On and Off the Internet- FULLTEXT PAPER

8/2/2019 On and Off the Internet- FULLTEXT PAPER

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On and Off the Internet 1

On and Off the Internet:

An Exploratory Study of Youth Social Capital in Chennai in

the Online Era

S. Kalyani

Author note

S.Kalyani, Department of Mass Media and Communication Studies, University of Madras

S.Kalyani is now at the Amrita School of Communications, Amrita Vishwavidtya Peetham,

Coimbatore

Contact: [email protected]

[email protected]


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ABSTRACT

With the increasing impact of the Internet on personal relationships between Indian youth within

a larger community, it has become important to study how the Internet affects the formation,

development and maintenance of new online social relationships, and helps sustain existing

relationships offline.

Current Demographics of Indian population is a Temple of Youth shape. Youth are early

adopters of new technology and are the most socially networked generation.

Youth have a plethora of connections and access to social resources in their offline and online

social environments. The mobilization of these resources helps invest in benefits - (that help

youth connect to and eventually make the transition to the adult world) - what is termed Social

Capital.

The study of indicators of social capital formation in Indian youth, the difference in their levels

of social capital in the offline and online contexts and its relation to the indicators of social

capital formation is vital. Does Internet use increase, decrease or supplement youth's abilities to

form and maintain various types of Social Capital?

According to Lin (2001), Social Capital refers to resources embedded in networks of connections

among individuals that are mobilized for purposive action, norms of trust and support that come

from social networks, creating a sense of community

This paper defines the concept of Social Capital within the framework of youth socialization as

offline and online social networks and social resources that are mobilized to create a sense of

pro-social community. Youth socialization is examined in terms of structural


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(demographic/personality indicators and usage of internet) and functional aspects (bridging and

bonding social capital) of social networks.

Questionnaires were administered to 1000 college going, internet using youth from Chennai.

Parallel measures for offline and online contexts were studied using the Internet Social Capital

Scales (ISCS); (Williams, 2006)

The research shows that youth who generate social capital in both online and offline social

networks have two strategies of investment of social capital resources: its appreciation and/or

avoiding its depreciation. The Internet appears to supplement/complement offline Social Capital.

Youth online and offline social relationships are mutually constructed. Stratification factors and

media usage behavior influence their investment in Social Capital. The study reveals that the

most successful online social capital determinants are those with roots in the offline worlds and

also that the most successful elements of online interactions are often felt offline.

When online interactions are combined with offline interactions, the overall relationships are

much stronger, closer and intimate. The youth community of social activity is more a virtual

community rather than a tightly bound geographic location.

Youths online participation serves to widen contacts and expand bridging social capital as well

as reinforce bonding networks of likeminded individuals and interests.

The Internet does not change human nature; it just brings human nature online.

Keywords: social capital, online, offline, bridging, bonding, youth

Abstract word count: 460


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INTRODUCTION

An important feature of youth development is the formation of personal relationships between

youth in the larger community. Young people need and benefit from relationships with a range of

people outside of the family. These relationships can provide resources and benefitssocial

capitalthat helps youth connect to and eventually make the transition into the adult world

(Benson, 1997; National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2002).

The purpose of this research is to explore the process by which youth social life both online

and offline - can facilitate relationships between youth and their peer community and to identify

the types of social capital resources that youth gain and lose from these relationships.

New media and communication technologies are potential factors of social change. They

constitute new spaces for social interaction, and thereby transform existing traditions, habits and

practices of information and communication. Robert Putnam emphasizes the role of the new

media in the decline in social capital in American and other western democracies. Among the

more optimistic analyses of the consequences of internet use, we find scholars like Norris (2002)

who sees several new opportunities for information, communication, and mobilization.

A more neutral position in this debate is presented by Uslaner, who states that the internet

technology does not change those behaviours that people already have. He concludes that the

Internet neither destroys nor creates social capital because what people do online is pretty

much what they do offline (Uslaner, 2000: 62).

