Use of Social Networking Sites as Social Capital, a Field Study on a Sample of People with Special Needs in The Egyptian Society

Khedr, Mahmoud

doi:10.21608/buhuth.2021.62917.1063

Use of Social Networking Sites as Social Capital, a Field Study on a Sample of People with Special Needs in The Egyptian Society

Document Type : Academic research papers

Author

Mahmoud Khedr

Department of Sociology, Media Division, Faculty of Women, Ain Shams University

10.21608/buhuth.2021.62917.1063

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the extent to which people with special needs use social networks as social capital, based on the theory of social capital. The researcher designed a model to measure personal social capital (bonding and bridging) for social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. The researcher analyzed and examined a set of psychological, social, and media mediating variables. The current study employed the quantitative descriptive method, which relied on a social survey approach in conducting a field study using an online questionnaire distributed to a random sample of 400 Egyptian people with special needs, users of social networks. The study sample comprises of an evenly number of male and female individuals of different age and social, economic, and educational levels. The results of the study indicated that there was a statistically significant positive average correlation between the intensity of the use of social networks and the aspects of achieving social capital as a result of using social networks. Further, the study pointed that it is possible to predict the bonding, bridging, and total social capital through the intensive use of social networks.

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