Social media is intrinsically focused on individuals—the "profile" being the key unit of Web 2.0—who produce and consume content. Thus this book deals with self-presentation strategies. Individuals tend to adopt a neoliberal subjectivity that applies market principles to how they think about themselves, interact with others, and display their identity. People present themselves online based on a host of factors including their physical environment; social context; race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and economic background; the availability of technical infrastructure; the technical affordances of different applications; and the norms of those with whom they interact online. But the organizing principles of Web 2.0 technologies are deeply influenced by the context in which they were created: the venture-backed startup scene of San Francisco.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 25