Although studies suggest that youth gain resources through these relationships; the nature of the

resources or social capital gained through these relationships has not been systematically


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examined. Therefore, as aptly noted by Wynn (1996, pp. 1920), greater exploration is needed

that illuminates the circumstances and mechanisms through which youth enhance development

and generate social capital. The current paper focuses on that task, with a specific focus on

youths development of social capital in offline and online relationships with their peers.

Social Capital Defined

This study attempts to introduce into social theory, a concept, social capital, embodied in

relationships among persons (youth). The use of this concept is shown by demonstrating the

effect of the Internet on youth socialization patterns: aiding or hindering the formation of their

social capital resources through social networks. The measures used for this research are those

that study the structural dimensions (using the Indicators of social network structure, i.e. the

factors that influence the extent to which youth are able to form networks), and functional

dimensions{using the parallel measures of online and offline bridging and bonding resources

as developed by Williams (2006)}, of the social capital concept.

Measuring social capital

The Social Resources Theory as proposed by Lin (2001) explains how the quality of social

resources available to an individual within his or her social network influences the success of

achieving desired outcomes or goals. Access to these resources depends on the relationship with

the individual possessing the resource and where one is located in the social structure. There are

three ingredients fundamental to social capital: resources embedded within the network, access

to these resources through relationships, and the use of the resources for purposive action. Social

capital, therefore, is defined '...as resources embedded in a social structure which are accessed

and/or mobilized in purposive actions' (Lin, 2001: 12). This theory explains how the social


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network (or the social structure) constrains or enables access to resources embedded within the

network.

The synthesized concept of social capital within the framework of youth socialization in this

study is defined as offline and online social networks and social resources, which are

mobilized to create a sense of a prosocial community. Youth, who generate social capital both

online and offline have two strategies of investment of social capital resources: its appreciation

and/or avoiding its depreciation.

In recent years interest has grown in the extent to which Internet is used in social relationships.

Surveys indicate that computer-mediated communication facilitates not only the maintenance of

social ties but also the formation of new relationships among individuals (Parks & Floyd, 1996;

McKenna; Green & Gleason, 2002).

Franzen (2003) showed that the existence of strong social capital positively influences Internet

usage. Other studies (Kraut et. al., 2002; Katz et. al, 2001; Riphaegen and Kanger, 1997)

conclude that there is a significant effect of Internet use on social network and the practice of

sociability.

Structural Aspects of Social Capital Networks

Determinants of social capital formation are factors that influence the extent to which people are

predisposed and able to join or form networks. Individual-level determinants of social capital

formation may include such factors as demographics, employment history, education, ethno-

cultural background and various perceptions and attitudes.


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Functional Aspects of Social Capital Networks: Nature of Resources Embedded

Putnam (2000) suggested two forms of social capital resources: bridging and bonding. According

to Putnam, "bridging" social capital is inclusive. It occurs when individuals from different

backgrounds make connections between social networks. By contrast, "bonding" can be

exclusive. It occurs when strongly tied individuals, such as family and close friends, provide

emotional or substantive support for one another. The individuals with bonding social capital

have little diversity in their backgrounds but have stronger personal connections.

There is a large body of empirical data on the complex relationship between social capital and

computer-mediated communication (CMC), however, approaches to help understand the gains

and losses in social capital in terms of parallel measures of online and offline bridgingness and

bondingness are few. (Williams, 2006). These concepts would enable us to predict where and

how social capital changes occur in the context of youth offline and online socialization.

This study aims to fill the void. It considers the effects of Internet stimulus on offline social

capital, with the resulting changes in the types of resources present in the network, as the area of

focus. The focal points for analysis are (1) how individuals invest in social relations offline and

online, and (2) how individuals mobilize the embedded resources in the relations online, to

generate an effect offline.

