Transcript The Question of the Digital Divide... …and Some Answers

Community Informatics Summer School
July 12, 2011 / Day 5
Social networks and social capital:
Wellman … Coleman+ … Williams
Agenda
1. Social networks:
Lecture on Wellman, discuss
2. Social capital:
Lecture on Coleman & Lin, discuss
3. Applying these theories:
Lecture on Williams, discuss
Wellman
Urban sociology:
does community
persist in the
industrial city?
Wellman and
Leighton:
is community =
neighborhood?
Jane Addams, Chicago 1890s
1970s: sociologists start thinking of
a community as a network
W & L summarize others’ research
Community LOST: fewer social ties, people’s needs
are met by large bureaucracies, people are isolated
no community
Community SAVED: urban village is strong and
close-knit, local people form strong ties and help
each other
community = neighborhood
Community LIBERATED: urbanites are
cosmopolitans, their social networks span the
metropolis
community ≠ neighborhood
Each theory has policy implications
(theory makes a difference – D7)
Is community lost? Then bureaucratic control is
the answer, or just plain neglect
Is community saved? Support local self-help
networks and give/get services neighborhood by
neighborhood
Is community liberated? Provide support via
multiple networks, near and far. Rely on
telecommunications and travel for resource
giving and getting
Small group discussion
1. Where in China do you find:
– community lost
– community found
– community liberated
2. Where do you see each type of
policy?
3. Why does this matter? (So what?)
Break time
Coleman
and Lin
Different findings, each meaningful
Coleman (d. 1995): Closed networks are
powerful, produce social capital (resources) for
their members
Diamond merchants require high trust
Secret organizations work in tiny cells
Lin: Open networks are powerful, produce
social capital for their members
Often people outside your close networks
bring you new resources
and Net can maximize our social capital!
Social capital = resources available
through one’s social networks1
from GRANOVETTER
strong ties = bonding social capital,
weak ties = bridging social capital2
1 LIN, Nan. [born in 重庆] Social Capital: A Theory of Social
Structure and Action. London: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
2 PUTNAM, Robert. Bowling Alone. 2001.
Small group discussion
1. Discuss examples of closed communities in
China
2. What did they accomplish?
3. Discuss examples of open networks in China
4. What did they accomplish?
5. What is the most interesting or important
point raised in your group?
Break time
Williams (Manchester study)
soon to appear in CJLIS
Using social network and
social capital theory to ask:
How can community’s own life
bridge the digital divide?
Interviewed
people from
31 groups…
…including
tenant groups
…cultural groups
…and social support groups
7
9
4
Relationship between purpose and IT use:
Downloaders: email, creating documents—
some IT use
Uploaders: maintaining group websites—
more IT use
Cyberorganizers: helping others become
downloaders and uploaders—most IT use
Social capital/social networks:
asking about the groups IT helpers
21-22. Where do they work, what are their
duties?
24. Do they live within a mile of you?
25. How often do you see them?
26. Have you invited them to your home, or
have they invited you to theirs?
27. Would you say they are family, friend,
workmate, or acquaintance?
Social capital/social network diagrams
Social capital matters,
strong ties dominate
• More social capital (more helpers) = more IT
use
• 73% of helpers are friends, family
• 60% are volunteering, not paid
• 54% are seen frequently ( >1x fortnight)
• 52% have visited in the home
• 42% live within a mile
Small group discussion
1. Do you know of social groups that use IT to
help in their activities?
2. If so, describe what they do.
3. If not, why not?
4. What ways can you imagine for a library or
library science program to help social groups
make good use of infotech?