One very intersting aspect could be the bridging across borders or cultres as the case may be. Research has shown that bonding is a more common phenomenon rather than bridging but this needs to be looked into

Definitely its playing a bonding role as we communicate and stay in touch with our near and dear ones through social media and also through mobile phones.

Yes it is playing bonding role. We have cases that there are thousands of people who departed years ago and could not able to access one another, social media has become the source to unite them. Social media has now become a plateform where people do interact irrespective of their physical presence (one-on-one). As for as, different nations' case is there, social media is also playing a role to bridge their relations. And you must definitely know that social media (facebook) is now playing a role of matrimonial platform (website).

It could play a role provided internet access is available. In several developing countries on the African continent connections are poor, or none at all. Mozambique for example is one such country.

Digital social media play a central role of connecting migrantsall over the world. There are many different social plateforms to-day which are used by people having a common (geographic, linguistic, cultural) background or origin no matter where they are. But there exists also a huge pletora of web based services that enable people to connect, to share information and data and to virtually maintain and manage their relationships,

Sure social media plays bonding and bridging roles. Through social media we are able to create networks and stay in touch thereby creating a virtual friendship and closeness regardless of time or geographical distances.

It also bridges information gaps that many in the information starved nations would have suffered in the absence of social media tools like face book, twitter etc.

If you're interested, Cliff Lampe does a lot of research focused on social capital and social media use. His research is US-based, though, so the developing nations perspective is lacking.

The social media is not developing the social capital instead it is a source of spending your time there and sharing your ideas

If you define "social capital" in the sense of the French sociologue P. Bourdieu, the systematic use of social media can indeed contribute to your social capital through techniques such as social networking, e-reputation and notority, trendsetting, etc.

Thanks Dr. Peter and Katie for giving such interesting input

It is bonding at the international level but bridging at the close social level, we are more close to our distant friends and totally ignorant about whats happening in our circle.

Attia, if we use the definition quoted @Peter Stockinger by PBourdieu, it is bridging and bonding at both levels - in reality in some cases we may be spending more time bridging (the information gap) internationally, but neglect bonding (sharing) in our own circles which might be our own professional circle of colleagues or researchers around us locally - or do you mean circle of friends and family (which could also apply)? In our own professional circles we can run discussion and reading groups, to share information and opinions in real time, thereby achieving results in networking, reputation, notority, trendsetting, etc (as quoted in the definition). Social e-networking help us achieve the same internationally, which we can't achieve in real life because of distance. Some researchers however, prefer to achieve the results both internationally & locally by only e-networking, which is probably what you refer to..

I do a netnography on a forum on electronic music and clubbing. Fans participate. But also DJ, who use it to reach influencers and promote their music, and to obtain gigs/DJ set in clubs. I think this could be considered as bridging (?)

You also need to keep in mind what social media are you talking about specifically? All social media? Because different mediums (e.g., mobile social media like chat rooms, social networking media like Facebook, online games) have been found to contribute to bridging and bonding social capital in various ways.

I think social media is transforming our societies from Gesellschaft to Gemeinschaft societies. The concept of Gemeinschaft (community) and Gesellschaft (society) was introduced by Ferdinand Tonnies. Social media is bonding and bridging relations in three ways: Relations of mind; Relations of kinship; and Relations of locality.

Social media is definitely bonding and bridging relations as networks are created for smooth communication, moreover virtual friendship and bridging gaps in terms of geography are also experienced.

Dear Aniqa,

In Social Media we are facing the problems of "discussing groups" (see Cass R. Sunstein: Infotopia). This includes “fortification of errors” (what majority says is believed), “cascade effect” (non-experts rely on non-experts) and “polarisation” (homogeneous groups tend to develop extreme points of view).

Your social capital (your connections) is used to exchange (e.g. information); social media is helping you to extend your information, identity and relationship management.

Reduced to the ”bridging” and “bonding” in Social Media this can be interpreted as follows:

The advantage provided by social medial is mainly the persistence, the possibility to search and the recommendations, but the recommendations are mostly like "if you like XY, might like XYZ" and this is causing not only advantages.

The reason is simple: two similar users tend to have similar information and similar friends. The relation is therefore not very valuable, but strong as similarity causes trust and fast spreading of information. Building these relations is “Bonding” (connecting heterogeneous people). Social Media tends to expand your network in a way that people and information are like you, strengthening your point of view and repeating information and arguments, leading to harmony inside the group on the one hand side and extremism on the other. (See also “information cocoons”)

“Bridging” is creating heterogeneous groups, which are full of controversies, economic growth potential and new ideas, but the relations are weaker and members trust other members less. Information might not be spread very fast, but the variety of information and worldviews is huge and information can reach very far due to less redundancy inside of the group.

Summarizing: You can work against rebellion inside of groups by pursuing homogeneous groups (bonding) and you can increase innovative potential by building heterogeneous ones (bridging).

@Jaqueline Brinn, thank you for new insights, a typical example of bridging. You provided new directions for research.