Measures Used in the Study:

The survey instrument included the following items:

The indicators of social network structure: offline entertainment measure, offline diversity index,

offline interaction with friends, internet use, purposes of use of the internet (such as for


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communicating with friends and family, meeting new people for social purposes, seeking

information and entertainment/escape), closeness between proximal ego networks, closeness

between distal ego networks, visiting chat rooms, personal friendship online, and online sense of

community, trust and help.

The determinants of social capital: demographic variables such as age, gender, educational

qualification, parental education and income.

Social capital resources: parallel offline and online measures of bridging (contact with broad

range of people, linkages to external sources of information, outward looking attitude, view of

oneself as part of a larger group) and bonding (emotional support, access to scarce resources,

homogeneity, ability to mobilize solidarity, and out-group antagonism). The Internet Social

Capital Scales (ISCS); (Williams, 2006) were used for this purpose.

Respondents for the present study were college going youth (between the age groups of 17 23,

from the undergraduate and post graduate streams) predominantly from a middle class

background. Samples were drawn from a population of Internet users. The final sample size was

n =944.

Youth comprise of the biggest Internet user segment in India (I-Cube Report 2006). Chennai, with an

overall Internet user base of 1.3 million (third among the surveyed 8 metros ) was chosen as the project

site for the study.

An adaptation of the ISCS (Williams, 2006) was used because it measures each of the four

dimensions of resources (online bridging/bonding; offline bridging/bonding) (Cornbachs

Alphas: online bridging= 0.866, bonding =0.879; offline bridging = 0.885, bonding = 0.855).


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Responses were measured using a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to

strongly agree. The scales had explicit introductory phrases about whether the question refers

to online life or offline life.

Offline and Online Social Capital Bridging Subscale Items

Contact with a Broad Range of People (CBRP) was defined as the theorized dimension that

measures connection between people of different backgrounds, through linkages to religions and

financial status different from one's own. The scale contained 2 items.

Linkages to External Sources of Information (LESI) was defined as links to information and

assets outside one's daily routine. The scale contained 5 items.

Outward Looking Attitude (OLA) was defined as looking outside of one's narrow daily

existence, i.e. to be less cloistered, more open minded, and more comfortable challenging one's

precepts. The scale contained 4 items.

View of Oneself as Part of a Larger Group (VPLG) was defined as the broader group in relation

to the respondent (not as an objective group such as "Indians) which included ideas of

connections to a larger community and to the world. The scale contained 3 items.

Offline/Online Bonding Social Capital Subscale Items

Emotional Support (ES) is defined as social and emotional support through companionship and

trust to help for personal problems. The scale contained 2 items.

Access to Scarce or Limited Resources (ASR) is defined as something that is valuable both to the

person giving and to the person receiving. The scale contained 4 items.


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Homogeneity (H) was defined as the converse of the "broader community, involving connecting

with people who share similar beliefs and interests. The scale contained 2 items.

Ability to Mobilize Solidarity (AMS) is defined as the ability to motivate others

(individuals/groups) to do something important, for common good. The scale contained 3 items.

Out-Group Antagonism (OGA) was defined as feelings of hostility and suspicion towards

networks that are not connected to one's social circle. The scale contained 2 items.

Indicators of Social Network Structure

Indicators of social network structure were operationalized based on earlier research works:

Offline Entertainment Measure- The entertainment measure (five point Likert-type scale

ranging from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree) is adapted from the DDB Needham studies

used by Putnam (2000) in his measures of social engagement

Offline Diversity Index was tested by using two items adapted from the Saguaro Diversity

Index benchmarks, that cover friendship links to others of different gender, religions, financial

status and place of residence (John F. Kennedy School of Government, 2000) (measuring a

single dimension on a 5 point Likert type scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly

disagree )

Closeness with Proximal Friends - This was measured by a series of feeling thermometers

ranging from 0 to 100 degrees, similar to the one used by Kraut and his colleagues in the

Home.Net studies (Kraut et al., 1996; Kraut et al., 2002). In these, the subjects were asked to

name up to six close friends/relatives within the city (ProximalEgo Network) - thus a measure


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of proximal social circle) and then report a standard feeling thermometer for each. The mean of

these thermometers (sum of closeness measures divided by the ego network) yielded a measure

of the subjects local social support network.

