Benklar, Putnam, and Dunbar's Number

Benklar provides a comprehensive overview of the recent research and discussion around the growing use of online social networking and the critiques of its impeding destruction of social capital and face to face interaction.

After reading Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone, I recognized a few key evolutions that have emerged since its publication. Although Putnam makes a legitimate argument in favor of social capital and the benefits it brings to society, particularly in terms of political participation, his arguments and fears are already outdated.

Benklar most strongly disproves Putnam's concerns by citing research that indicates most heavy Internet users spend the same amount of time with their friends and family as they did before their Internet use.

Another notable point that Benklar provides is that some connections made online have evolved to exist offline as well, with members of online networks arranging meetings in the real world to strengthen their ties. This behavior suggests that Putnam's concerns about the decline of face to face interaction leading to social capital is not only irrelevant, but perhaps backwards. The possibility of bringing online connections to life in the real world has the potential of increasing social capital by broadening the community of an individual and creating the possibility of expanding one's network to larger geographic, social, or political regions.

One point I find particularly interesting in this discussion is the measurement of the quality of these online relationships. In the beginning of Chapter 10, Benklar tells us that social networking has two effects. First, the strengthening of ties within one's own existing family and friendship circles. Second, there is an increase in the loose, limited-purpose relationships that are less important yet still meaningful to the individual. The ease of connecting with people once on the fringe of our network through sites like Facebook make it feasible to keep in touch with more people than ever thought possible before. Theories like Dunbar's number, which propose a limit to the number of quality connections one person can maintain at any given time, are being challenged with the advent of social networking and the ability to maintain relationships online. Having a database of one's connections throughout their lifetime could prove to be a useful networking tool or could end up being overwhelming.

I think this particular challenge will prove most prevalent in the Millennial generation, since we are the ones that have grown up online and been able to make those connections through Facebook as time goes on. Will we eventually be overwhelmed by the numbers of connections we've made, or will we find a way to use our robust network to benefit society and ourselves?