African Americans and Network Disadvantage: Enhancing Social Capital through Participation on Social Networking Sites

Danielle Taana Smith
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Danielle Taana Smith: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Rochester Institute of Technology, 21 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA

Future Internet, 2013, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: This study examines the participation of African Americans on social networking sites (SNS), and evaluates the degree to which African Americans engage in activities in the online environment to mitigate social capital deficits. Prior literature suggests that compared with whites, African Americans have less social capital that can enhance their socio-economic mobility. As such, my research question is: do African Americans enhance their social capital through their participation on SNS? I use nationally representative data collected from the Pew Internet and American Life Project to explore the research question. The results suggest that the online environment is potentially a space in which African Americans can lessen social capital deficits.

Keywords: African American; network disadvantage; social capital; social networking sites (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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