ABSTRACT
Modern society has been indelibly changed as a consequence of the rapid adoption of computers, the Internet, and mobile telephony. Virtually all facets of modern life now depend on these devices, including finance, social communications, governance, and even physical security system management. The development of mobile phone applications has revolutionized the way people share information, particularly through the use of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. These resources have become a primary mechanism for communication, especially among youth populations, with 49 per cent of the entire population of Facebook users in the US being between the ages of 18 and 34. Individuals spend a great deal of time on various forms of social media, with recent research from Nielsen finding (2014) the average person spent 7 hours and 43 minutes on Facebook, 3 hours and 40 minutes on Instagram, and 3 hours on Twitter via a smartphone application each month.
