABEL QUAN HAASE, JAMES WITTE, KEITH HAMPTON
AMERICAN BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST, Vol. 45 No. 3, November 2001 436-455


This article concludes that:

" People’s interaction online supplements their face-to-face and telephone communication without increasing or decreasing it. However, heavy Internet use is associated with increased participation in voluntary organizations and politics. Further support for this effect is the positive association between offline and online participation in voluntary organizations and politics. However, the effects of the Internet are not only positive: The heaviest users of the Internet are the least committed to online community. Taken together, this evidence suggests that the Internet is becoming normalized as it is incorporated into the routine practices of everyday life."

"There are no single Internet effects. In this era of spatially dispersed community, the Internet fills needs for additional interpersonal contact that supplement in-person and telephone contact. At a time of declining organizational participation, the Internet provides tools for those already involved to increase their participation. Yet, at a time when networked individualism reduces group social cohesion, extensive involvement with the Internet apparently exposes participants to situations that weaken their sense of community online."