Why social networks are the biggest social capital ?

Why social networks are the biggest social capital?

Let me start with the definition of social capital. It is defined as “the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively”. And I am going to deal with the above topic of internet as social capital in 5 parts:

Well if we look at the above definition and build upon that premise we will find that the network of relationships we build on internet how much ever fragile it may be it still is a relationship. You add someone to the network and hope to build a great relation of any form. While we do so we also create a thread which extends to millions of people in and around the world. Therefore, each network after some point of time becomes so strong that it ushers in huge movements and revolutions in itself.

The second part of it has to do with information and loads of information. We ought to consume different set of information at different point of time in our day. So, even when we are walking down the street we get to see different things and we get to consume such information which lasts for some time. These days with Media becoming a frenzy goat the internet has taken over that space from where we seek to consume information. So, for some of us social media or our networks are more aligned towards consuming such information which maybe anything, from theories to facts to statements to even trolls. Thus, if we look at our pattern of consuming information on such platforms we will come across different set of ideas whether pro or against our own ideologies or theories.

The third part is the role of government. For starters let us agree that we are a propaganda driven society where many positive and negative events and functions are concealed to drive a sense of feelings and emotions towards our respective governments and state. That’s the sole reason we distinct a countries flag from a piece of cloth. “Government” is “a service provider of a large scale to the entire state” with “having monopoly over violence, welfare and policies which are legitimised” by “the people of state themselves”. Thus, any set or type of governance is still the propaganda or agenda driven way we make our national or state structure function.

The fourth part of it deals with our expertise in making choices. We as a species never make out of the blue decisions. We rarely do that as we are not coded in the way to make such decisions. So, we follow others and make those decisions. Whether it be buying a car or getting admission in a college we do what others do. Our rationality is more dependent on others view than its dependent on us. Therefore, all our choices invariably are not ours. Thus our social structure dictates us to followers and we do follow a lot. This not only limits our choices but also influences our future choices.

The fifth and the most important part of it is the interaction between all these 4 components which makes our network that contains a lot of information determining not just the government we choose and information we give out but also broadens our choices after some point and makes us more open. Therefore, with our networks on social media where everything spreads like wildfire because of the huge network of people makes information available to all. This leads in more effective governance and also makes the world more informed. This new outraged media of communication to the world has made governments more accountable and raised the bar in terms of reach on any issue. For ex- a recent earth quake in China was reported majorly from internet as people kept tweeting videos and pictures of the disaster. On a similar instance the government denied any such event but now when a man puts it out on social media it becomes viral and that makes it difficult to deny or window dress any such event. In the most recent case of Gorakhpur Oxygen supply tragedy or any other event we see many facts and opinions coming out on social media which were largely absent before. This has given rise to a new way of media fundamentalism and have made media accessible to people and not just anchors in News rooms. Our engineering is such that we follow and we react. With social media making us feel that it’s a way of life we are unconsciously or consciously moving towards a more informed society. Whether that information is categorized as ill-information or misinformation or neutral information is a matter of debate. But it is after all a information which gives rise to questions and claims answers.

Thus, internet is the new social capital to the world which will push discourse deeper and make accountability a norm rather than just a service. It will make things more aligned towards future goals and aspirations of millions. It will help in making things more concrete, create views and opinion which will shape the future of the next generation. Though, many fear that there is a negative side to it which it does proclaim with all ferocity but it will bear some far right positive consequences in the long run.