Barbara Fredrickson: Bridging Social Capital

Twitter; a social media platform which connects millions of people together, is one of many

Humans are naturally social beings. Jeremy Rifkin states, “We are, it appears, the most social of animals and seek intimate participation and companionship with our fellows (115).” The article continues to explain how humans seem to connect through emotions and that inner, neurological need for human interaction. When one person feels pain, joy, or sadness, they want to share their feelings with another person. Hence, the needing fulfillment of social interaction. However, the use of social media does not mean humans have become less social. Even though social media has introduced a new way of interacting and communicating, studies have shown that people are becoming more

Social network and social connectedness are important to the health of not only individual human beings but also the community and even the entire society. However, the connection among people had been declining for years. As Robert Putnam analyzes in his “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital,” America’s national election turnout declines, possibly implying the decline in civic engagement and even the democracy. He stresses the importance of the traditional, face-to-face interactions among people as the fundamental means to build up social connectedness. Besides the reasons he gives in his article, I think the decline in social networking also ties to the city constructions (idea inspired by the video “The Social Life of Small

Now and days people do not write or call each other they just go on social media, such as Twitter, to see what their friends and family are up to over the holidays. According to google trends, during the time span of December 28 to January 3 of 2014 to 2015, the amount of people who visited the online site, not including the app itself, increased by 5%. Twitter is a connector according to The Tipping Point because “connectors are social glue: they spread it” (Gladwell 71). Connectors are people or things that help spread the word about something. Twitter also trends because it can help social activists get their word out about their activism. For example, Will.i.am is a social activist has a twitter account to get is word out about his fundraiser I.am.Angel Foundation to help get the education kids need that are unfortunate to have it. According to the official Twitter site it is stating that they will continue to help Twitter be more popular in the social media era. It states that to them it makes sense that will continue to know what is increasingly popular and know what is important in “news organizations, retailers, first responders, government entities and more” (Kolb). In the book The Tipping Point, it stated in example of how a brand Airwalk, type of shoe, increased their sale and how to successfully market their campaign. Twitter does this when they are

“Based on a representative survey of 2,500 Americans...those who used social media had more close confidants,” says Keith Hampton. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media allow people to connect with each other and have social interactions, but through the web. The

According to Wallaces text, “ ‘they believe that social media helps their friendships, makes them feel more outgoing and gives them confidence,’” stated by common sense media’s director of digital media , this comes to show that one of the main purposes of social media, is making a drastic change in friendships, and that connecting and socializing online can help to make new friends and even connect with older ones, boosting the users' confidence and feel more outgoing and

Alejandro Portes discuss the controversy surrounding the actual meaning and effects of social capital. Confusion arises due its applications to manifold topics as well as its uses on different group of people. He provided the concept by Pierre Bourdieu and James Coleman which centered on the benefits of social capital on an individual or a small group. He argued that Coleman focused on the advantages yielded to individual and then expand them to the whole community with subtlety. This transition is not well-defined and thus put social capital at risk of becoming synonymous with all positive things in

Now a days our generation spends about almost every hour of the day on their smart phones or tablets. You can see them texting at a restaurant while their having lunch with a friend or even driving as they look through their social media like Twitter and Instagram. Many people have always wondered why we're like this, but its actually very simple. Like Josh Sanburn states in paragraph nine, “ they're deeply anxious about missing out on something better”. I can agree with this because by doing this millennials gain confidence and they're also able to compare their lives with others like for example the Kardashian family or even people like Miley Cyrus.

Social capital refers to the patterns of relationships that people have that are characterized by reciprocity and trust which result in access to resources like jobs, social services, or contracts. Social capital is both structural and procedural. Relationships, as they are studied by community organizers, have a network structure. But this is does not address the quality of the relationships, which is actually more evident in the procedures or actions that result from capitalizing on the relationships.

In short, social capital is “the social knowledge and connections that enables people to accomplish their goals and extend their influences.”(1) When joining an organization, members are optimistic of achieving social capital. They aspire to connect with others who have similar interests and strive to influence citizens of their beliefs and views. Members have high hopes to one day make a difference.

According to Pew Research Center, they found that the average user of social media was half as likely to be socially isolated than the average American. The people who often check their social media status updates have a clear trend that they receive more social support. Keith Hampton was lead author of Information, Communication, and Society, he found from surveying 2,500 Americans, those who used social media had more close confidants. By continuing to use social media people will have more support, confidants, and they will still continue to socialize outside of the

to industry updates, I stay on top of the latest by consuming what others are doing and getting my hands dirty.

Some people could state that social media could create a deep relationship for various reasons. With all of the different insights that one would get from social media on someone's life could make them feel closer and connected to them. On social media, it is possible to see

Human beings need to feel connected with family and friends to provide us with the needed emotional support (Harris). Social media offers an easy way to stay in connected with many different types of people. We can stay connected with others regardless of where they live. It is being used in many different ways, such as socializing, exchanging ideas, sharing creativity, and collaborating with others.

There were numerous hypotheses created by the researchers in order to answer the multiple questions being asked. First, it was supposed that a greater number of co-worker connections would result in a higher measured level of perceived organizational support. Additionally, a higher percentage (out of the total number of social media friends) of co-worker connections would also result in a superior level of POS. Third, it was suspected that a greater number of co-worker connections through social media will result in a higher measured level of organizational spontaneity, and that a higher percentage of overall co-worker connections would, too, result in