Social Media as a Platform for Social Capital: A Study of Telegram Use during the 2017 Kermanshah Earthquake

Using social media before, during and after a hazard is becoming increasingly popular among public, governmental and non-governmental agencies as a platform for different purposes. In this regard, this study is aimed to explore the relationship between social media and social capital during the 2017 Kermanshah Earthquake. Since Telegram was the most popular social media among the Iranians at the time of earthquake striking, 54 Telegram channels have been explored that each of them had their purposes and followers. The results show Telegram was a foundation for building networks to support victims and affected people, access to information and news, concern about what the victims suffer, etc for Iranians during the disaster. There is some evidence which confirmed the relation between social media and the most important elements of social capital such as trust, participation, providing support and resource, collaboration. Evidence from Telegram Channels contents show social media is an advantage to shaping social capital or what Aldrich (2001) called it as the power of people by communicating, transferring knowledge, sharing resources, sending sympathy even distantly and linking users in an easy way.

Keywords:

Social media , Social network , Social capital , Telegram