Translation | Ellison’s review on Social Capital (1)

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Mar 26, 2020

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ellison-review-social-capital

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Social capital broadly refers to the resources accumulated through the relationships among people (Coleman, 1988). Social capital is an elastic term with a variety of definitions in multiple fields (Adler & Kwon, 2002), conceived of as both a cause and an effect (Resnick, 2001; Williams, 2006). Bourdieu and Wacquant (1992) define social capital as ‘‘the sum of the resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an individual or a group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition’’ (p. 14). The resources from these relationships can differ in form and function based on the relationships themselves.

Social Capital: Online and Offline 社会资本：在线与离线

社会资本广义上是指通过人与人之间的关系积累的资源（Coleman，1988）。社会资本是一个在不同领域有诸多定义的弹性术语（Adler＆Kwon，2002），它既被认为既是原因也是结果（Resnick，2001； Williams，2006）。 Bourdieu 和 Wacquant（1992）将社会资本定义为“由于拥有一个或多或少的相互了解和认可的制度化关系的持久网络，而积累在个人的或群体的、实际的或虚拟的资源的总和”（p.14）。从这些关系产生的资源可以根据关系本身，在形式和功能上有所不同。

Social capital has been linked to a variety of positive social outcomes, such as better public health, lower crime rates, and more efficient financial markets (Adler & Kwon, 2002). According to several measures of social capital, this important resource has been declining in the U.S. for the past several years (Putnam, 2000). When social capital declines, a community experiences increased social disorder, reduced participation in civic activities, and potentially more distrust among community members.

社会资本已经与各种积极的社会结果联系在一起，例如更好的公共卫生、更低的犯罪率和更有效的金融市场（Adler & Kwon, 2002）。根据多项社会资本指标，过去几年来，美国的这一重要资源一直在减少（Putnam, 2000）。当社会资本下降时，社区会经历社会失序的增加、公民活动参与的减少，以及可能的社区成员之间的不信任感的增加。

Greater social capital increases commitment to a community and the ability to mobilize collective actions, among other benefits. Social capital may also be used for negative purposes, but in general social capital is seen as a positive effect of interaction among participants in a social network (Helliwell & Putnam, 2004).

其好处之一就是，更雄厚的社会资本增加了对社区的承诺和动员集体行动的能力。社会资本亦可被用于消极目的，然而，社会资本通常被视为社会网络参与者之间互动的积极影响（Helliwell & Putnam, 2004）。

For individuals, social capital allows a person to draw on resources from other members of the networks to which he or she belongs. These resources can take the form of useful information, personal relationships, or the capacity to organize groups (Paxton, 1999). Access to individuals outside one’s close circle provides access to non-redundant information, resulting in benefits such as employment connections (Granovetter, 1973). Moreover, social capital researchers have found that various forms of social capital, including ties with friends and neighbors, are related to indices of psychological well-being, such as self esteem and satisfaction with life (Bargh & McKenna, 2004; Helliwell & Putnam, 2004).

对个人而言，社会资本允许个体从其所属网络的其他成员处汲取资源。这些资源的形式可以是有价值的信息、个人关系或组织团体的能力（Paxton,1999）。接触封闭圈外的个体可以访问非冗余信息，故而带来诸如雇佣关系之类的好处（Granovetter,1973）。此外，社会资本研究人员发现，包括与朋友和邻居的联结的各种形式的社会资本，都与诸如自尊和对生活的满意度心理幸福指数有关（Bargh＆McKenna, 2004; Helliwell＆Putnam, 2004）。

Putnam (2000) distinguishes between bridging and bonding social capital. The former is linked to what network researchers refer to as ‘‘weak ties,’’ which are loose connections between individuals who may provide useful information or new perspectives for one another but typically not emotional support (Granovetter, 1982).

