Who You @ Today? : The Mediating Impact of Social Capital on Sina Weibo Use and Political Expression...

Who You @ Today? : The Mediating Impact of Social Capital on

Sina Weibo Use and Political Expression in China

Feifei Zhang

[email protected]

School of Information Studies

Syracuse University

Paper submitted to the National Communication Association (NCA) for presentation at 100th

Annual Convention, Nov 20-23, 2014

The mediating impact of social capital on Weibo use and political expression

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Abstract

This study examines the impact of the intensity use of Sina Weibo, the most popular social

network site in China, on users’ online political expression and social capital. The study also

explores whether online bridging and bonding social capital in Weibo can predict political

expression. In addition, the mediating impact of online bridging social capital on the relationship

between the intensity of Sina Weibo use and political expression is investigated. Structural

equation modeling analysis is conducted to analyze a web-based survey data collected from 306

Sina Weibo users. The results indicate that a positive association exists between the intensity of

Sina Weibo use and social capital. Online bridging social capital predicts, rather than bonding

social capital, political expression but with marginal effect. The intensity of Sina Weibo use has

both direct and indirect relationship with political expression, and bridging social capital serves

as a mediator in the indirect relationship.

Keywords: Sina Weibo, social network sites, social capital, political expression


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People in China are not granted full political rights to participate in the political process

(Gwartney & Lawson, 2004) and they have fairly limited established channels to participate in

politics (“Freedom House Index,” 2012). Free elections have not been implemented and what

passes for elections in China are only a measure to balance the interest of the governmental

agencies or the re-allocation of the existing political resources (Li, 2011; Shi, 1997). Due to the

significance of political engagement in forming a strong and active society, examining the

factors contributing to political engagement is important, especially in authoritarian countries

with limited political rights and channels. Many studies in western countries suggest that people

with larger social network size and social capital are more likely to be involved in civic and

political participation (e.g., McClurg, 2003; Zukin et al., 2006; Valenzuela, Park, & Kee, 2009).

With the diffusion of the internet, people have more opportunities to enlarge their social network

size and get social capital online, which allows people to express themselves, exchange

information, and interact with other internet users more than before. It is possible that social

interactions increase dramatically among online “friends” from diverse backgrounds with the

frequent information transmission among them. Civic and political participation is inherent in the

structure of social relations between and among citizens, and it could be an accidental by-product

of social interactions (Coleman, 1990). Therefore, whether online social capital can predict

political participation has aroused many scholars’ interest, especially in authoritarian countries.

In Mainland China, the content of traditional media outlets are firmly controlled by the

government. Consequently, people do not have sufficient public platforms to express themselves

and then struggle to have their opinions heard by the public. Compared to the traditional media


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outlets, people on the internet enjoy the greatest freedom of speech and expression in China.

Scholars, therefore, expect that this new platform could offer people more opportunities to be

involved in political activities, although censorship on the internet still exists in many different

practices (Shen, Wang, Guo, & Guo, 2009).

This study will focus on the use of social network sites (SNSs), online social capital, and

online political expression. The reason SNSs will be examined is that this technology might

facilitate ordinary people to speak and be heard in public, thus increasing the possibility of a

bigger social network size to be cultivated. Additionally, SNSs help with the creation of online

social capital, which might help in facilitating political participation. Currently, the most popular

SNSs in China is Sina Weibo, viewed as the Chinese twitter, which has 503 million registered

users at the end of 2012 (Ong, 2013), and about 100 million messages are posted each day there

(Cao, 2012). For the reasons listed above, we will explore whether the use of this 140-Chinese-

character micro blogging site, Sina Weibo, can promote social capital and online political

expression, and whether social capital mediates the relationship between Sina Weibo use and

political expression in online community. The biggest contribution of this research lies in

examining whether SNSs is an alternative channel for creating social capital, and exploring an

alternative way to facilitate people’s political expression and to build a more active political

environment in authoritarian countries.

