College students’ social media use and communication network heterogeneity: Implications for social capital and subjective well-being

Bumsoo Kim, Yonghwan Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

121 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study examined whether and how the usage of social media can influence college students’ level of network heterogeneity and how network heterogeneity is associated with levels of bridging/bonding social capital and subjective well-being. In particular, whether network heterogeneity plays a mediating role in the relationship between social media use and the dependent variables of bridging/bonding social capital and subjective well-being was investigated. The results indicated that usage of social media is positively associated with college students’ communication network heterogeneity in their everyday life. Network heterogeneity is also positively related to levels of bridging/bonding social capital and subjective well-being. We also discovered a positive indirect effect mechanism by which social media use influences bridging/bonding social capital and subjective well-being through network heterogeneity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)620-628
Number of pages9
JournalComputers in Human Behavior
Volume73
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Aug 2017

Keywords

  • Bonding social capital
  • Bridging social capital
  • Network heterogeneity
  • Social media
  • Subjective well-being

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'College students’ social media use and communication network heterogeneity: Implications for social capital and subjective well-being'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this