For academics all over the world, Academia.edu is a place "to share their research, monitor deep analytics around the impact of their research, and track the research of academics they follow." Currently, over one million academics have signed up, and there are over 1.2 million papers available online here. It is completely free to sign up, and registered members can share their own professional...

Most social networking sites are built and sustained by selling their users' personal information to advertisers. In addition, Facebook and other platforms provide nearly as much space to flashy ads as they do to the work of helping people connect to their friends and family. Ello, which was created by designer and entrepreneur Paul Budnitz and was released in August 2014, seeks to be the...

If you're looking for a basic Twitter analytics program, you'll want to check out Fruji. A basic subscription allows users to see up to 10 of their most popular followers, identify spam accounts, and track the growth of followers and tweets. Visitors can click on the "How it Works" link at the top to learn more about how the program uses your Twitter profile to offer up some simple, yet useful,...

How much do people use social media as a way to be politically engaged? This question has been posed by a team of researchers at the Pew Internet & American Life Project, resulting in this 13-page report. The report was authored by a team of scholars including Lee Rainie and Aaron Smith and found that 60% of adults use social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter and that approximately 39% of...

This report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project takes a critical look into the social impact of widespread use of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. Written by Keith Hampton, Lauren Sessions Goulet, Lee Rainie, and Kristen Purcell, this 85-page report was published in June 2011. Visitors can download the report or read it online; the materials here...

Yammer is a communications tool that creates a secure social network for companies and other groups that have a desire to share information, documents, and other materials. After signing up for an account, users can create a site for their organization that will allow users to engage in enterprise microblogging, private messaging, and communities of interest. This version is free, although there...