These modalities of connection have been shown to be powerful and effective, not only for the problems and solutions of the individuals that frequent them, but also as advertising and marketing tools.

But, in the recent past, social media has changed beyond all of what we would have previously recognised. It has become more "in your face", more pertinent, more prominent and more effective. People are flocking to social media like never before and the number of participants has skyrocketed beyond all proportion. Facebook, one popular social media platform, is now the second most visited site on the planet. YouTube was bought by Google for a vast amount and Flickr has been acquired by Yahoo. These movements demonstrate the power that social networks are unleashing. Nowadays there are all manner of social media platforms available. There are hundreds of videos sites, microblogging sites, forums, blogs, image hosting sites and other platforms that display a huge array of diversity in the way they manipulate and use established and emerging social media vehicles.