Facebook and Socioeconomic Status: Are online relationships as important as real-life relationships to one’s finances?

Introduction

In recent years there has been a lot of academic inquiry into social capital.  Researchers have looked into its effects on everything from educational attainment to health benefits.  One specific branch of research in this field is social capital’s effect on socioeconomic status.  In Florian Pichler and Claire Wallace’s recent article, Social Capital and Social Class in Europe:  The Role of Social Networks in Social Stratification (2009), it was determined that members of the upper classes had social networks that were more broad, yet the same in intensity as members of lower classes.  Keeping this in mind, can this be applied to the online arena?

There is some previous theoretical work that would assert that it would not apply to an online world.  When taking into account portions of Joseph Walther’s work in 1992 with the social information processing theory, it could be asserted that online social capital would not be as worthwhile.  Social information processing theory suggests that online relationships are more difficult to develop and take more time – something that might not be available in our “now” online culture.  The flip side of his work was the realization that the Internet could facilitate relationships that might be impossible to form in regular circumstances due to cultural differences or geographical distances.

In this study, I assert that online social capital can be just as important as the non-online form to establishing one’s socioeconomic status.  I will specifically be looking at the recent Internet phenomenon, Facebook.  Facebook is the largest social networking site and has the most diverse user base.  Another benefit of using Facebook is its place in the mainstream.  Many other Internet applications that would have social networks are much more of a niche.  Internet Relay Chat or the World of Warcraft are going to draw a much different selection of users that are less representative of the rest of the world.  This would be a great topic for a more in-depth

Research Question

1. Does online social capital have the same effects as traditional social capital on socioeconomic status?

Significance

This information would be especially useful for the further development of online communities.  As we chip away at the dynamics of online relationships, the information can be applied to making job hunting sites more effective.  In addition, the results could be used on sites such as LinkedIn, which cater to developing and maintaining professional relationships.

Methodology

To study this matter in a quantitative nature, I plan to run a correlation analysis.  As of now, I hope to use data collected by the Pew Research Center’s Pew Internet and American Life Project.  I will specifically be running a correlation between the number of Facebook friends a user has and their current income.  To adjust for students that don’t have their own income, I will only use data belonging to non-students.  In addition, I hope to determine a way to measure the intensity of the reported relationships.  This would add an interesting aspect to the research and follow Pichler and Wallace’s research that determined there was no reported difference on social class from the intensity of a subject’s relationships.