2012/2013 Fellowship Program fellows

Hidden Value: Exploring Social Capital in Online Social Networks

Anna Malkhasyan’s research will explore the relationship between online social networks and social capital formation processes. Using a web survey of Facebook users and a series of qualitative interviews, Anna will try to understand what role Facebook has in amassing social capital and how Facebook users engage more people in their actions and promote their initiatives. Her hypothesis is that a positive relationship exists between certain forms of online social network uses and the formation of bridging and bonding social capitals. The expected results will equip government, NGO representatives, social political technologists, and PR specialists with the proper tools and recommendations to use online social networks to improve social capital formation processes.