Abstract
AbstractAccumulated social interactions shape social capital—that is, resources available through social ties—that benefits individuals, groups, and society at large. Personal electronic communication media and devices, termed herein screens, are a new type of environment interacting with other environments within an ecological system. Environments influence interpersonal communication in and across settings; yet little is known about the influence of context wherein virtual and in-person social interactions occur. After overviewing the characteristics of the screens, the present paper examines how four geographical contexts—middle-class suburbs, impoverished neighborhoods, urban neighborhoods, and college communities—can influence on the relationship between the screen and local social capital. Lastly, this paper discusses environmental design implications for reducing screen usage that harms social capital.
Highlights
The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved. ― Mother TeresaSocial isolation and loneliness are prominent risk factors to human well-being (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006; Holt-Lunstad, Smith, Baker, Harris, & Stephenson, 2015); and scholars have investigated the impacts of the Internet on social isolation
The present paper considers screens as a new type of environment within an ecological system and overviews how the ecological system influences the relationship among screens, interpersonal interaction and local social capital, using four types of geographical contexts
Screens afford social interaction across physical and temporal barriers. Their potential contribution to local social capital is more likely realized if community members share other contexts to meet or encounter such as streets, third places, neighborhood parks, children’s school, dormitories and classrooms
Summary
The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved. ― Mother Teresa. As communication technologies and platforms have become an important part of our daily lives, her research interest expands to the dynamics between virtual and physical environments and how such dynamics are linked to wellbeing. This study speculates how geographic contexts of where we spend a significant amount of day can impact on the relationship between screen use and social capital—that, is resources available through social relationships. Timing (e.g. time of day/week) is a type of context often associated with other environmental properties such as technology, but not of environment. Screens overarch personal electronic communication media including the Internet, mobile phone calls, text messaging, and smartphone apps (Table 1). Tablets, laptops; cellphone communication devices and platforms call, text messaging, the Internet, social networking sites, social media, smartphone apps. How online platforms (e.g. Facebook versus email) vary and what people do with each of them are less of concern given focus of this article
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