The effects of social networking on social capital and employability for Computing and Business students

DOI: 10.5176/2251-1814_EeL12.71

Authors: Jane Coughlan, Stephen Swift, Arshad Jamal and Robert D. Macredie

Abstract: This study examines the relationship between the use of Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and three types of social capital: bridging, bonding and maintained. In addition, we explore a dimension relating to self-perceived employability that assesses an individual’s perceived ability to attain sustainable employment appropriate to their qualification level. We survey computing and business undergraduate students (N=232) and take a binomial distribution with respect to the levels of high and low agreement on items based on existing validated scales. We find the strongest association between the use of Facebook and two types of social capital (bridging and maintained), with the strongest relationship being with bridging social capital, which has implications for building alumni-student engagement programmes. Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of self-perceived employability, which suggests that in addition, the use of social network sites can positively impact upon perceptions of future employability.

Keywords: Social media; social capital; employability; alumni