비대면 상황에서의 온라인 커뮤니티 활동이 삶 만족도에 미치는 영향: 코로나19 이전(2017년)과 이후(2021년) 비교를 중심으로

Abstract

본 연구는 코로나19 펜데믹 전인 2017년과 이후인 2021년의 한국미디어패널 데이터를 활용 하여 사회적 자본 관점에서 온라인 커뮤니티 활동과 삶의 만족도에 미치는 영향에 대해 연령과 시기를 비교분석하였다. 전국 조사대상자 중 만13세 이상을 대상으로 수집된 2017년(8,907 명)과 2021년(9,820명)의 응답 데이터를 분석하여 온라인 커뮤니티 활동과 사회적 자본 간의 관계를 밝히고, 각 시기, 연령 간 삶의 만족도에 어떠한 차이가 나타나는지 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 결속적 온라인 활동을 많이 할수록 삶의 만족도에 정(+)의 영향을 미치고, 연령의 조절 효과는 결속적 온라인 활동에서만 통계적으로 유의하게 삶의 만족도에 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 이전의 선행연구에서 온라인 활동과 개인의 사회적 자본에 대해 논의되어 왔지만, 본 연구를 통해 비대면 상황과 대면 상황에서 연도별로 비교함으로써 삶의 만족도와 연령 간 차이, 시기별 차이를 다루며 사회적 자본의 확장 측면에서 실증적으로 다루었다는 데에 의의가 있다. 이러한 실증적 연구를 통해 미디어 이용 변화와 커뮤니케이션 유형의 변화 등을 고찰하 여 비대면 상황에서의 사회적 상호작용이 온라인을 매개로 확산된다는 점에서 인적 네트워크 형성과 사회자본 축적의 가능성을 제시한다는 점에서 의의가 있을 것이다.

The spread of new media rapidly shifted from face-to-face communication-oriented interactions to online-oriented non-face-to-face communication interactions, and served as a catalyst for changing the shape and direction of interpersonal relationships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has served as a motivation to create and spread new communication methods, and the increase in online activities suggests the possibility that it can affect life satisfaction through interaction through interpersonal relationship formation and continuation. As non-face-to-face dailyization occurs, the relationship between connected social capital and bound social capital may appear mixed online and offline. Therefore, it will be meaningful that online activities can play an important role in that they can have a positive effect on the formation of offline social capital as well as online by expanding the relationship from the perspective of offline communication. Accordingly, this study categorizes online activities into three activities: online community activities, Internet news and discussion board activities, online participation, and knowledge production activities. Third, by integrally analyzing the differences in online community activities before and after COVID-19, the effect of online community activities on life satisfaction is verified, and finally, the moderating effect of age in the relationship between online activities and life satisfaction is analyzed. This study aims to derive new connective implications of social capital through how individual social networks are formed online, how they can be digitized before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the results of this analysis. Social capital is conceptualized as a resource of a social network, and social resources form solidarity within the network. In other words, social capital is achieved by forming a personal network in the form of acquiring or lending resources of members. Social capital is viewed as a resource of a social network, and it can be said that interactions occur through the solidarity of individuals and others within the network, and values and norms between actors are established and maintained. In this study, the divided detailed categories were categorized into online community activities, online participation, and knowledge production activities. Online community activities included Internet clubs, cafes, and clubs, and online participation and knowledge production activities included Internet news and discussion bulletin board activities. Based on this, this study attempts to distinguish the types of online activities by applying three types of online community activities, Internet news and discussion board activities, online participation, and knowledge production activities to the concept of connected and connected social capital. The following research model was established from the perspective of social capital to verify the difference in online community activities between 2017 and 2021 before the COVID-19 pandemic and the factors affecting individual subjective life satisfaction. Social capital in online activities was divided into the concept of linked capital and bound capital, and the relationship between online community activities and life satisfaction was verified. Life satisfaction was verified for the sum of personal, relational, and collective life satisfaction and each detailed satisfaction. In addition, an empirical analysis was conducted on how the difference in online community activity according to age group affects life satisfaction with age as a control variable. The SPSS 23.0 program was used to verify the research hypothesis established in this study, and factor analysis using Verimax was conducted to verify frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, and validity and reliability of questionnaire. In order to compare before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2017 and after the pandemic in 2021, regression analysis and T-test were conducted to compare between groups to verify the difference. Through the 2017 response data and 2021 response data of the Korea Media Panel Survey, a total of 9,425 respondents in 2017 and 10,154 respondents in 2021, and the data of individual respondents aged 13 or older who responded to life satisfaction questions were extracted and finally studied based on data of 8,907 in 2017 and 9,820 in 2021. The purpose of this study was to verify the effect of face-to-face communication on individual life satisfaction according to the types of online activities before and after the COVID-19 pandemic situation (2017) and to see if it affects life satisfaction according to age. As a result of verifying the research hypothesis of this study, it was confirmed that the overall life satisfaction according to the online activity type before and after the COVID-19 pandemic had a statistically significant effect on life satisfaction. However, in terms of relational life satisfaction, connective online activities in 2017 did not have a significant effect, but both connective and binding online activities in 2021 had a significant effect on relational life satisfaction. In addition, as a result of verifying the moderating effect of age, it was found that binding online activities in 2017 and 2021 had a significant moderating effect on all life satisfaction, while connective online activities did not have a significant moderating effect on all life satisfaction. Based on these research results, several theoretical implications can be presented in this study. First, connective activities and binding activities can be seen as connective activities centered on weak bonds, such as the degree of sharing and collecting information online, and forming relationships with unspecified people such as expressing opinions on social issues. In addition, cohesive activities can be seen as activities of relationships centered on strong bonds such as close friends, family, and neighbors, or people who are emotionally close to the object. This connective and binding relationship is deeply related to social capital, and as Kraut et al. 1998 and Rheingold (1993), claims that social capital weakens or strengthens according to media utilization. In other words, it plays a role in maintaining continuous offline relationships by enabling online and offline interactions with the claim that Internet use reduces social capital, reduces anxiety, depression, and trust from a human emotional perspective, and limits the scope of social bonds as a weak bond.