A Computational Model of Social Capital in Virtual Communities

Abstract

This chapter presents a Bayesian Belief computational model of social capital (SC) developed within the context of virtual communities. The development of the model was based on insights drawn from more than five years of research into social capital in virtual communities. The Chapter discusses the key variables constituting social capital in virtual communities and shows how the model was updated using practical scenarios. The scenarios describe authentic cases drawn from several virtual communities. The key issues predicted by the model as well as challenges encountered in building, verifying and updating the model are discussed.