Social Capital in relation to Screentime and Fear of Missing Out : A quantitative study that measures social capital in relation to screentime and fear of missing out

Abstract: Aim: The study will try to depict the current state of social capital in relation to fear of missing out and screentime hours on smartphone activities. Does the most frequently used social contexts create bridging capital but not enough bonding capital? The aim is to contribute to a larger understanding of what drives a sense of inclusion by different social capital within different social contexts. The study will investigate if there is a relationship between social capital, fear of missing out and what we spend our time on together with our smartphone by measuring screentime on the five largest social networking sites (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube).  Method: This study has been conducted with a quantitative approach of using an electronic survey. The sample investigated was Generation Z, defined as people born between 1997 and 2004.  Previous theory and prior research have been analyzed as the basis for this work and then implemented into a survey for data collection. The survey was made in the tool Survey and report. Requests for participation was made via a convenience sample in geographical proximity to Karlstad University.  The survey was mainly distributed with QR-codes placed on different locations throughout Karlstad University. The results of the survey have been processed and analyzed through the statistical analysis program SPSS.   Result & Conclusions: The results of this study conclude that there is a significant correlation between FOMO and bridging social capital in this sample. The driving factors behind this correlation can only partly be explained by the results from the survey. With non-valid questions regarding hours together with a slight skewness in the sample, it is not possible to generalize these results to the population. The result of this study can however be seen as a significant result in a specific group that could inspire to more in-depth research on a greater scale. Suggestions for future research: The correlation in this study explains about 20% of the variation of FOMO by bridging capital and wise versa, leaving 80% unexplored. Future research can be carried out using the same theory for social capital but develop this future with additional theories for e.g., social context.  If future research investigated a broader sample of generation Z, it would also be interesting to compare them to other target groups (e.g., generation X or Y), examining differences between and within these groups.