從帕特南和林南那里開始,關于互聯網使用對社會資本的影響作用,究竟是侵蝕還是促進,就一直存在爭論。隨著互聯網對社會影響的不斷增大,這一問題的顯著度及重要性越來越高。近20年來,我國研究者們先后對不同對象、不同網絡傳播渠道、不同互聯網使用方式對社會資本的影響作用,做了大量檢驗,但結論仍莫衷一是。論文采用元分析方法,在既有的127個獨立研究中,篩選出52個符合研究要求的對象,進行隨機效應模型分析,總樣本量為23202個。研究發現:總體而言,中國經驗中的互聯網使用和社會資本具有中等強度的正相關性(相關系數=0. 28,95%置信區間[0. 23,0. 33])。而且,以往研究的高異質性是由于真正的差異,而非抽樣誤差造成的。對9個潛在調節變量的探究顯示:性別比例、文獻發表時間、調查情境3個因素,并不影響互聯網使用對社會資本作用的研究。而互聯網類型、使用者身份類別、互聯網使用測量方式、社會資本測量方式、抽樣方式、發表偏見這6個因素,都顯著影響到互聯網使用對社會資本獲得的研究。

Beginning w ith Robert Putnam and Lin Nan,there have been conflicting arguments about w hether the use of Internet erodes or promotes social capital. With the increasing influence of the internet on society,this issue is becoming more and more important. In the past 20 years,Chinese researchers have conducted a great deal of research that addressed the relationship betw een social capital and internet use that varies in time,user identity,communication channels,and usage style,but their conclusions remain inconsistent. In order to clarify this issue and inform future research in this area,the present study used the meta-analysis method to analyze the existing research on the association of internet use and social capital conducted in mainland China. From the existing 127 independent studies on this topic,w e included 52 eligible studies w ith a total sample size of 23,202 for random effect model analysis. The analysis revealed a moderate effect size of the relationship betw een the Internet use and social capital,r = 0. 28( 95% confidence interval [0. 23,0. 33]). M oreover,the high heterogeneity of previous studies is due to real differences,rather than sampling errors. The follow-up moderation analysis show ed that gender ratio,publication time,and investigation context did not affect the impact of Internet use on social capital. How ever,Internet type,user identity,Internet usage measurement,social capital measurement,sampling method,and publication bias all significantly moderated the effect of Internet use on social capital.