In more general terms, it has also been suggested that the capacity of the Internet in
particular to facilitate information sharing and individual participation can lead to the
growth of more demand-responsive services from the ‘bottom up’. Community-based
Internet projects offering easy-access to official public services, but also hosting
alternative, independent information and discussion sites may be one positive outcome
of the expansion of web-based provision (Burrows et al., 2000). As noted above, the
Internet also has the potential to supplement social capital by assisting individuals to
extend their personal networks (Wellman, 2001). There is some evidence that those who
become involved in the exchange of ideas and information on-line can often transfer
their ‘virtual’ activities and relationships to the ‘real’ world. Internet interactions can fill
the gaps left by a lack of face-to-face contacts, and also lead to the expansion of personal
networks in ‘physical space’, with positive outcomes in terms of access to social capital
(Wellman et al., 2001). As Carter and Grieco (2000) note (referring to the urban context)
the Internet can contribute to social capital building by empowering the individual and
developing networks, thus countering the enforced localism of life in disadvantaged and
isolated communities. Given the importance granted to social capital building as a means
of responding to exclusion in rural areas (Nel and McQuaid, 2002) it is unsurprising that
the Internet and other ICT innovations have been welcomed and promoted by policy
makers (Lindsay et al., 2001).
In the specific area of job seeking, developing individuals’ access to social capital by
expanding personal networks can be crucial. A number of recent studies of job seeking
have specifically stressed the importance of personal contacts and social networks to job
search success, particularly where opportunities are limited (Holzer, 1988; Hannan, 1999;
Ooka and Wellman, 2001). These findings support the conclusions of Granovetter’s
(1973, 1974, 1982) groundbreaking work, which originally highlighted the role of
personal contacts within the job search strategies deployed by higher skilled workers, but