These are the people passionate (and crazy) enough to devote their lives to building these communities. What inspired them to do it? Their answers came down to two overarching themes.

Until very recently I wouldn't have called myself an avid social media user. Sure, I created a Facebook profile in 2006, at a time when a college email address was still required to sign up, but who didn't? The concept of the "social network" has changed a great deal since then.

Something like the app Bang With Friends might seem silly or of limited appeal to the college crowd, but it could pose a real danger to those of us who are trying to understand and develop the social world for positive purposes.

From the Syria conflict to climate change to economic inequality, the debate has moved rapidly online -- but does it really affect outcome or is it merely an outlet for frustration?

Experienced professionals doing their part to help the next generation get a leg up? Well, the idea hasn't exactly been greeted with open arms among the blogosphere community.

In a newsroom there is an innate tug of war between speed and accuracy. Yet that balance has been disrupted by a strong external force: social media. The problem is that social media, specifically Twitter, has given news organizations a powerful incentive to break news quickly, yet fails to punish them for inaccuracy.

People replied to me, and re-tweeted me, and even 'favorited' some of my tweets. A few people even discovered my start-up site and tweeted about it to their followers! My bonus reward? My Klout score rose by six points in two weeks, and I was hardly even trying.

After a year of being awarded +Ks and +Krs from random followers on various topics that have ranged from pink socks to social media to grey hair, I had to wonder if we were adding value to online engagements or simply dumping more +toxic waste in an already polluted ocean?

Communities are so used to being abused that you'll be surprised and insulted by the level of caution, dread, and mistrust you'll wander into, even if your intentions are pure and you're just looking for ways to discover, engage, and help folks online.

I think Klout has greater potential than any other company in the world. Greater than Apple, Exxon, or Facebook. I think we'll see some form of the re...

The least favorite part of my job is grading students, so this semester I decided to outsource some of it. In my Social Media for Reporters class a...

How influential is your digital footprint? PeekYou, founded in 2006, helps answer that question by scanning "content from over sixty social sites,...

Social media is a double-edged sword, and this applies both to engagement and listening equally. Social CEOs are applying this type of thinking not just to themselves, but to their entire organizations.

I must confess, in my early days on Twitter, I trawled for followers by asking others to help be reach some round-numbered goal. But I've realized how desperate I may have sounded for approval, for achievement.

While one might assume that the wizened minds of older Silicon Valleyites were responsible for some of the hottest web startups in recent memory, many...