The SWARM is my new term for the digital echo chamber live in. It’s an acronym for the Social Wave Amplified by Repetitive Media. We see it all the time. A story breaks -- maybe in the traditional press, maybe online, maybe on Twitter -- and in order to be part of the story bloggers, tweeters, and every one with a presence in social media feels compelled to link, RT or somehow declare they’re in the know, creating The SWARM. SWARM's emerge out of nowhere, create instant social buzz, a flood of content in the stream, then disappear as quickly as they arrived.

As this behavior and reaction continues to get more popular and likely, it will raise interesting questions and challenges.

--Can you initiate a SWARM?

--Do you want to?

--Is there any lasting value?

--When should you respond?

--When should you wait?

--Will we need SWARM busters?

If you like this acronym, feel free to use it as a hashtag.  If you want to link back to its original explanation here, you can do that, too.