Putnam （2000）区分了社会资本的桥接和结合。前者与网络研究人员所称的“弱关系”相关，即个体之间的松散联系，他们可以为彼此提供有用的信息或新观点，但通常不提供情感支持（Granovetter，1982）。

Alternatively, bonding social capital is found between individuals in tightly-knit, emotionally close relationships, such as family and close friends. After briefly describing the extant literature on these two forms of social capital and the Internet, we introduce an additional dimension of social capital that speaks to the ability to maintain valuable connections as one progresses through life changes. This concept, ‘‘maintained social capital,’’ permits us to explore whether online network tools enable individuals to keep in touch with a social network after physically disconnecting from it.

与此对应，结合社会资本被发现于在联系紧密、情感亲近关系中的个人（例如家人和密友）之间。在简要描述了关于这两种形式的社会资本和互联网的现有文献之后，我们介绍了社会资本的另一个方面，即随着人们生活的变化而保持有价值的联系的能力。 “保持社会资本”这一概念使我们能够探索在线网络工具是否使个人在与社交网络断开连接后仍能与其保持联系。

Social Capital and the Internet 社会资本和互联网

The Internet has been linked both to increases and decreases in social capital. Nie (2001), for example, argued that Internet use detracts from face-to-face time with others, which might diminish an individual’s social capital. However, this perspective has received strong criticism (Bargh & McKenna, 2004). Moreover, some researchers have claimed that online interactions may supplement or replace in-person interactions, mitigating any loss from time spent online (Wellman, Haase, Witte, & Hampton, 2001). Indeed, studies of physical (e.g., geographical) communities supported by online networks, such as the Netville community in Toronto or the Blacksburg Electronic Village, have concluded that computer-mediated interactions have had positive effects on community interaction, involvement, and social capital (Hampton & Wellman, 2003; Kavanaugh, Carroll, Rosson, Zin, & Reese, 2005).

互联网已经与社会资本的增加和减少联系在一起。例如，Nie（2001）认为，互联网的使用会减少与他人面对面交流的时间，这可能会削弱个人的社会资本。但是，这种观点受到了强烈的批评（Bargh＆McKenna，2004）。此外，一些研究人员声称，在线互动可以补充或替代面对面的互动，从而减轻在线时间所造成的损失（Wellman, Haase, Witte, & Hampton, 2001）。确实，对在线网络支持的物质的（例如地理）社区的研究（例如多伦多的 Netville 社区或布莱克斯堡电子村）得出的结论是，计算机中介的互动对社区互动、参与和社会资本产生了积极影响（ Hampton & Wellman, 2003; Kavanaugh, Carroll, Rosson, Zin, & Reese, 2005）。

Recently, researchers have emphasized the importance of Internet-based linkages for the formation of weak ties, which serve as the foundation of bridging social capital. Because online relationships may be supported by technologies like distribution lists, photo directories, and search capabilities (Resnick, 2001), it is possible that new forms of social capital and relationship building will occur in online social network sites. Bridging social capital might be augmented by such sites, which support loose social ties, allowing users to create and maintain larger, diffuse networks of relationships from which they could potentially draw resources (Donath & boyd, 2004; Resnick, 2001; Wellman et al., 2001). Donath and boyd (2004) hypothesize that SNSs could greatly increase the weak ties one could form and maintain, because the technology is well-suited to maintaining such ties cheaply and easily.

最近，研究人员强调了基于因特网的连接对于建立弱联系的重要性，而弱连接是弥合社会资本的基础。因为在线关系可能受到通讯组列表，照片目录和搜索功能等技术的支持（Resnick，2001），在线社交网站可能会出现社会资本和关系的新形势。通过支持松散的社会联系的网站，可以增强桥接社会资本的能力，使用户能够创建和维护更大的分散关系网络，继而可从中潜在地利用资源（Donath & boyd, 2004; Resnick, 2001; Wellman et al., 2001）。 Donath 和 boyd（2004）假设，在线社交网站可以大大增加人们可能形成并维持弱联结，因为该技术非常适合于廉价、轻松地维持这种联系。

Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of computer-mediated communication, 12(4), 1143-1168.