Association of demographics, motives and intensity of using Social Networking Sites with the formation of bonding and bridging social capital in Pakistan

•Intensity of using SNS and gratification with university life were significant with bonding social capital.•Among motives of SNS use, communication and information, outward looking and self-actualization were positively associated with bonding and bridging social capital.•The factors which were significant with bridging social capital were intensity of using SNS, self-esteem and duration of use.•In association of demographics, education and monthly family income were insignificant with bonding and bridging social capital.

The objectives of this confirmatory study were to investigate the association of socio-economic demographics (age, education of respondent, gender, monthly family income, parentage education), motives (communication and information, self-actualization and outward looking) of using Social Networking Sites (SNSs) and attitudinal and behavior variable (intensity of using SNS, self-esteem, gratification with university life, duration of use, and number of ties) with the formation of bonding and bridging social capital. Total 461 students, aged 18–35 years filled the questionnaire, from randomly selected departments of University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Regression analysis was used to assess the association among variables. The study indicated that Facebook is the most popular SNS among university students in Pakistan. Intensity of using SNS, duration of using SNSs, and motives of using SNSs were found to be positively associated with formation of bonding and bridging social capital. Self-esteem and gratifications with university life were found to be significant predictors in formation of bonding social capital only. The demographics variables (education, parentage education, monthly family income) had no influence on formation of both bonding and bridging social capital.