ABSTRACT
You don’t need a social theory book to tell you that we’re living in the age of social networking. Websites like Foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook are immensely popular, and allow people to connect with friends and family, share information, and relate personal experiences to others at the click of a mouse. Online profi les also let us create virtual identities, or avatars, cyber-extensions of our selves that are, in many cases, seen by more people a day than our physical beings. Who we are is increasingly shaped by these virtual expansions of ourselves into cyberspace. And while virtual social environments create all sorts of new possibilities (like making friends with someone from across the globe), they also present new problems, like having your online account hacked, your identity stolen, or your profi le page fi lled with embarrassing and humiliating comments.
