Assessing Structural Correlates to Social Capital in Facebook Personal Networks

Addresses a surprising gap: prior work correlated Facebook use with social capital, but social capital is inherently structural, and little work related it to actual network structure. Uses Facebook ego network data to demonstrate how structural features of online networks, including density, clustering, and bridging, map onto different dimensions of social capital.

Brings structural network analysis to the social capital debate, demonstrating that the relationship between Facebook use and social capital only becomes intelligible when ego network structure is examined. The structural lens reveals that not all Facebook connections are equal, as bridging ties, clustering, and density produce different forms of social capital that are invisible to frequency-of-use measures.