Social Capital: Between Interaction and Participation
Social Capital: Between Interaction and Participation

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this article is to discuss different ways of conceptualizing social capital in order to bring out the contested and multidimensional character of the concept and relate that with both social interaction and participation in the context of media and network technologies use and consumption. Throughout its history the media have always included a mix of centralized practices and interpersonal communication processes that shape different patterns of relationship between subjects and technologies and generate different social outcomes. The emergence of the communication and networks paradigm as central to the processes of social interaction and community building, invites us to look closely at the mechanisms that individuals use in order to interact and participate in the social networks in which they move themselves. Social capital is one of such mechanisms, a multidimensional concept with different dimensions and features. We discuss social capital’s complementary and sometimes antagonistic dimensions in relation with subjective forms of participation and interaction with and via the media. Finally, we will also tap into the different constructs that social capital allows for and exploit their potential for the argument around network media potential to generate original forms of interaction and participation.

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