Shah, Dhavan, Nojin Kwak and R. Lance Holbert. "Connecting' and 'Disconnecting' With Civic Life: Patterns of Internet Use and the Production of Social Capital". Political Communication, Vol.18, No.2 (2001): 141-162.

Shah, Dhavan, Nojin Kwak and R. Lance Holbert. "Connecting' and 'Disconnecting' With Civic Life: Patterns of Internet Use and the Production of Social Capital". Political Communication, Vol.18, No.2 (2001): 141-162.

• There is a source mine of information about the effects of the internet on social and political life on page 141 and 142.
• This study examines the impact of internet use on social capital and the quality of civic engagement in relation to three measured factors: engagement in community activities, trust in others, and self-assessed satisfaction with life (142). These variables are all indicators of the level of social capital in a society (143).
• The common perceptions of internet usage resulting in less face-to-face social interaction could explain a decrease in measure social capital among younger generations, however the use of computers to create or reinforce online communities could end up increasing social capital (143-144).
• Several groups of researchers have divided internet uses into sub-groups based on their common behavioral patterns on the web. These groups are the researcher, consumers, expressives, and party animals; who work and email, make purchases, write on chatrooms, and play games respectively (144). Researchers seem to gain the most social benefit from the internet, using its power to augment social capital and better organize civic activities, the effects on the social capital of other groups are not clear (145).
• The data for this study comes from the DDB Life Style Survey, which included 50,000 participants who responded over mail and telephone interviews to a set of questions which gauge levels of social capital and internet usage. Demographic information is also included to measure generational factors, and control for confounding variables (145-146).
• Internet usage overall did not have a statistically significant impact on increasing social capital, having no impact on contentment and minimal benefits to civic engagement and trust. Social capital was found to be positively increased by email exchanges and productive research, whereas it suffered if primary activities were chat-rooms or games. Additionally, shopping appears to be related to lower life satisfaction (149).
• Older people, women, the educated, and residents of rural areas tended to have higher social capital than their counterparts. Ethnic minorities were also more likely to be trusting and participate in more civic activities, but less likely to be contented than white people (150).
• Television viewership overall was correlated with decreased social capital, however the consumption of hardcore news media appears to increase life satisfaction and boost civic activism. Newspaper readership also had this affect. The main correlating factor to increased social capital was, however, still use of the internet for research (150).
• Internet usage appears to be the most significant factor in predicting social capital levels for members of Generation X, whereas that factor is television viewership for Baby Boomers. Both factors, along with newspaper leadership are of equal importance among the Civic Generation (151-152).
• Both Generation X and Baby Boomers correlate television viewership and internet usage with negative life satisfaction outcomes, with the exception of productive research work and email. Neither of these factors is significant amongst the Civic Generation (153).
• "Internet use and civic engagement, interpersonal trust, and life contentment suggests that the relationship between new media and social capital is dynamic and highly contextual. These relationships are often weak, which is not surprising if one recognizes that at the time of the survey the Internet was still emerging as a mainstream medium" (154).
• The effects of internet usage appear mainly dependent upon the type of person using the internet. Individual seeking to connect with others, increase knowledge, and gather information find empowered by the internet, whereas those seeking anonymity in chatrooms or games are likely to have diminished social capital (154-155).