What is social capital?

According to Lin, social capital is made up of resources that are embedded in a social structure and that are accessed and or mobilized in purposive actions.

But, what does that mean? To me, social capital is everything that you don’t own, know, or posses, but could easily get your hands on after a few minutes on your cell phone or a simple message on facebook.

Some people are great at using and accessing social capital, yet others feel to shy or too undeserving, or simply feel like they have nothing to exchange in return to the person who helped them out. Having something to exchange or being capable of reciprocating the use of capital are unspoken rules of using social capital. Sometimes this reciprocation can be in allowing the person who loaned you access to their capital to use some of your similar capital. For example, I borrow a friend’s marketing book, but I let them use my notes from management. Another and less obvious type of reciprocation comes in recommendations. Asking a former employer to use some of their social ties to put in a good word for a job, possibly gives me a job. But what does the former boss get in return? I do not have the same social capital to give him a recommendation. But, by doing a good job at the place he recommended me to repays him the favor because it increases the degree that his acquaintance trusts him, because he recommended a good employee.