Defining social capital, bridging and bonding social capital

Social capital is a multidimensional construct. According to Coleman (1988), social

capital is the production of regular and recurring social interaction, which facilitates particular

forms of social activities and collaboration (Greeley, 1977). Putnam defines social capital as

connections among individuals (Putnam, 2000). But social capital is also explained as a feature


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(Putnam, 1995 a, b), a process (Newton, 1997), a cause and an effect (Coleman, 1988; Foley &

Edwards, 1997; Putnam, 2000). Social capital also refers to “the sum of the resources, actual or

virtual, that accrue to an individual or a group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more

or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition” (Bourdieu &

Wacquant, 1992, p.14). Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe (2007) note that the term is used

differentiate between scholars based on the context, goals, and the nature of the relationship. In

this study, we mainly regard social capital as the production, connection, and cause. Specifically,

social capital is considered as a production of interaction in Sina Weibo, a connected relationship

between users, and a cause to promote online political expression.

There are a lot of different dimensions in social capital construct, among which, the

biggest distinction might be between bridging and bonding social capital (Putnam, 2000). They

result from different norms and networks (Putnam, 2000). Williams (2006) did a comprehensive

review of social capital scholarship noting that bridging social capital happens when individuals

from diverse backgrounds make connections between social networks, whereas bonding social

capital occurs when strongly tied individuals, having little diversity in their backgrounds, have

stronger personal connections. More concretely, bridging social capital is produced from weak-

tie social networks, while bonding social capital is promoted from strong-tie social networks.

According to the different ways of generations, the strengths of bridging social capital and

bonding social capital are discernable. That is, bridging social capital may broaden worldviews

or provide opportunities for getting information or new resources; in contrast, bonding social

capital may provide emotional or essential support for each other in the social networks.

Social capital and political participation


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Certainly, social capital in SNSs does not guarantee political participation; however,

many scholars support the assumptions that social capital is related to political participation.

Putnam (1995 a, b) argues that features of social life-networks, norms and trust generated from

social connections and interactions can enhance social trust among strangers, foster the sense of

community, and enable participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectives,

which might be beneficial to mobilize collective actions. However, with social capital decreasing

in communities, distrust among community members occurs and civic participation decreases

(Ellison et al, 2007). Shah (1998) explains that although social capital is a general concept of

social connections and interactions, rather than an inborn political concept, it has essential

implications for political activities.

Based on these rationales, a lot of empirical work has supported that social capital can

facilitate individuals’ participation. Wilson and Musick (1997) suggested that informal social

interaction, such as frequent conversation and gatherings with friends and acquaintances, is

positively related to formal volunteering and informal helping. La Due Lake and Huckfeldt

(1997) specifically focus on politically relevant social capital, which is generated from network

size, political knowledge level in the network and frequency of political interactions. In light of

this work, La Due Lake and Huckfeldt (1997) suggest that possession of politically relevant

social capital enhances the likelihood that a citizen participates in political activities. Therefore,

the close link with participation is one of the important reasons that researchers in the political

field concentrate on the study of social capital. After realizing the erosion of social capital might

have impact on the declining rate of voter turnout and participation with a cross-sectional data

(Putnam, 1995), a great deal of analysis examines the causes of the decline in social capital (e.g.,


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Putnam, 1995 b; Norris, 1996) and explores what types of networks and platforms can

effectively generate social capital, such as media.

Internet use and social capital

When examining the factors contributing to social capital, media use has always been one

of the central concerns (e.g., Putnam, 2000; Norris, 1996). Due to certain technological

affordances of the internet, an increasing number of studies have attempted to explore the

influence of the internet on formation, sustenance and erosion of social capital. Researchers

suggest that the internet has been linked both to decreases and increases in social capital.

