Reseach On Factors Affecting Social Capital In Microblogging Network

Microblogging is a new form of social network site on the web. It becomes popular as a new communication channel, and a social network is built in the microblogging websites as a result. Generated from social network, social capital is a relationship based capital that means the ability to access resources. Social capital in microblogging represents the influence range of information published by users. As a new thing, few researchers pay attention to social capital in microblogging.This paper explores the factors that contribute to social capital in microblogging world by empirical research method. Based on Twitter which is the most popular microblogging website and Google.com data, a research model is established to perform cross-sectional analysis and panel data analysis. Cross-sectional analysis is used to identify the relationship among the variables, while panel data analysis is used to hysteresis effect.We find that"frequency of providing updated information"and"days of participation"are the factors that can enhance a twitterer's (i.e., those who tweet) social capital. In addition, social capital in the Google world can be transferred into the Twitter world. Meanwhile, a moderating effect of the Google world social capital is identified. The findings of this study may help researchers and practitioners better understanding the drivers of social capital formation in the Internet-based virtual social networks.