Social Capital and the Information Network Society in South Korea: Do Internet Users and Non-Users Significantly Differ?

Abstract

Do ICTs bring precious momentum and consolidation to social capital, or do they rather inflict a damaging blow? This question has fueled the alarmist/optimist debate. This article intends to enrich the debate by exploring the question in the South Korean context. Our analyses resulted in complex and mixed messages. Internet-users showed a higher level of social trust than non-users, but the two groups did not reveal particularly outstanding differences in other social capital-related components. It is therefore difficult to take a clear and definitive position on whether the relationship between ICT and social capital is positive or negative. This murky picture in South Korea suggests that the alarmist/optimist debate may be too simplistic. Future discussion thus requires more in-depth interpretations on specific contexts before generalizations can be made regarding the issue of social capital in the information network society.