Echoing Putnam’s (2000) “time displacement hypothesis,” some scholars argued that connecting

with others in online environments might undermine traditional face-to-face interactions, which

then might diminish an individual’s social capital (e.g., Nie, 2001; Kraut et al., 1998). Some

researchers, however, viewed the internet use and online interaction as a potential solution for

solving declining social capital problems (e.g., Ellison et al, 2007; Valenzuela, Park, & Kee,

2009). Holding different opinions regarding pessimists and optimists, Wellman and colleagues

(Wellman, Haase, Witte, & Hampton, 2001) indicated when the internet engages people in

asocial activities, it will take people away from community life or political involvement. In

contrast, when people use the internet for communication purposes, it may help build social

connections and promote engagement.

Existing literature also suggests that even for social purposes, different platforms of the

internet may generate different dimensions of social capital. For example, being involved in

interactive online environments may promote online bridging social capital, such as engaging in

forums or posting on blogs (Skoric et al, 2009); while some instant chatting tools, such as

WeChat, What’s Up, msn, have advantages in maintaining close relationships. Therefore, the


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internet cannot be viewed as a unitary platform when exploring whether it promotes social

capital and what types of social capital it generates or maintains. In this study, one of the specific

uses of the internet, SNSs, is studied to explore its impact on social capital.

For SNSs, as one of the platforms of the internet, it is worthy to explore how bridging

and bonding social capital formation occurs in this specific site where online and offline

connections are closely coupled (Ellison et al., 2007). Donath and boyd (2004) hypothesize that

SNSs could greatly generate and maintain weak ties, while not greatly increase strong ties, since

the technology is well suited to form and maintain weak ties cheaply and easily. Ellison and

colleagues (2007) support this hypothesis by finding that the use of Facebook facilitates both

bonding as well as bridging social capital; yet, Facebook usage has less impact on bonding than

bridging social capital. Valenzuela and colleagues (2009) suggest that there are significant, but

not strong, relationships between the intensity of Facebook use and students’ life satisfaction,

social trust, civic engagement and political participation.

In the following part, Sina Weibo, one of the most popular SNSs in China, will be

explored to study whether the intensity use of it can generate or maintain bridging and bonding

social capital in an authoritarian country.

Features of Sina Weibo and online Social Capital

Online relationships are largely supported by technologies. It is possible that new forms

of social capital and relationship building will occur in online SNSs (Ellison et al, 2007). There

are a number of features of Sina Weibo contributing to individual level production of social

capital.

Sina Weibo, as a communication platform channeled through the internet, can

dramatically reduce the costs of maintaining a larger social network and connect people in a


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shared communication environment across the globe by eliminating time and space constraints as

other SNSs (Valenzuela, Kim, & De Zuniga, 2011). Sina Weibo users can easily search their

family members or pre-existing friends, and add them as their online friends. Interaction among

these types of people and the creation of community loyalty is possible for bonding social capital

to occur in the online social world (Skoric et al, 2009). It is therefore proposed that:

H1: Intensity of Sina Weibo use will be positively associated with people’s online

bonding social capital.

In addition to maintaining pre-existing friends, Sina Weibo also provides the affordance

to allow users to follow people from diverse backgrounds based on their interest. Furthermore,

Sina executives invite and persuade many Chinese celebrities, famous foreign individuals and

organizations to join this network, which allows users to follow entertainment celebrities, public

and media figures, government departments and officials, etc. Due to limited channels to connect

with public elites in China, the building of this platform dramatically increases the probability

for people to contact and even interact with media figures, influential people and government

officials. Sina Weibo supports weak ties and allows users to create and maintain larger, diffuse

networks of relationships, from which they could potentially draw resources (Donath & boyd,

2004; Wellman et al. 2001). Therefore, bridging social capital might be augmented by use of

Sina Weibo.

Besides expanding social network size, Sina Weibo increases connections and

interactions among users through abundant, instant information transmission. First, Sina Weibo

facilitates its users to express ideas and share information by posting messages as well as

forwarding and commenting on other users’ posts. All messages distributed will be shown in

their followers’ Sina Weibo webpage. Once their followers forward or comment on these


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messages, then the followers’ followers will have chances to read these messages. Therefore, the

dramatic increase of available information from diverse backgrounds will foster the

heterogeneity and richness of information transmission (Donath & boyd, 2004; Huckfeldt, Beck,

Dalton, & Levine, 1995). Second, Sina Weibo allows users to conduct real-time communication.

