Social capital in online communities

ABSTRACT

Online communities are connecting hordes of individuals and generating rich social network data. The social capital that resides within these networks is largely unknown. We propose to create a mathematical model of social capital that incorporates the mobilization of social resources through purposive actions. This includes evaluating nodes based not only on their relationships and attributes, but on their social resources as well. Investigating the costs associated with reciprocally connecting to individuals will also be assessed. The result is a quantitative model for characterizing and providing decision support on how to maximize participation within social networks.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.6 SIMULATION AND MODELING
      I.6.0 General

Additional Classification:
  J. Computer Applications
  J.4 SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
      Subjects: Sociology

General Terms:
Experimentation, Measurement

Keywords:
implicit affinity networks, social capital, social networks