Understanding the influence of blog on the development of social capital

The rapid use and application of blogs in diverse areas such as education, marketing, journalism, and human resource management in recent years underlines the need for a better understanding of the impact of this new technology on social capital. Social capital reflects the norm of reciprocity and the level of trust among individuals who connect, interact, and benefit from one another. Blog is expected to influence the extent and the scope of this interaction by providing new means of networking among people. This paper examines the relationship between blog use and social capital and reports on the results of an exploratory study that examines this relationship using survey data from 326 blog users. Results suggest a significant and positive impact of blog use on social capital and its components: social connections, reciprocity, and trust. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.