Beyond the power of networks: Differentiating network structure from social media affordances for perceived social support

Existing research suggests that social media use is associated with higher levels of social capital—the resources contained within a person’s network of friends, family, and other acquaintances. However, in predicting access to these resources, it has been impossible to distinguish the affordances of social media from the underlying advantage of maintaining a favorable social network of relationships on- and offline. Based on data from a...