Users can post the news instantly after it happened, and can get real-time feedback in the forms

of reposting or commenting from other microblog accounts (Wang, 2011). The high degree of

responsiveness and reflexivity helps interactive communication (Stromer-Galley, 2000). Third,

Sina Weibo allows users to mention any other users (i.e., whether a pre-existing friends or a

government official), when posting, forwarding, and commenting a message, then the users who

are mentioned will be reminded by the Sina Weibo system to read the message and they will

have a chance to respond the message. With this technology affordance, ordinary people can

contact any influential people who have Sina Weibo accounts to report and ask them to help

distribute public and political issues, such as unfair treatment, bribery and corruption, which

cannot be solved through normal legal means. Interaction is not easy to develop among citizens

and political leaders in traditional mass media environments due to technology restrictions

(Stromer-Galley, 2000), particularly in an authoritarian country. Therefore, discussion

involvement and communication interaction in Sina Weibo might broaden users’ social horizons

and make users feel connected to this community, which will make bridging social capital occur

in Sina Weibo. It is therefore proposed that:

H2: Intensity of Sina Weibo use will be positively associated with people’s online

bridging social capital.

Sina Weibo Use, Social Capital and Political Expression


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Political participation covers a wide spectrum. The canonical definition of political

participation refers to those legal activities by individual citizens that are more or less directly

aimed at influencing government action by affecting public policymaking (Verba, Schlozman, &

Brady, 1995). Hence, participation is the means through which peoples’ desires, interests, and

demands are communicated and made known to the government and politicians. However, the

bureaucratic structure of non-democratic governments makes the dynamics between people and

political actors differ from established democratic societies. In non-democratic countries, the

central authorities are not elected through free, open, and competitive general elections.

Therefore, the canonical measures of political participation such as voting, referendums, and

legal demonstrations cannot cover and explain participatory behaviors in such countries. Under

such circumstances, when the legal or established channel of political expression is constrained,

people might seek alternative ways to lobby governmental officials.

Political use of SNSs, as a new category of online political activity in democratic

countries (Nam, & Stromer-Galley, 2012), may also have potential to foster an active civil

society in non-democratic countries through political expression and interaction within it.

Valenzuela and colleagues (2012) argue that larger online networks and weak-tie discussion

frequency are associated with online participation, since people nested in larger networks are

more likely to encounter politically relevant information that mobilizes collective activities

(Verba et al., 1995). Also, bridging social capital can provide more knowledge on public issues

through networking (Cross, Parker, & Sasson, 2003). Those who use social media for news and

information are more likely to activate their social connections around civic and political

activities and consequently, they also participate more (De Zuniga, & Valenzuela, 2011).


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In Mainland China, it is prevalent for netizens to use Sina Weibo to discuss public issues

reported by media or revealed by ordinary people with both strong ties and weak ties, to join

public issues discussion group to express their own opinions and comment on others’ ideas, and

to contact media figures or influential people to nail bribery and corruption, etc. According to

Stromer-Galley (2012), “unstructured political conversation occurring spontaneously is an

important component of a functioning democracy” (p. 135). This online political expression from

bottom to top has influence on government supervision, policymaking, legal construction and

institutional improvement (Yu, 2012). Therefore, online political expression will be examined in

this study among a variety of online expressive political activities.

Based on this prior work, the following hypotheses are proposed:

H3: Bridging social capital in Sina Weibo will positively associated with online political

expression.

H4: Bonding social capital in Sina Weibo will positively associated with online political

expression.

H5: Intensity of Sina Weibo use is positively associated with online political expression.

H6: Bridging social capital mediates the relationship between intensity of Sina Weibo

use and political expression in Sina Weibo.

