A Research on Social Capital and Social Media: Democracy and Citizenship

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between social capital, social media use and democratic citizenship behaviors of university students studying at social science department at different Turkish state universities. The research employs a qualitative approach. The data were collected during 2015-2016 spring semester. 11 students were involved in semi-structured interviews. The students at the time of the study were studying social sciences departments of different state universities in Turkey. Data was subjected to content analysis. There were four categories after data analysis; social capital, social media, democracy and sources of information. Analysis shows that students have both bonding and bridging social capital. They use social media for networking, research, interact with political groups and fun. When they need any kind of information they use social media, scientific resources, authority and their own life experiences. Their opinions towards democracy is categorized as their perception of democracy, trust in democratic institutions and their citizenship features.

Keywords

• social capital
• democracy
• social media
• trust
• citizenship
• sosyal sermaye
• demokrasi
• sosyal medya
• güven
• vatandaşlık