Social capital during a pandemic : A study of how people transfer their social capital during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone in some ways, with restrictions and social distancing. People had to adapt and learn how to deal with the situation. Some people turned to online communities to get social interactions they no longer could get in real-life due to restrictions. The aim of the study is to create an understanding of how people engaged in online communities deal with the pandemic with the help of their community. Can people create a new form of social capital online and get the support they no longer can get through offline resources. Previous studies show the possibility with online communities and how people that are missing resources offline search for new ways to make up for it, with help of online resources. The study was done with observations through chatlogs and conducting sixsemi structured interviews with members from two different communities. The collected empirical data was analyzed with Pierre Bourdieu theory of socialcapital and Nicholas A. Christakis and James Fowlers theory about networks.The outcome shows that there is a possibility for people to move resources such as social capital to an online environment, but all members need to put inmore effort and energy to make it possible. Furthermore, online communities have an advantage over offline communities due to not being limited to a physical location. The main conclusion is that online communities give their members possibilities to compensate for missing resources. However, it needs the right circumstances to create a social capita