ABSTRACT
Across the globe today, the emergence of readily available connective technologies has resulted in the documenting and sharing of daily life in communities of all shapes and sizes. With more mobile phones than humans on the planet, and rapidly rising Internet connectivity throughout the world, mediated platforms have fast become central prerequisites for connecting individuals, communities, and societies. Van Dijck (2013) notes the implications of such a rapid convergence of communication technologies:
As a result of the interconnection of platforms, a new infrastructure emerged: an ecosystem of connective media with a few large and many small players. The transformation from networked communication to “platformed” sociality, and from a participatory culture to a culture of connectivity, took place in a relatively short time span of ten years (p. 5).
