We explore how participation in social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter affects the most economically relevant aspect of social capital, trust. We use measures of trust in strangers (or social trust), trust in neighbours and trust in the police. We address endogeneity in the...

Studies in the social capital literature have documented two stylised facts: first, a decline in measures of social participation has occurred in many OECD countries. Second, and more recently, the success of social networking sites (SNSs) has resulted in a steep rise in online social...

We study the social structure of Facebook ‘‘friendship'' networks at one hundred American colleges and universities at a single point in time, and we examine the roles of user attributes -- gender, class year, major, high school, and residence -- at these institutions. We investigate the...