Social capital development on interest-based networks: examining its antecedents, process, and consequences

Social capital development has been extensively studied on relationship-based networks (i.e., Facebook, WeChat), whereas scant attention has been devoted to another critical category: interest-based networks. People join interest-based networks primarily to exchange information on shared topics and interests, as opposed to relationship development or maintenance. Guided by social capital theory, the current research takes an initial step by looking into whether and how bridging and bonding social capital accrues on interest-based networks. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among users of a well-known Chinese interest-based network, Douban.com (N = 624). The participants reported their bridging and bonding social capital, frequency of online interactions with content (i.e., posting, favoriting) and with humans (i.e., chatting, discussing), and sense of belonging. The mediation analysis results informed us of a theoretical model of social capital development on interest-based networks with both online interactions with content and with humans as the antecedents, and a sense of belonging as the consequence. The findings also revealed the steps of bridging and bonding social capital development on interest-based networks. This study advanced our understanding of social capital theory by examining its applicability in an interest-based SNS, identifying OIs with humans and content as potential antecedents, and elucidating the association between two types of social capital. The findings hold practical significance for designers of interest-based networks.

Meng Chen, Wu Li