On the Reproduction of Social

Capital and Civic Involvement—A

Study of Social Media and

Immigrants in the Great Helsinki

Metropolitan Area

Niklas Wilhelmsson and Sergio Ocampo

• THIS IS ABOUT the significance of social

media for the reproduction of social capital

• PROBLEM: Does social media reproduce

and expand social capital; and if so, how

does it happen?

• DATA: from open-ended interviews and

participant observation made in a short

period during 2011 in Helsinki

• SOCIAL CAPITAL is a producer of civic

engagement, mainly referring to social

networks, reciprocity norms, mutual

cooperation, and trust

• BUILDING SOCIAL CAPITAL always

involves interaction between people THUS

linked to the concept SOCIAL

INTEGRATION

Table 1 Internet Usage among Immigrants in Finland.

Internet use Yes No Don’t know Total

Communication (e-mails, phone calls) 68 16 16 100

Reading news and e-papers 62 22 16 100

Searching information 59 25 16 100

Entertainment, music and movies 45 40 16 100

Chat 29 55 16 100

Internet communities (Facebook) 18 66 16 100

Games 15 69 16 100

Blogs 10 74 16 100

Total number of respondents 434. Data from Maasilta et. al. (2010).

Main Observations

• Social media may certainly have potential

for the integration process as it may

facilitate the integration process.

• Social capital can not be generated

without also meeting in real life.

Conclusions

• The interviews show that social media

may certainly have the potential for

creating and maintaining social capital.

– to maintain in contact with people living in the

country of origin

• Social media may however also be used

to establish new social connections in the

country of migration

• Social media is more effective in creating

social capital if there from the beginning is

some level of social capital existing

• Immigrants sometimes seem to have

problems in establishing social

connections to Finnish people on social

media, if they lack existing connections to

Finns.