Offline Interaction with Peers These were measured with two items on close social

interactions, one each from the 1995 DDB Needham Lifestyle Survey and Putnam (2000)

(single dimension measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly agree to

strongly disagree).

Having Met Someone Online who could be considered a Personal Friend This was

measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree

Habit of frequently Visiting a Chat Room- This item was developed for the study and was

measured with 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

Internet Usewas measured on a 5 point scale ranging from never to always.

Closeness with Distal Friends - This was measured by one more feeling thermometer as earlier

(Kraut et. al, 1996, 2002 item replication) ranging from 0 to 100 degrees. This measured

closeness with a friend/relative who lived far away and who was kept in touch with through the

Internet.

Online Sense of Community, Trust and Help - These were measured with 3 individual items

statements on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree.

The third item was a Kraut et. al. item replication


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Following Krauts (2000) item on purposes of use of the internet : (a) Communicating with

friends and family (acquaintances); (b) meeting new people for social purposes (unacquainted),

(c) for seeking information (d) for entertainment/escape; responses were measured on a 7-point

Likert scale ranging from several times a day to never.

Other Exploratory Variables

Online and Offline Age and Gender Homophily: In addition, respondents were asked the age

(in years) of the friends/relatives that they named (in the offline and online contexts). Similarity

in age was measured by taking the age of alter and subtracting it from the age of ego. The

definition of age similarity used in this study is consistent with previous studies that defined

same age friendship when youngsters are within 12 months of each others ages (Hartup, 1996).

Gender homophily was defined likewise.

Following Uslaner (2004) an indicator was used to assess online interactions with previously

unknown individuals: Meeting Someone New Online - This was measured with 3 question

items that explored the online to offline migration of friendship.

A number of measures of Internet use were also used. Respondents were asked to report their

history of use, frequency of use (the number of hours per day that they used the Internet). Hours

of use of internet compared to other media were also measured by asking how much time they

spent on them the day before.

Demographic Variables

Demographic variables included in the study are Gender, Age, Educational Qualification,

Parental Education and Income.


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ANALYSIS OF DATA AND RESULTS

Analysis of data revealed the respondents to be middle class college youth, who were early

adopters of the Internet. Internet was the preferred medium but did not erode other media

activities. It was used mainly for communicating with friends and family and meeting new

people for socializing. Although Internet could serve as an isolating factor, it did not seem to do

so in the case of youth in Chennai as youth also use the internet for meeting new people.

Youth were heavy users of the Internet, with cyber cafes and homes being the preferred places

for access. Higher percentages of females were early adopters. Females formed the bulk of the

high frequency users category as well, using it more for communicating with friends and

family, meeting new people for socializing and entertainment/escape, while males used it more

for accessing information.

The more outgoing and entertainment-seeking the youth, and higher the diverse nature of their

social contacts, higher is their level of investment in offline and online social capital. Higher

levels of both types of social capital were also significantly related to their high sense of

belonging to a community, their sense of receiving help from others, and the element of trust in

others.

The study revealed that the purposes of use of internet by youth do not necessarily depend on

the size of ones offline ego network, and internet use does not negatively affect ones proximal

ego network. This differs from the results of the study by Kraut et. al. (2006), who found that the

size of ones ego network predicted different types of Internet use.

Younger youth seem to strongly use the Internet to invest in social capital.


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The study shows high levels of Offline and Online Bridging (see table below). Though Online

Bonding levels are high, they are lower than Offline Bonding levels.

