Building virtual bridges: how rural micro-enterprises develop social capital in online and face-to-face settings

Townsend, L., Wallace, C., Smart, A. and Norman, T. (2016) Building virtual bridges: how rural micro-enterprises develop social capital in online and face-to-face settings. Sociologia Ruralis, 56(1), pp. 29-47. (doi: 10.1111/soru.12068)

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Abstract

In rural UK, businesses are often isolated and have much to gain from healthy networks, yet studies show that many rural business owners fail to network effectively. Information communications technologies offer new ways to network that might benefit rural businesses by expanding their reach. This study looked at online and face-to-face networking behaviour among rural micro-enterprises in Scotland in relation to the development of bonding and bridging social capital. Given the challenges of remoteness faced by many rural businesses, online networking is particularly useful in developing bridging capital, but is an unsuitable context for building the trust needed to gain tangible benefits. The article therefore highlights the importance of face-to-face interactions in developing trust and bonding social capital. Rural business owners face distinctive challenges with respect to online communications, which are explored in this article.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Smart, Dr Alison
Authors: Townsend, L., Wallace, C., Smart, A., and Norman, T.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
Journal Name:Sociologia Ruralis
Publisher:Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ISSN:0038-0199
ISSN (Online):1467-9523
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2014 The Authors
First Published:First published in Sociologia Ruralis 56(1):29-47
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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