My original impetus behind this project was to look realistically at the influence of profit-driven business models on the use and development of social media applications. I wanted to provide a counterbalance to the notion that social media promoted some sort of ideal, egalitarian society. I knew from my years of working in dot-com companies that decisions about software were often based on what would make the most money, rather than what would be the most beneficial for the user or, even less realistically, what was more democratic or participatory. I also wished to test the theory that social media was providing new, meritocratic opportunities for visibility and success.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 718