"I think [Social Media Freaks] is a much needed approach to social media. It s the approach I would take in my classroom to explain the significance of social media." Janet Johnson, University of Texas at Dallas The detailed analysis of the leadership and corporate structures of Facebook, Twitter, etc is especially clear and useful. The discussion of sexuality and social media is superb and much needed; especially valuable is the author's analysis of social media as tools for research into human sexual attitudes and behavior. Paul Levinson, Fordham University Social media has been transforming American and global cultural life for over a decade. It has flattened the divide between producer and audience found in other forms of culture while also enriching some massive corporations. At the core of Social Media Freaks is the question: Does social media reproduce inequalities or is it a tool for subverting them? Social Media Freaks presents a virtual ethnography of social media, focusing on issues of identity and inequality along five dimensions race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability. It presents original and secondary findings, while also utilizing social theory to explain the dynamics of social media. It teaches readers how to engage social media as a tool for social activism while also examining the limits of social media's value in the quest for social change. Dustin Kidd is Associate Professor of Sociology at Temple University in Philadelphia. Kidd is the author of two previous books: Legislating Creativity: The Intersections of Art & Politics and Pop Culture Freaks: Identity, Mass Media, and Society. He has also published articles and essays in The Hedgehog Review, AfterImage, Research in Political Sociology, The Journal of Popular Culture, Contexts, Sociology Compass, and The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society."

Section 1: The Story behind Social Media; Chapter 1: Social Media and the Network Society; Chapter 2: The Social Structure of Social Media; Section 2: Case Studies of Identity and Inequality in Social Media; Chapter 3: Black Lives Matter: Racial Perspectives on Social Media; Chapter 4: Disabling a Meme: Disability Perspectives on Social Media; Chapter 5: Occupy Wall Street: Class Perspectives on Social Media; Chapter 6: GamerGate: Gender Perspectives on Social Media; Chapter 7: Leave Britney Alone: Sexuality Perspectives on Social Media; Chapter 8: Call Me Cait: Trans Perspectives on Social Media; Section 3: The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Social Media; Chapter 9: Social Media Toolbox; Chapter 10: Conclusion: A Social Media Revolution?