Social Media and Networking

Social media use Internet-based technologies and tools to allow users to share and exchange information. As users engage with these technologies, they become connected to others due to the social nature of the tools. They become networked to people, metaphorically similar to the existing network of hardware, software, and wires that physically makes this possible. At the most proximal level, these networked connections are familiar. A person might have a friend on Facebook or an acquaintance following him on Twitter. The promise and challenge of such networks, however, is that the networking quickly becomes exponential. A person might soon be connected with a friend of a friend, might get a follower based simply on her online interests, or might meet new people through a free ...