Journal article
Do social networking sites promote life satisfaction? The explanation from an online and offline social capital transformation
Information technology & people (West Linn, Or.), Vol.35(2), pp.703-722
03/28/2022
DOI: 10.1108/ITP-03-2020-0143
Abstract
Purpose The use of social networking sites (SNSs) can promote life satisfaction mainly because of their social relationship benefits. Although prior studies examined the roles of different types of social capital (SC), the association between online and offline SC is ignored. This research addresses this gap by uncovering a mechanism of transformation between online and offline SC in terms of bonding and bridging types when linking SNSs usage and life satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Categorizing the concept of SC into four sub-types from bonding/bridging and online/offline dimensions, the paper establishes a theoretical framework based on the transformation mechanism among these four kinds of SC. A component-based approach, partial least square method, is chosen for hypothesis testing with a survey-based sample collected from WeChat users. Findings First, SNSs usage is positively related to life satisfaction and four types of SC (i.e. online/offline and bonding/bridging SC). Second, both online bonding SC and offline bridging SC are positively related to life satisfaction and can mediate the relationship between SNSs usage and life satisfaction. Third, offline bonding SC is positively related to online bonding SC and can mediate the relationship between SNSs usage and online bonding SC; on the contrary, online bridging SC is positively related to offline bridging SC and can mediate the relationship between SNSs usage and offline bridging SC. Practical implications In the environment of SNSs, users can take vigorous strategies to better balance online and offline spaces and improve life satisfaction by adapting to the characteristics of SNSs in developing different types of SC. Specifically, it is encouraged for users to transfer online bridging SC into offline space and offline bonding SC into online space. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study exploring the association between online and offline SC when linking SNSs usage and life satisfaction. Instead of the single transformation direction from online to offline in prior Internet research, this research has revealed different transformation directions between online and offline SC in terms of bonding and bridging types in the context of SNSs.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Do social networking sites promote life satisfaction? The explanation from an online and offline social capital transformation
- Creators
- Lin Huang - Huzhou UniversityDaqing Zheng - Shanghai Univ Finance & Econ, Sch Informat Management & Engn, Shanghai, Peoples R ChinaWeiguo Fan - Univ Iowa, Tippie Coll Business, Iowa City, IA USA
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Information technology & people (West Linn, Or.), Vol.35(2), pp.703-722
- Publisher
- Emerald Group Publishing
- DOI
- 10.1108/ITP-03-2020-0143
- ISSN
- 0959-3845
- eISSN
- 1758-5813
- Number of pages
- 20
- Grant note
- 20BGL287 / National Social Science Foundation of China
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/28/2022
- Academic Unit
- Business Analytics
- Record Identifier
- 9984380411202771
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