What really matters from the point of view of social capital and civic engagement is not merely nominal membership, but active and involved membership.

Social capital may turn out to be a prerequisite for, rather than a consequence of, effective computer-mediated communication.

Look, we ought to do this for our kids... We ought to have a high school so that every kid who grows up here - they're all our kids - gets a good high school education.

School performance, public health, crime rates, clinical depression, tax compliance, philanthropy, race relations, community development, census returns, teen suicide, economic productivity, campaign finance, even simple human happiness - all are demonstrably affected by how (and whether) we connect with our family and friends and neighbours and co-workers.

Positive people have more friends which is a key factor of happiness and longevity.

Community connectedness is not just about warm fuzzy tales of civic triumph. In measurable and well-documented ways, social capital makes an enormous difference in our lives...Social capital makes us smarter, healthier, safer, richer, and better able to govern a just and stable democracy.

Most Americans watch Friends rather than having friends.