Exploratory Research on Participation in the Internet Community and the Development of Social Networks in South Korea

Abstract

Blood ties, academic ties, and regional ties have been traditionally important social capital in South Korea. Reflecting on the unique social structure of South Korea, Internet communities based on blood ties, academic ties, and regional ties have developed in South Korea.This paper examined the relationships among participation aspects (participation time, visit frequency, posting frequency) and 3 variables: 1) participation of clan gathering•alumni association•hometown-rooted association, 2) the number of relatives• alumni• friends from one's hometown, 3) recognition of the utility from human relationships. Our research finds that participation time is relevant to the participation in an alumni association and the number of alumni. But, participation time is irrelevant to other variables. Visit frequency is not irrelevant to the 3 variables. When visit frequency is higher, the participation of clan gathering• alumni association• hometown-rooted association, the number of relatives•alumni•old-hometown's friends, and the sense of mutual benefit and the recognition of the merit system are all also higher. Posting frequency is not irrelevant to the 3 variables in the same way, like analysis results of visit frequency. This result means that blood ties, academic ties, and regional ties have 2 aspects of both personal relationships and social relationships.