Configurations of Using Social Networking Sites and Perceived Online Social Capital Among Adults With and Without Disabilities
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Vytautas Magnus University
Publication date: 2017-09-14
Polish Sociological Review 2017;199(3):387-404
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ABSTRACT
Drawing on nationally representative survey 2014 data, this article examines the implications of social
networking sites (SNS) use and the relationship with perceived online social capital among Lithuanian adults
with and without disabilities. By contributing to the wide academic discussion on the value of online and social
networks for people with disabilities, this research shows that intensive participation on SNS (as Facebook)
presupposes stronger affective and evaluative dimensions of social capital. This relatively strong affective and
evaluative social capital perception is more characteristic of the persons with disabilities (both with physical and
sensory disabilities) than the persons without disabilities. The research data also shows that adults with physical
disabilities mainly benefit from SNS as a bridging capital resource thanks to its various practical benefits,
established connections and contacts, and participation according to one’s interests by bypassing the limitations
posed by the physical environment. These results add to the positive, optimistic information technology and disability
studies discourse which argues that the use of social networking sites is of higher value to the persons with
disabilities than the persons without disabilities.