Methods

Sample and procedures

To fulfill the goals of this study, a web-based survey was conducted from April 1 to April

12, 2013. The original survey was designed in English and translated into Chinese and then was

posted on wenjuanxing (http://www.sojump.com), an online survey hosting site, to generate an

online survey link. The survey link with a short description of the study was posted on social


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networks and instant chatting tools, such as sina weibo.com, renren.com, facebook.com, qq

chatting tool, to recruit subjects and collect data. To collect questionnaires, the snowball

sampling method, widely used in qualitative research, is borrowed to collect the survey data.

Specifically, the author posted the survey link in Sina Weibo, and then invited the author’s

followers to fill out the questionnaire and forward the survey link. After “friends” retweet it, the

followers of author’s followers will have a chance to see the survey link, fill it out and distribute

it again. Also, when the author posted the survey link in Sina Weibo, the author mentioned or

sent private messages to people the author is following, some of whom are influential people

with millions of followers, to ask them to fill out the questionnaire and retweet the survey link.

Only Sina Weibo users aged 18 and above were qualified to participate in the survey. Prior to the

survey, respondents were assured of confidentiality and anonymity.

A total of 322 people completed the online survey. After data cleaning, a final sample of

306 completed questionnaires were received. Of these valid respondents, 122 (39.9%) reported

their gender as male and 184 (60.1%) as female. Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 69, with

an average of 27.81 (Median=27, SD=6.44). Demographic information about Sina Weibo users

was not available; therefore, it is not clear whether a bias existed in regards to survey

participation. When compared to the demographic breakdown of the total population of internet

users in China with that of our sample, some differences are found. Female, younger, education

and income were heavily overrepresented in this research compared with CNNIC (China Internet

Network Information Center). In other word, the sample in this research includes more females,

younger, more educated and with higher income compared with internet users sample CNNIC

investigated by the end of 2012 (As shown in Table 1 for sample demographics).

| Table 1 inserts here |


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Measures

Bonding social capital in Sina Weibo. Bonding social capital measures were based on

the Internet Social Capital Scales devised by Williams (2006). Using a 5-point scale, respondents

were asked their level of agreement ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) with

the following statement: there are several people in Sina Weibo I trust to help solve my

problems; there is someone in Sina Weibo I can turn to for advice about making very important

decisions; I don’t know people in Sina Weibo well enough to get them to do anything important

(reversed); the people I interact with in Sina Weibo would help me fight an injustice. Four items

were added to create an index of bonding social capital in Sina Weibo (Cronbach’s Alpha =0.64,

M=13.26, SD=2.12).

Bridging social capital in Sina Weibo. Similar to bonding social capital measures,

bridging capital was also revised from the Internet Social Capital Scales created by Williams

(2006). Bridging social capital items in this research included: interacting with people in Sina

Weibo makes me interested in things that happen outside of my town; interacting with people in

Sina Weibo makes me interested in what people unlike me are thinking; interacting with people

in Sina Weibo makes me feel like part of a larger community; interacting with people in Sina

Weibo reminds me that everyone in the world is connected. Bridging indices utilized a 5-point

Likert scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree. Four items were added to

create an index of bridging social capital in Sina Weibo (Cronbach’s Alpha =0.79, M=14.92,

SD=2.15).

Intensity of Sina Weibo use. Messages reading, forwarding, commenting and posting

are the core functions supported by Sina Weibo and also the main uses for Sina Weibo users.

Therefore, frequency of these four functions’ use can be employed for measuring intensity of


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Sina Weibo use (1=Never and 5=Always). Respondents were asked four questions about how

often they read the messages others post in Sina Weibo; how often they forward the messages

others post in Sina Weibo; how often they comment on others post in Sina Weibo; and how often

they post messages in Sina Weibo. Four items were added to create an index of intensity of Sina

Weibo use (Cronbach’s Alpha=0.82, M=12.31, SD=2.85).

