Creating and Maintaining Filipino and Japanese Students Social Capital with Facebook

Abstract: This study investigated perceptions and patterns of Facebook use among Filipino and Japanese undergraduate students and the relationship of these factors to creating and maintaining students social capital, international posture, and willingness to communicate. The survey of undergraduate students was conducted online and 483 valid responses were obtained. Data revealed the characteristic uses of FB by Filipino and Japanese undergraduate students. An interrelation model among six factors, International Posture, WTC, Perception, Bridging, Bonding, and Utilization for Filipino students showed the importance of utilization or FB usage for bridging social capital and bonding social capital. For Japanese students, bonding social capital mediated between utilization or FB usage and bridging. Bridging social capital was established only through bonding social capital. Thus, unless Japanese students are close enough to their FB friends, they do not construct new relationships on FB that will influence Filipino students in the process of virtual internationalization in the future.