Table 1: Means and Standard Errors of Summated Online and Offline Summated Social Capital

Measures

Variable Online Mean (SE) Offline Mean (SE)

Bridging Social Capital 58.35 (.251)* 60.21 (.239)*

Bonding Social Capital 49.42 (.285)* 53.91 (.241)*

Note. *p = .000

This reveals that Internet use does not displace offline social capital, but complements it. Youth

prefer to interact with peers of their own age groups and genders offline. This is consistent with

the hypothesis that birds of the same feather flock together. Youth prefer to interact with peers

of different age groups and genders online. This is consistent with the boundary crossing

engagement theory of Williams (2006) that the Internet connects people from different ages and

genders. Males are likely to socialize more with the opposite genders online than females; while

they prefer to interact with their own genders offline.

T-tests were conducted to test significant differences between groups for variables . The study

reveals that the Internet plays a supplementary/complementary role in the social lives of the

youth. Wherever youth had low investments in social capital, the Internet augmented this deficit.

The Internet also acts as a magnifying glass, expanding the communicative environment of youth

who already have well-developed connections to the other communicative resources.


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Table 2: Textual Summary of findings of t-tests:

Respondents level of investment

(high/low)

in types of social capital

Indicators of Social Network StructureOffBr

(high/

low)

OffBon

(high/

low)

OnBr

(high/

low)

OnBon

(high/

low)

low - low low Internet Use

low high low low Purposes of use of Internet for Communicating with

friends and family

low low low low Purposes of use of Internet for Meeting new people

for social purposes

low high low low Purposes of use of Internet for Entertainment/escape

high high high high Offline Diversity Index

high high high high Offline Entertainment Measure

high low high - Closeness with Proximal Friends

high low low - Closeness with Distal Friend

table contd on page 16


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OffBr

(high/

low)

OffBon

(high/

low)

OnBr

(high/

low)

OnBon

(high/

low)

Indicators of Social Network Structure

high low high high Meeting Someone Online who could be considered a

Personal Friend

low low low low Visiting Chat Rooms

high high high high Online Sense of Community

high low high high Online Sense of Trust

high high high high Online Sense of Help

A significant relationship between online bonding and the male gender in the study indicate that

when online, men are more inclined than women to engage in socio-emotional and relational

patters of communication which might exhibit social interdependence. This is apparent from the

fact that a higher percentage of males in the study perceive a sense of community and help online

than women. The findings of the study are also consistent with Emericks (2006) multilevel

analyses that indicated that men were more effective in using emotional intensity of ties to create

hard social capital.

Also, the study reveals though there are high levels of online bonding in males, their degree of

offline interactions with close friends is still high .Thus the internet does not have a detrimental

effect on close offline interactions.


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Overall the effect of fathers education and income levels showed significant impact on youth

offline and online social capital. Thus the social environment of a person plays a role in the

formation of his/her social capital.

Because education is generally understood as being the more decisive aspect for stratification,

the smaller effect of youths education levels compared to income is quite surprising. The

analysis reveals that income levels do have a more significant effect on online and offline

bridging and bonding social capital than education, that has a significant effect only on offline

bonding and online bridging. Social Capital is higher among youth belonging to the middle

income groups. In respect of the prevalence of stratification factors this outcome points in the

direction of research results of Bourdieu (1980) and Wright (1985).

Multivariate regression analysis was conducted for testing for comparable gains and losses in the

offline and online contexts. Overall the results reveal that the Internet plays a complementary

role in youth social capital. Also, wherever the Internet erodes social capital, it supplements it

with other new forms of social capital.


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Table 3: CHANGE TABLE OF GAINS AND LOSSES IN SOCIAL CAPITAL

RESOURCES

GAINS FROM LOSSES FROM.OffBon OffBr OnBon OnBr OffBon OffBr OnBon OnBr

OffBr

OffCBRP ES LESI

OLA

AMS

ASR

CBRP - - - -

OffLESI - CBRP

OLA

VPLG

- LESI - - - -

OffOLA ES

AMS

CBRP

LESI

VPLG

ES

H

LESI

OLA

- - ASR CBRP

OffVPLG ES

H

LESI

OLA

ES

AMS

VPLG - - CBRP

table contd. on page 19


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GAINS FROM LOSSES FROM.OffBon OffBr OnBon OnBr OffBon OffBr OnBon OnBr

