World Wide Web

Scale (ratio)

Social psychology

Cartography

Computer security

Social support

Computer science

Social network (sociolinguistics)

Business

Bridging (networking)

Psychology

Geography

Social media

Interpersonal ties

Social capital

Sociology

Social engagement

Social science

We examined whether individual self-monitoring differences predict what type of relationships people have on Facebook. In the offline world, high self-monitors have large heterogeneous social networks made up of weak emotional ties, whereas low self-monitors have small homogenous social networks made up of strong emotional ties. In our study, we defined online relationships in terms of bridging and bonding social capital. Bridging social capital refers to large heterogeneous social networks made up of weak emotional ties. People maintain these relationships for social benefits. Bonding social capital refers to small homogeneous social networks made up of strong emotional ties. People maintain these relationships for emotional benefits. We predicted high self-monitors will have more bridging than bonding social capital on Facebook; low self-monitors will have more bonding than bridging social capital on Facebook. We believed attitudes about using Facebook would moderate these relationships. We used Snyder‟s Self-Monitoring Scale, Williams‟ Online Social Capital Scales, and Facebook Intensity Scale to assess our variables of interest. We found support for our hypotheses. For high self-monitors, greater importance placed on Facebook usage predicted increases in bridging social capital on Facebook; for low self-monitors, greater importance placed on Facebook usage predicted increases in bonding social capital on Facebook.

A Tale of Self-Monitoring, Social Capital, and Social Media