An Analysis of the Socio-Technical Gap in Social Networking Sites

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Author(s): Tanguy Coenen (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium), Wouter Van den Bosch (Katholieke Hogeschool Mechelen, Belgium)and Veerle Van der Sluys (Independent Scholar, Belgium)
Copyright: 2009
Pages: 16
Source title: Handbook of Research on Socio-Technical Design and Social Networking Systems
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Brian Whitworth (Massey University (Albany), Auckland, New Zealand)and Aldo de Moor (CommunitySense, The Netherlands)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-264-0.ch041

Keywords: Information Science Reference / Media & Communications / Social Computing / Social Networking

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Abstract

This chapter views social networking sites as supporting social capital and the advantages which derive from it, namely emotional support, information exchange, and a capacity for concerted action. Social capital is subdivided in three types: relational, cognitive, and structural. The authors derive a number of social needs from these types of social capital and discuss how the social networking sites considered in this study support or fail to support these needs with technical features. The contributions of this chapter include the dimensionalisation of the socio-technical gap in social networking systems and a discussion of elements that reside in the gap.

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An Analysis of the Socio-Technical Gap in Social Networking Sites

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