internet has brought to the forefront communication via social networking sites. College students in particular enjoy communicating with friends and relatives via websites like Facebook or Twitter. In fact, current literature suggests that several factors go into deciding to socialize online. For example, younger college students tend to frequent Facebook more than they tend to older college students. Females outnumber males in relation to having Facebook accounts and communicating

Twitter and MySpace. Social networking is one of the hottest trends online, with everyone from teens to baby boomers signing up for them with a passion. Millions of users log on every day to communicate, share information, video, and photos, and keep in touch, all with the click of a mouse. While there are amazing benefits to using these sites for business and pleasure, there are quite a few

But research is very mixed on what that answer is when the data is voluntarily revealed. For example, if someone "likes" Apple on Facebook and Apple then in turn markets Apple products to that person, it should be asked whether Apple is acting improperly. Companies with products that compete with Apple could do the same thing. Research bears out that this question comes down to personal and professional ethics

All that is left are the bullying words, without so much of the context that comes with face-to-face communications. Franek's surmised that children who have been cyberbullied are more likely to perform cyberbullying on others. With cyberbullying on the rise, this is of particular concern. "When asked if they had been buillied while online, 10% indicated yes. The 2006 NASSP publication News Leader indicated that 33% of all teens aged

For example, as Barnes (2006) points out, users of social networking sites voluntarily surrender private demographic information that can be capitalized on freely by marketers. Aggregate marketing data can be bought, sold, and traded to provide the most robust data set in the history of humanity. Because of the power of social networking to create a vast marketing database, it becomes more and more important to study the particular

G. politicians, movie and rock stars, etc.). Indeed, the combination of social networking sites and an abundance of cellular services and phones has even changed the socio-political landscape in countries that do not have an open or democratic regime (e.g. protests in Iran, etc.) (Friends, Fans and Followers, 2011). The role of social networks have changed the way marketers and politicians view their audience, communicate with them, and even interact. Since