Social networking sites have changed communication in several ways. They have expanded people's networks and provided more ways to communicate within those networks. Some argue social media has improved communication by making it more efficient, while others argue it has hindered verbal communication skills. Both businesses and government agencies now monitor social media to engage with people and gather information for various purposes.

1. How Social Networking Can Be Effective in Business, Communications, Government, and Academic Institutions By: Lauren Ely, Cassidy Killinger, Bianca Rufino, and Jessica Duffy

7. Social Networking in Academic Institutions

10. The Effects Social Networking Has on The United States Government.

12. They Will Find You! Onto a serious matter… " The government is increasingly monitoring Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites for tax delinquents, copyright infringers and political protesters .“ - Noel Sheppard In an informal survey of 14 departments in this area, officials in half of them said they use social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace in detective work - particularly in investigations involving young people .

15. Social Networking in Communications

20. Reference continued.. &quot;LexisNexis.&quot; Business Solutions & Software for Legal, Education and Government . Web. 31 Mar. 2010. <http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/search/homesubmitForm.do>. &quot;The Government Is Monitoring Facebook And Twitter | NewsBusters.org.&quot; NewsBusters.org | Exposing Liberal Media Bias . Web. 02 Apr. 2010. <http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/12/14/government-monitoring-facebook-twitter>. &quot;Social Networking and Government from Webcontent.gov – WebContent.gov: Better Websites. Better Government.&quot; USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal . Web. 02 Apr. 2010. <http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/technology/social_networks.shtml>. http://mashable.com/2010/02/08/communication-social-media/