Mizuko Ito et al introduce the idea of networked publics to focus on the “broader social and cultural ecology that a person inhabits” as they participate in public culture pdf 
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danah boyd extends the concept to account for emergent spaces and collectives such as Myspace and Facebook. boyd characterises the content of networked publics as made out of bits, content being produced from self-expressions and interactions between people. She adopts Negroponte’s distinction between bits and atoms that bits are easier to store, distribute, and search than atoms html .
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These features of bits configure the four properties that are key to networked publics: Persistence: online expressions are automatically recorded and archived. Replicability: content made out of bits can be duplicated. Scalability: the potential visibility of content in networked publics is great. Searchability: content in networked publics can be accessed through search.
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