ABSTRACT

This chapter begins with a critical reflection on the concepts of community and network/networking used throughout the preceding discussion. In many contexts, the terms social networking and social media are used interchangeably. In their understanding of the network, not all members need know one another, but they need to be able to find ways to work together and remember who performs which role, relying on trust as their primary currency. The fact that so many influential literary networks depend for their very existence on social media is crucial in the context of the study as a whole in terms of trying to assess the significance of the particular cultural moment. Tao Lin’s movement from social media and poetry to the novel may be yet another example of the ways in which writers aspire to print publishing as the true mark of prestige and literary worth.