Political expression. Five items were used to assess the degree of online political

expression. Respondents were asked to rate on a 5-point scale (where 1=Never and 5=Always)

how often they express views about politics or government to their “friends” in Sina Weibo; how

often they join discussions about political or public related issues in Sina Weibo; how often they

contact governments’ Sina Weibo or government officials’ Sina Weibo to reveal political issues

or express political related opinions; how often they contact media or media figures in Sina

Weibo to reveal political issues or express political related opinions; and how often they contact

influential people (not government officials) in Sina Weibo to reveal political issues or express

political related opinions. Five items were added to create an index of political expression in Sina

Weibo (Cronbach’s Alpha=0.86, M=11.91, SD= 3.57).

Control Variables

Four demographic variables were included as controls: gender, age, education, and

personal annual income. Gender was coded as a dichotomy (male=1, female=0), with females

over than males (females: 60.1%). Age was measured by self-reported (M=27.81, Mdn=27,

SD=6.44). Education was a five-point ordinal variable spanning from lower than high school

including high school to higher than doctoral education including doctoral education (M=3.31,

Mdn=3---Bachelor’s degree, SD=.74). Respondents were asked to report the highest level of

formal education completed. For income, each respondent chose one of 6 categories of total


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personal annual income in Chinese Yuan (Mean=2.78, Mdn=2---30,000-60,000 Yuan/ Year,

SD=1.64).

Results

The measurement model

In order to test the proposed hypotheses, structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis

was employed for testing how the intensity of Sina Weibo use predicts social capital and political

expression, and how bridging social capital mediates the relationships between Sina Weibo use

and political expression. The measurement model examines how well the survey items measure

the latent variables. The intensity of Sina Weibo use, bonding social capital, bridging social

capital and political expression are four latent variables in this study. These latent variables and

four control variables are all included in the measurement model. The model lacks of satisfactory

model fit by looking at the Chi-squared statistics (X2=301.70, df=163, p<. 001), which might be

the result of the small sample size. However, the measurement model fits the data well with

Bentler Comparative Fit Index (CFI) being .93 and the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) being .91 and

the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) being .05. These suggest that the

measurement model fit is satisfactory in this study.

The structural model

The structural model is an acceptable fit model, with X2= 341.718 (df = 161, p< .001),

CFI= .913, TLI= .887, RMSEA= .061). H1, that intensity of Sina Weibo use will be positively

associated with people’s bonding social capital in Sina Weibo, was supported (b=.501, p<.001).

H2, that intensity of Sina Weibo use will be positively associated with people’s bridging social

capital in Sina Weibo, was also supported (b=.427, p<.001). These findings indicate that the use

of Sina Weibo can promote both bonding and bridging social capital. H3 and H4 tested that


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bridging and bonding social capital in Sina Weibo will be positively associated with online

political expression. Only hypothesis 3 was supported but with marginal effect. It indicates that

people having more bridging social capital were more inclined to express politically relevant

issues in Sina Weibo (b=.138, p=.05). H5 hypothesized that the intensity of Sina Weibo use is

positively associated with online political expression. This direct effect of Sina Weibo use on

political expression was supported (b=.266, p<.001). However, H6, that bridging social capital

mediates the relationship between the intensity of Sina Weibo use and political expression in

Sina Weibo, was rejected. No indirect effect of the Sina Weibo use through bridging social

capital on political expression was found in this model.

For control variables, only gender in demographic variables showed a significant

relationship with political expression (b=.195, p<.01). It suggested that males are more likely to

express political relevant issues than females in this study. Age, education and income did not

show any significant associations with any latent variables.

| Figure 1 inserts here |

The revised model

The direct relationship between bonding social capital and political expression was not

supported in the hypothesized model; this direct relationship was, therefore, excluded in the

revised model. The revised model achieved acceptable fit statistics with CFI=.914, TLI=.888,

RMSEA=.060, although X2=341.816 (df=162, p<.001). In terms of fit statistics, this revised

model seems to fit the data a little bit better compared with the hypothesized model.

