Rebecca Ryan, author of Live First, Work Second, spoke at the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce luncheon last fall. During her presentation, she mentioned the importance of social capital to grow a city.

According to Wikipedia, social capital refers to the connections within and between social networks, and the belief that social networks have value, and in turn improve the productivity of individuals and groups. As individuals, we use these social networks through sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Our social capital can assist us in landing job interviews, grant us access to events with entertainers we enjoy, or help us find like minded individuals. Can social capital also improve our city?

In his pioneering study, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Harvard political scientist Robert D. Putnam wrote: “Henry Ward Beecher’s advice a century ago to ‘multiply picnics’ is not entirely ridiculous today. We should do this, ironically, not because it will be good for America — though it will be — but because it will be good for us.” Putnam found an overall decline in social capital in America over the past fifty years, which may be contributing to the degradation of American society.

There are two types of social capital, bonding and bridging. Bonding refers to social networks between homogeneous groups of people (such as sororities and fraternities) and bridging refers to that of social networks between socially heterogeneous groups (such as church choirs, bowling or recreational sports leagues).

It is believed that increased amounts of bridging social capital will reduce a multitude of social problems within a community, and society as a whole. This is linked to the result of individuals becoming connected to community problems through their interactions with individuals from different socio-economic backgrounds. For example, the wife of a successful physician may not feel the impacts of a budget cut to mass transit, but by being a member of a choir, she may meet the sister of a single mother who relies on the transit system for transportation. This humanizes the problem. Bridging social capital keeps social problems from getting out of hand by keeping individuals within two degrees of separation from social problems.

Is it possible that a lack of bridging social capital is contributing to the dissatisfaction among many Escambia County residents? Is it possible to eradicate many social problems simply by reaching out to our neighbors and becoming involved in our communities? Share your thoughts with us—it’s good for our community.