Zooming in on American civic life: Modeling social capital from Internet dependency relations and Internet current affairs news consumption

This study is one of the first to model social capital from the Media System Dependency theory and mass media consumption perspectives. With a focus specifically on Internet Dependency Relations (IDR), the study examined to what extent respondents rely on the Internet to fulfill various life goals dimensioned into understanding, orientation and play goals, and how this dependency relates to the consumption of Internet current affairs news and the generation of social capital. The study also explored Internet news use in depth by ranking Internet news topics consumed. Further, it examined the resources of social capital, which it defined in terms of civic participation, interpersonal trust and life contentment. Data were collected through a cross-sectional online survey administered to a non-probability sample of U.S. Internet users in October and November 2003. Statistical analysis found evidence of positive Internet dependency relations overall and for the three dimensions of understanding, orientation, and play. Fifteen percent of online time was allocated to Internet news consumption. On a weekly basis, respondents spent half an hour on Internet general news and a quarter hour on Internet current affairs news. Internet national news topped the list of types of Internet news consumed, and Internet science news, Internet business news and Internet travel news were at the bottom in consumption. The Internet has changed people's mass media behavior. It has led to a slight decrease in traditional mass media use for news. Social capital as one of the most important resources for a civilized society appears to be shrinking continuously in American society: civic participation takes place only four times at maximum a year; attitude toward interpersonal relationships is neutral; and attitude toward life is satisfactory. Generational differences were found in IDR, understanding, orientation, interpersonal trust and life contentment suggesting the old and young relied on the Internet differently and evaluated interpersonal relationship and life quality differently. The most significant contribution of the study resides in identifying the complex relationships among IDR, Internet current affairs news consumption and social capital using structural equation modeling (SEM). While a positive chain relationship existed from IDR to Internet current affairs news consumption and from Internet current affairs news consumption to social capital, the direct relation of IDR with social capital was negative suggesting duality in the relationship the Internet has with social capital resources. This new knowledge of the linkage between the Internet and social capital points to a new research direction.