In the revised model, H1, that intensity of Sina Weibo use will be positively associated

with people’s online bonding social capital, was supported with a little bit higher effect size than

the hypothesized model (b=.502, p<.001). H2, that intensity of Sina Weibo use will be positively


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associated with people’s online bridging social capital, was also supported (b=.427, p<.001).

This is the similar result as what we got in the hypothesized model. H3, that bridging social

capital in Sina Weibo will be positively associated with online political expression, is still

supported here with higher effect size and more significant value (b=.145, p<.05). H5

hypothesized that intensity of Sina Weibo use is positively associated with online political

expression. This direct effect of Sina Weibo use on political expression was supported and also

with higher effect size (b=.275, p<.001). Interestingly, H6, that bridging social capital mediates

the relationship between intensity of the Sina Weibo use and political expression in Sina Weibo,

which was previously rejected, is now supported in this revised model (b=.062, p<.05). This

result suggests that the indirect effect of the Sina Weibo use through bridging social capital on

political expression was significant, although the effect size is marginal.

Comparing the fit of hypothesized model to revised model, this revised model fits the

data better from fit statistics. Also it is more parsimonious and has more explanatory power; the

revised model, therefore, is preferred in this study.

| Figure 2 inserts here |

Discussion

In this study, the intensity of Sina Weibo use was found having positive associations with

both bridging and bonding social capital, with basic demographic variables being controlled. It

indicated that the social network site serves an important role in both strengthening pre-existing

close bonding ties and developing bridging weak ties.

The findings indicated that bridging social capital in Sina Weibo was positively

associated with online political expression, while there is no significance for bonding social

capital predicting online political expression. It suggested that bridging social capital is more


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consequential for political expression than bonding social capital is. This finding is largely in

line with the existing studies from western societies as well. Many empirical studies indicate that

individuals with more diverse networks and bridging social capital are more inclined to engage

in civic and political activities (e.g., De Zuniga & Valenzuela, 2011; Granovetter, 1973; Son &

Lin, 2008). One of the explanations is that bridging capital is better suited to produce

informational resources that are useful for citizens to be knowledgeable of political related issues

and might let people be involved in political activities. Granovetter (1973) argued that weak ties

provide information and resources that individuals do not find in their immediate environment

with relatives and close friends. In other words, discussion content varies from close friends and

families to friends beyond one’s inner circle. Therefore, the diversity of opinions produced by

weak ties in social network sites enables citizens to see new perspectives and widen their

horizons, and then stimulates information learning and offers new opportunities for expression.

This study found that the intensely people use Sina Weibo, the more likely they are going

to express political or public related issues. In this study, the intensity of Sina Weibo use, a latent

variable, was operationalized by the frequency of messages reading, forwarding, commenting

and posting in Sina Weibo. Obviously, political expression in Sina Weibo can also be regarded

as one of the forms of Sina Weibo use. Therefore, a direct strong association between the

intensity of Sina Weibo use and political expression was expected and has been supported. It is

reasonable that the more people use sina weibo, the more they have opportunities to be exposed

to messages and exchange information with other users. The accidental political messages

generated and distributed by these main uses in Sina Weibo may make political expression more

likely.


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In our revised model, the result indicates that the positive relationship between the

intensity of Sina Weibo use and political expression is mediated by bridging social capital. This

finding is consistent with what Shen et al. (2009) found in their research on online network size

mediating the internet use and general online opinion expression. Shen et al. (2009) analyzed that

by linking anonymous and geographically disperse individuals together, the internet allows users

to feel a stronger sense of belonging, and hence individuals are more likely to speak out and

organize collective actions. Paralleling the internet use study to SNSs use study, it is also

supported that using social network sites eases connection with others and promotes bridging

social capital. When users felt themselves a part of the Sina Weibo community and connected

with others, their social network site use makes online political expression more likely to occur.

