Cran

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the so-called Web 2.0 era is undoubtedly the emergence of social networking websites. What has made this appearance all the more striking is the fact that such social network tools have essentially transcended their distinct virtual media environments, thus becoming a dominant form of communication that is effective on all social levels. One only has to refer to the stirring political events of 2011 in the Middle East, referred to by commentators as “The Arab Spring”, to understand how such networks facilitated communication between protestors and thus contributed, in the case of Egypt, to the organization of an opposition that precipitated the downfall of the Mubarak regime. The empirical data that the social-networking site Facebook now has over five hundred million accounts demonstrates the near ubiquity of this form of communication within modern life: it has simply become one of the preferred means of communicating. Accordingly, when pondering the question as to why social media should concern us, it becomes evident that the reason lies.One of the distinguishing characteristics of the so-called Web 2.0 era is undoubtedly the emergence of social networking websites. What has made this appearance all the more striking is the fact that such social network tools have essentially transcended their distinct virtual media environments, thus becoming a dominant form of communication that is effective on all social levels. One only has to refer to the stirring political events of 2011 in the Middle East, referred to by commentators as “The Arab Spring”, to understand how such networks facilitated communication between protestors and thus contributed, in the case of Egypt, to the organization of an opposition that precipitated the downfall of the Mubarak regime. The empirical data that the social-networking site Facebook now has over five hundred million accounts demonstrates the near ubiquity of this form of communication within modern life: it has simply become one of the preferred means of communicating. Accordingly, when pondering the question as to why social media should concern us, it becomes evident that the reason lies