ABSTRACT
What is an SNS? According to boyd and Ellison (2008), there are three criteria that a website must meet to be considered an SNS. A website must allow users to “(1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system” (boyd & Ellison, 2008, p. 211). These guidelines may seem to restrict what can be considered an SNS, as there are still literally hundreds of vastly diverse websites that are functioning as such.
