Social implications of social mediaThe rapid adoption of social networking sites (SNSs) raises important questions about the social implications of such usage. Drawing on unique longitudinal data, surveying a representative sample of Norwegian online users (N = 2,000, in 3 annual waves (2008, 2009, and 2010)
IntroductionThere is currently a strong debate on the social impact of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in general and the usage of social networking sites (SNSs) in particular. An important reason for this debate is that there are no studies that compare nonusers with SNS users. Longitudinal research that covers a broader part of the population is also lacking in this field. In the absence of research findings to report on, the media is forced to report on anecdotal evidence, which fuels ''antisocial networking'' claims about the negative social implications of SNSs (e.g., The New York Times, 2010, April 30). The heavy social cost of using SNSs is also assumed by some academics to be decreased social involvement, less face-to-face interaction, and increased loneliness or isolation (e.g., Morris, 2010;Turkle, 2011). The relevance of this problem is illustrated by Turkle's (2011) newest book Alone Together, which concludes that our social preferences are evolving to include, and in some cases favor, technology over people. As stated by Kraut et al. (1998Kraut et al. ( , p. 1017
467that often use only two possible outcomes (e.g., heavy use or low use). By simply looking at one SNS at a time, we might miss the important fact that SNS usage involves systematic patterns in which the same SNS can be used for different purposes, and different SNSs can be used for the same purpose (Brandtzaeg & Heim, 2011). These limitations leave four basic questions unanswered:1 How SNS users compare to nonusers in terms of their social capital 2 How to achieve a more precise identification of various usage patterns by means of different user types of SNSs in general, as opposed to a random or continuous distribution of SNS usage across users in a specific SNS 3 Whether distinct SNS user types relates to different outcomes of offline social capital 4 Whether SNS usage in general and distinct SNS user types in particular show variation over time in their offline social capitalThis study addresses these limitations by using a unique and extensive set of longitudinal data from a representative sample of online users (N = 2,000, age 15-75 years) in Norway from 2008 to 2010. Norway has an ideal population for studying the social impact of SNSs, given its exceptionally high Internet and SNSs connectivity (Internet World Statistics, 2010). The study compared both the level of social capital among SNS users and nonusers, and the level of social capital among distinct SNS user types. The results will, hopefully, serve as an important contribution to more complete knowledge on how SNS usage in general as well as particular uses of SNSs relates to the formation of social capital over time.