OffBon

OffES ASR CBRP

OLA

VPLG

ES

ASR

CBRP - - AMS -

OffASR ES

H

AMS

- ASR OLA

VPLG

- - - CBRP

OffH OGA VPLG

ASR

AMS

H - - ES

AMS

-

OffAMS ES

ASR

H

OGA

VPLG

OLA

AMS

OGA

OLA - - ASR -

OffOGA AMS - OGA LESI - - - CBRP

VPLG


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The results also help provide an understanding of the different online and offline components of

gains and losses in youth social capital resources through a change table to see where those

effects are coming from and going to.

The study advances Howard et al.s (2001) report that online experience does not replace other

forms of social interaction; instead, it complements and extends them. Internet use

supplements/complements youth's abilities to form and maintain various types of social capital.

The findings of the study are in line with the social shaping of technology perspective that

suggests that technology often reinforces pre-existing socio-cultural patterns and needs to be

looked at within the context that surrounds it (Matei, 2001; Matei & Ball-Rokeach, 2001)

The theory of channel complementarity (Dutta-Bergman, 2004) states that individuals are driven

by underlying motives to consume certain communication channels, leading to the observed

complementarity among these channels in specific functional domains. This study reveals that

the offline and online channels of socialization are complementary to each other in the domain of

social capital resources.

The empirical results provide new insights into current debates on the role of the Internet on the

investment strategies of social capital of youth in Chennai. This study of youth Internet users in

Chennai reveals that online interactions and relationships can lead to offline ones, which in turn

contribute to closer, stronger overall relationships. As such, it provides empirical evidence that

the online and offline worlds are mutually constructed and that interacting over multiple

communication channels is more likely to generate stronger relationships than interacting

through a single channel.


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Youth in Chennai have been using the Internet to overcome geographical barriers and to

integrate the virtual world into their everyday lives. The findings suggest that, on the one hand,

the Internet helps develop interactions and relationships that facilitate the formation and

development of new forms of social capital and on the other hand, online and offline interactions

are not independent of each other; rather, the quality or strength of online relationships is greatly

affected by interactions, or lack of them, in the physical world.

This study provides empirical evidence that rejects both technological determinism and social

determinism and instead holds that online and offline social relationships are mutually

constructed.

Previous studies suggest that online relationships have their limitations and thus may have

limited influence on youth social well-being. In particular, although online weak tie relationships

can provide youth with information and companionship, they may not be particularly suitable for

the exchange of other major types of social support such as emotional support and especially

tangible support (Furlong 1989; Kanayama 2003; Wright 2000). This study finds that when

online interactions are combined with offline interactions, the overall relationships are stronger,

closer and more intimate and, as such, are more likely than purely online relationships to provide

emotional and even tangible support. Together, online and offline interactions can enhance the

overall quality of social relationships between youth Internet users and thus be more beneficial to

the individuals.

While it is certainly the case that new technologies are leveling social interactions beyond

geographical boundaries, existing societal position and resources still matter.


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Empirical evidence shows that youth differ in their levels of social capital; (online and offline)

depending on factors that influence their predisposition to join networks (such as demographic

profile, purposes of use of internet, tolerance of diversity etc) and the functional aspects of their

social networks such as the nature of resources they possess.

Thus the effects of stratification factors and media usage behaviour are variables that influence

social capital investments. Middle class youth, whose parental education is high and those who

are more trusting, outgoing and open, with a high sense of community and help have higher

levels of investment in social capital. Youth further use the internet to increase/ avoid

depreciation in their existing levels of investment in social capital. Youth who feel the functional

need to socialize in the offline world are also likely to socialize through the Internet which

performs the same function. Thus the theory of channel complementarity finds strong support in

this study.

CONCLUSION

The data speak of a range of questions about the possible impacts of the Internet, including

where people get their bridging and bonding social capital, how those effects relate to each other

in the offline-online contexts, for whom the outcomes are stronger, and how much bridging and

bonding exists when comparing the online and offline worlds.

