SYNOPSIS

It is estimated that 14% of the planet over the age of 15 are now online. This number will inevitably grow, and rapidly. Many of those online are mere consumers of Internet product – they come for the shopping, the downloadable music, and the travel bargains. While some with lingering suspicion about whether the Internet and its citizens should be trusted might see the notion of online presence as a contradiction in terms (Internet presence is virtual and not real surely?) many are coming to the Internet for other reasons – to connect and interact.

Many such Netizens are staking their claim to parts of the Internet, drawing a line in the virtual sand around them, personalising these spaces, and calling them home. They have chosen to create a presence on the Internet. A proliferation of tools under the banner of social software – tools designed to promote collaboration and sharing - are making it ever easier to create this online presence and interact and connect with fellow Netizens.