Therefore, the intense use of Sina Weibo is helpful for facilitating political expression through

bridging social capital factor, although the effect size is marginal in our study. It is also

reasonable to assume that Sina Weibo use and bridging social capital as predictors of political

expression can be operationalized to other SNSs with the similar features or functions as Sina

Weibo.

The findings of this study are largely consistent with existing literature in western

countries. It suggested that regularities in relationships between social network use, social capital,

and political expression seem to be without cultural boundaries. In China, traditional media is

under severe censorship and freedom of information is hindered. Also, people have limited

channels to engage in political activities. With the use of SNSs, people have more opportunities

to expand their social network size and hear more voices, rather than only getting information

through government controlled mass media. Through formation of weak ties, people are able to

exchange information beyond their inner circle. This is beneficial for cultivating an active online


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opinion expression environment, and political expression can be easier to happen in this kind of

active online environment. Because the traditional channels for government-citizen interaction

are constrained, it is currently prevalent for people to contact media figures and influential

people in Sina Weibo to complain and report political concerns. People hope online media and

influential people diffuse these concerns and then bring pressure to governments; consequently,

these concerns can attract attentions from the governments. This should be regarded as an

alternative way of political action to make political concerns known to the Chinese government.

Therefore, Sina Weibo use and the social capital produced there are important factors for

promoting greater political expression and engagement online. It suggests that social network

sites may create new spaces for political expression and participation in authoritarian countries,

where the content of traditional media is highly censored and the cost of online political

participation is significantly lower than in real life.

This study has several limitations. The biggest limitation is the convenience and snowball

sampling method use, which might have the problems of generalizability. A web-based survey

was conducted and the online survey link was posted in the author’s social network site, and then

was forwarded with the help of author’s Sina Weibo “friends”. Therefore, the main sample of

this study is researcher’s Sina Weibo followers and followers’ followers, which may result in a

homogeneous sample rather than a representative sample. The sample participants in this study

are younger, more educated, and higher income compared with the internet user sample in

CNNIC. Second, although this study supports that Sina Weibo use and bridging social capital

can predict online political expression, the lack of offline social capital measures does not allow

this study to conclude that these relationships can be only attributed to intensity of use and online

bridging social capital. The causal relationship between the intensity use of Sina Weibo and


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online political expression cannot be concluded. For future studies, researchers can compare both

online and offline political expression, and compare both users and non-users of Sina Weibo. By

doing this, researchers can tell the differences between Sina Weibo users and non-users in

political expression, and also can predict whether the use of this platform can also predict offline

political expression. It is also interesting and meaningful to explore whether online social capital

have any impact on offline political expression. To study these enable to help us understand how

SNSs facilitate political activities both online and offline from diverse perspectives.


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Table 1: Demographic Comparison

Internet users in CNNIC Sina Weibo user in our sample (n=306)

Gender Male: 55.8%

Female: 44.2%

Male: 39.9%

Female: 60.1%

Age

20-29: 30.4%

30-39: 25.3%

40-49: 12.4%

50-59: 4.4%

>60: 1.8%

18-19:1%

20-29:80%

30-39, 13.1%

40-49: 3%

50-59:2.6%

>60:0.3

Education High school: 78.8%

Tech school: 9.8%

>=University: 11.3%

High school: 1.6

Technical school: 8.8%

>=University: 89.5%

(Bachelor degree: 49.3%

Master degree: 37.6%

Doctorate degree: 2.6%)

Income Less than 24,000: 53.2%

24,000-60,000: 36.4%

60,000-96,000: 5.6%

>96,000:4.7%

Less than 30,000: 28.1%

30,000-60,000: 24.5%

60,000-90,000: 16.7%

>90,000: 30.8%

(90,000-120,000:13.4%

120,000-150,000: 6.9%

>150,000:10.5%)

Note: Data collected by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center) at the end of Dec, 2012.


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Who You @ Today? : The Mediating Impact of Social Capital on Sina Weibo Use and Political Expression...

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