Strong relationship between social capital variables in the offline-online contexts suggests that

youth have a dichotomist social existence.

The study supports Lins (2001) Social Resources theory that the nature of social resources

available to an individual within his or her social network influences the success of achieving


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desired outcomes or goals. The study also advances the utopian idea of the Supplement -

Surrogate hypothesis that most successful online social capital determinants are those with roots

in the offline world and also that that the most successful elements of online interactions are

often felt offline.

The study supports the expectancy-value theory from the uses and gratifications perspective

developed by Palmgreen and Rayburn (1982). A basic proposition of expectancy-value theory is

that the greater the relative values or advantage provided by an innovation, the greater the

incentive to adopt it (Ostlund, 1974). Thus adoption of the Internet by youth has been driven by

the fact that the medium offers the benefits of augmenting offline social capital with online

social capital.

Findings of the study reveal that youth who had high levels of investment in both types of social

capital were those with outgoing personalities and broad outlook. The finding partly supports

Kraut et als (2006) notion of the rich get richer. But perhaps the phenomenon would be better

named as amplification effect (Williams, 2007) because while the rich get richer, the poor also

get poorer. At the same time, those who had low levels of investment in social capital sought to

supplement it online. Thus the findings also support the poor get richer notion.

The study sheds light on the fact that while the Internet appears to offer the boundary-crossing

engagement that all hope for; it does not totally erode what the offline world offers. The results

suggest that the positive theories about the Internets impact are true: it may generate new forms

of social capital online.


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The Internet appears to supplement/complement offline social capital. Thus the study finds

support for the utopian argument, that the Internet plays a supplemental, rather than

supplanting, role for face-to-face interactions (Wellman, Boase, & Chen, 2002); that Internet

users use the Internet to build, maintain and extend their personal relationships.

High tolerance for diversity among Indian youth proves to be a stimulus for social capital. The

study also finds support for Norriss social heterogeneity and ideological homogeneity theory

that diversity in the social environment leads to mixed type gains in social capital. The study also

reveals that the youth community of social activity is more a virtual community rather than a

tightly bound geographic location.

Data reveal that youths online experiences even translated to offline gains, suggesting that they

may have transferred their new relationships into the real world, or have been changed by the

experience enough to be better seekers of offline social capital.

It can be seen that wherever the Internet is displacing offline social capital, it is encouraging

other types of online social capital. Since the types of social capital that are deterred/helped are

not always similar, the net effect is not in balance. This result is of course tentative with only

cross-sectional data.

Data offered evidence of positive links between social capital (bridging and bonding) both

online and off. Thus Internet use does not create atomization, but appears to improve users

access to those of different as well as similar backgrounds.

Significantly this study also advances Evans Pritchards (1940) cultural proximity that applies

significantly to South Indian cultures. The onus is on increased number of linkages that do not


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have the density associated with bonding social capital, but enlarge the knowledge base by

merely expanding the number of potential contacts of bridges. Thus the findings of high levels of

bridging social capital can be supported.

There is also the question of whether the Internet is useful as a bonding mechanism. The answer

is that there is bonding online but comparatively much less than offline. But this does not negate

the fact that the Internet supplements such strong ties and leads to gains in social capital.

The study reveals the influence of demographic variables on youth social capital. The results

show a complementarity between the online investments and the offline investments. Youth

belonging to the middle income groups and those whose fathers have higher educational

qualifications seem to have higher levels of bridging and bonding social capital, both offline and

online.

What is also clear is that the Internet is an adept medium for maintaining both proximal and

distal ties. This supports Boase and Wellmans findings that the Internet was used to maintain

both local and non-local relationships.

Simple displacement is not an adequate framework for understanding the impact of the Internet

because it assumes that time online is asocial. However, demographic and psychographic

variables moderate online connections, and different Internet sites will lead to different uses,

relationships and outcomes.

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