Lifting elephants: Twitter and blogging in global perspective

Abstract

When we think about the actions that people are taking as a group, we must think how they interact to form patterns of collective behavior, not just how each individual acts. The patterns that arise result from the structure of interactions between individuals and benefits can arise from both connections and disconnections between individuals. Connections can lead to similar or coordinated behavior, which is important when the task involved requires such coordination. Separation and a lack of communication are required when there are independent subtasks to perform [1]. © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009.