While online social contact can be traced back to the 1980s, online dating began to gain more prominence — and participants — around 1997, according to a 2011 study by the Oxford Internet Institute. The incorporation of Web 2.0 interactive technologies and database support helped online dating to steadily expand: Before 1997, only 6% of singles searched for potential companions online; after 1997, 30% of singles did.

The evolution of the contemporary human species is often portrayed as a slow process over many tens of thousands of years that culminated in our now-fixed modern state and form. But research from the University of Edinburgh (U.K.), Université du Québec à Montréal and Université de Sherbrooke in Canada suggests that the genetic mechanisms by which humans evolved continue to operate.

Twitter saw a surge in its number of users between 2009 and 2010, particularly among teens. Content on the character-limited blogging and social networking ranges from the mundane to important world news, and from personal exchanges to advertisements. This broad range of content leaves open a range of possible explanatory factors driving increased usage.

Whether violent video games are a harmless pastime or a facilitator of aggressive behavior is a subject of continuing public debate and scholarly inquiry.

In 2009 the United State reported the lowest number of births in five years, after a steep and steady decline from the reported 2007 rates. What lies between these two data points? Recession. Graphing birth rates in the United States alongside per capita income tells a compelling story of two closely linked statistics.

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) — the idea that companies directly contribute to the common good — is gaining adherents throughout the business world.  However, what constitutes responsible corporate behavior is open to interpretation by the firms themselves and the larger cultures in which they operate.