Social Capital

Here is my preflection on the art of social capital. First of all, the definition for the art of social capital is the advantage created by a person's location in a structure of relationships. It explains how some people gain more success in a particular setting through their superior connections to other people. For example, I've once heard of an example that represent the art of social capital. When PSEC needs a sociology teacher, the staff at PSEC asked the people they know like their collegues or their friends to see if they know any sociology instructors that would want to work at PSEC. The people that know the friends or collegues of PSEC staff would be part of the social capital. Because they know people, that is why and how they landed the job. Networking in one of the most often used example for social capital. factors as social networks, levels of participation in civil life (as a citizen) and levels of trust within communities are all associated with social capital. My source of media is an article about 'KING MEMORIAL FUND RAISING STEPPED UP: Foundation issues nationwide challenge to reach $80 million goal.' The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Foundation is calling on corporations, foundations, individuals and professional athletes to meet its goal of raising $3 million for the planned structure during Black History Month. Because King Memorial Foundation is well-known and supported by many famous figures, the goal will be reached based on social capital.
http://eurweb.com/story/eur31348.cfm

This is my reflection on the art of social capital. The definition of social capital is the collective values of all social network and the inclination that arise from these network to do things for each other. The slogan for social capital is basically "IT'S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, IT'S WHO YOU KNOW!" There are a variety of capital like economic capital, physical capital, political capital and presented at PSEC, the human capital. In order to achieve success, you need contact to a certain social network. For example, social capital at PSEC happens when different committees come and work together to build one PSEC community. Inside of social capital existed specific reciprocity. It's basically something like "I'll do this for you if you do this for me". It can easily fall apart when one failed to fulfill their part. For example, you have to buy me lunch for a month if you want me to give you rides everyday for a month. Specific reciprocity requires negotiation and can be quiet impersonal and need no sympathy toward one or others.
There's also general reciprocity. It's simply doing someone a favor without having anything in return. It often occurs between friends or family members or someone you trust or know very well. It strengthen and represent stronger bonds in social capital. Inside of social capital existed bonding and bridging. Bonding is social capital within a group. Bridging is building network across groups. We need both to create lots of social network.

Application: Since social capital is all about "It's not what you know, it's who you know", it's about connections with people. I always want to pursue psychology and so I constantly try to express my interest to people who want to listen. One of the staff at PSEC, Terry has a strong background in psychology. When I tell him i'm interested in psychology, he immediately said that he would be more than happy to hook me up with one of his friend psychologist and therefore, I could get an internship over the summer. Without Terry, I would have a truly hard time trying to get an intership from a professional psychologist. Hey, it's all about who you know, not what you know.