本研究將討論傳統社群人際關係的社會資本理論應用至網路社群，以網路健康資訊使用者為對象，探討網路的社會資本形式。本研究以因素分析歸納出五種社會資本，包括：「參與網絡，發表意見」、「資訊分享，人己互惠」、「信任非專家來源資訊」、「社會支持」及「信任專家來源資訊」等，並進一步分析社會資本是否影響網路健康資訊使用者正向評估線上問診諮詢服務及其就醫行為主動性。研究發現，「信任專家來源資訊」的使用者會傾向「正向評估線上問診諮詢服務」；當實際就診時，「資訊分享，人己互惠」、「信任專家來源資訊」這兩項社會資本和「正向評估線上問診諮詢服務」都會影響網路健康資訊使用者的「就醫行為主動性」。由本研究結果顯示，使用者在網路上使用健康資訊的行為中確實具有社會資本，對專業健康資訊來源的信任及其主動關注健康的行為，也顯示這群使用者能為自己的健康擔負更多責任。 The study applies social capital theory to the subject of the Internet, exploring the forms of social capital in the case of the Internet users of health information. The study surveyed major literatures on social capital theory and synthesizes social capital into five forms to examine the subject, including: ‘participation and opinion making,’ ‘sharing and mutual benefit,’ ‘the trust of information from non-expert provider,’ ‘social support,’ and ‘the trust of information from expert provider.’ The study then seeks to explain if social capital influences users tend to evaluate the on-line health service positively and the activeness of the Internet users to seek out medical support. The study found that, among different forms of social capital, users who ‘trust information from expert provider’ tend to evaluate the on-line health service positively. Meanwhile, ‘sharing and mutual benefit’ and ‘trusting expert information provider’ influence the activeness of the Internet users to seek out medical support. The study concludes that the behavior of on-line users of health information manifests the characteristics of social capital. The Internet has substantial value in promoting health improvement information and providing health-related services.
