Article
Social Capital and Electronic Networks: For Profit vs. For Community Approaches
American Behavioral Scientist
(2002)
Abstract
In this article, the authors discuss the implementation of a community electronic network in a rural Minnesota town. The network is intended to help the community keep up with global technological progress by increasing access to the Internet. The current project compares this community approach to electronic networks with an economic, for-profit approach utilized in a nonequivalent control community. Drawing on the theory of social capital, the authors consider the relative impacts of privately oriented social engagement versus publicly oriented political engagement in relation to collective outcomes. The findings to date show that in the presence of a broadly based community electronic network, political as well as economic resources are linked to the use and knowledge of computer resources. The implications of these findings for larger issues of fair and equitable access to technology are discussed.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2002
DOI
10.1177/0002764202045005008
Citation Information
John L. Sullivan, Eugene Borgida, Melinda Jackson, Eric Riedel, et al.. "Social Capital and Electronic Networks: For Profit vs. For Community Approaches" American Behavioral Scientist Vol. 45 Iss. 5 (2002) p. 868 - 886 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/alina-oxendine/6/