Our empirical results contrast with the anecdotal evidence dominating the popularpress. Although there are clearly some image management problems experienced bystudents as reported in the press, and the potential does exist for privacy abuses, ourfindings demonstrate a robust connection between Facebook usage and indicators ofsocial capital, especially of the bridging type. Internet use alone did not predict socialcapital accumulation, but intensive use of Facebook did.The strong linkage between Facebook use and high school connections suggestshow SNSs help maintain relations as people move from one offline community toanother. It may facilitate the same when students graduate from college, with alumnikeeping their school email address and using Facebook to stay in touch with thecollege community. Such connections could have strong payoffs in terms of jobs,internships, and other opportunities. Colleges may want to explore ways to encour-age this sort of usage.