The Social Media Revolution: An Economic Encyclopedia of Friending, Following, Texting, and Connecting. By Jarice Hanson. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2016. 441 pages. Acid free $89 (ISBN 978-1-61069-767-5). E-book available (978-1-61069-768-2), call for pricing.

As I began perusing this volume, I found myself falling into the assumption that this title would deal exclusively with the “how to” aspect of social media, as have many of the titles I have encountered. One word in the title, “economic,” should have tipped me off to the fundamental differences between this work and others contained in my own collections, and those being offered via Amazon and GOBI3, but I was momentarily blinded by the plethora of the didactic social-media-for-business style tomes. This work considers the larger impact of activities that the introduction and evolution of social media has introduced, particularly those of an economic, cultural, social, and communicative nature. However, I am most intrigued by the fact that Hanson has not endeavored to isolate social media, but has paid close attention to how this phenomenon mirrors previous technological advances and how people, business, policy, and society have adjusted in the face of those changes.

The volume is organized similarly to many encyclopedias with an alphabetical list of entries, introduction, time line, historical overview, guide to related topics, list of entries, bibliography, and index. I was particularly impressed with the guide to related topics, which is broken down into categories such as agencies, changing industries, concepts and social practices, economic models and concepts, political activities, and others. I anticipate students finding this grouping by concept particularly usable and thought provoking. While at first glance I was unsure whether this was an item I would select for my own collection as a result of a reservation about the sustainability of the information on such a topic, I have concluded that the scope of Hanson’s approach will make this volume worth retaining for years to come. I recommend this title for any type of library, but it would be particularly useful in public, college, or university libraries.—Anita J. Slack, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio