Blog #6

 

The term I chose to write about was social capital. The definition of social capital, according to the introduction in Education and Social Change, is where people benefit or have advantages due to their social ties and relationships with others (Rury 2013). Social capital can be seen in many different areas in life such as business, education, neighborhoods, and friendships. Social capital is based on establishing trust and helpful ties that help people accomplish tasks they could not typically do on their own. One example of social capital in my personal life is when I started a business in luxury house and pet sitting. I first became interested in this line of work because I knew quite a few people in the business and felt they could give me some good tips and advice on how to be a successful pet sitter. My ties and relationships with the people who helped me get started in my business served to be a good social capital for me, because it was based off of their recommendations that home and pet owners decided to hire me. As my business expanded, my social capital grew to include not only my fellow friends in the business but also trusted clients who in turn furthered and recommended my work to others they knew. Therefore I can confidently say that my business would not have succeeded where it not for the strong social capital I have.