Concept maps are a graphical tool that is used to visualize meaningful relationships among concepts, processes, or events. Its used as a knowledge representation tool, meaning they basically represent the knowledge structure that we store in our minds about a certain topic. Both simple and complex concept maps consist of two things: concepts and relationships among them.

The concept map focuses on a single concept, process, or event of interest found in Social Media, Peer Production, and Leveraging the Crowd. Lines link the related concepts or processes with a word or phrase that describes the nature of the relationship between two components. Concept maps start with broad, general relationships and build on them to create very complex visual models of how many factors interact to produce a given outcome.

1. Recognize the unexpected rise and impact of social media and peer production systems.
2. Understand how these services differ from prior generation tools.
3. List the major classifications of social media services.

Here is a general procedure for making a concept map.

1. State a challenge or threat to sustainability that will serve as the focus for your concept map. One good way to get started on the map is to develop a focal question about Social Media, Peer Production, and Leveraging the Crowd. The question will help you focus on relationships between the concepts, processes, or events.
   • For my example, the question is, "How are Social Networks used by individuals, groups, and corporations?"
2. List the 5 to 8 factors that you can identify to begin to answer the focal question about Social Media, Peer Production, and Leveraging the Crowd. Look at the Learning Objectives found throughout Chapter 9 of your textbook to help identify the factors. These "major" factors form the first tier of your concept map. By the end of this first phase, your objective is to have articulated 5 to 8 major factors that contribute to finding an answer to your question in Step 1.
   • For my example, the major factors could be (1) electronic social networks, (2) modern social networks, (3) privacy concerns, (4) network effects and cultural differences, (5) public social networks within private organizations, (6) site mining
3. Now expand on each of these major factors in a "cluster." Add detail in the form of secondary concepts that contribute to the major factors or concepts you have already identified.
   • For my example, I will expand on (5) public social networks within private organizations and consider Social Network Listings as a secondary concept. They are easy to update and expand, and employees are encouraged to add their own photos, interests, and expertise to create a living digital identity. Alumni Listings might be another secondary concept because these networks can be useful in maintaining contacts for future business leads, rehiring former employees, or recruiting retired staff to serve as contractors. These secondary concepts interact with each other. Social Network Listings directly impacts Alumni Listings since maintaining these networks will be critical in industries like IT and health care where worker shortages have been predicted.
4. Continue to build your concept map with at least two more tiers or layers of factors explaining Social Media, Peer Production, and Leveraging the Crowd and answering your focal question. Your finished concept map should have at least 5 major clusters of factors/processes that directly affect concepts, processes, or events. Add at least two more "layers" or tiers of factors in each of those clusters. You are free to include as many layers or tiers as you want, but 3 tiers are the minimum.
   • For my example, the third tier continues to expand on the Social Network Listings where finding Employee Expertise, within the firm, to organize virtual work groups, and for communication across large distances is critical. There will be Organization Flattening and Value-Adding Expertise Sharing to consider using Employee Expertise.
5. Think of your concept map as a visual explanation of the dynamics at work with Social Media, Peer Production, and Leveraging the Crowd. Imagine using your concept map to explain the rise and impact of social media and peer production systems to someone with little or no knowledge of the concepts you want to explain. Your map should make the relationships clear.
6. The Word document accompanying the concept map includes four components:
   1. The focal question you used as a starting point for the concept map.
   2. Describe how/why you selected the concepts included in your concept map.
   3. Explain the overall logic in the organization of your concept map (e.g., what constitutes the first level of concepts, second level, third level).