[1] A prominent work in this regard is The Rules of the Sociological Method, in which Emile Durkheim suggested the dictum, "The first and most basic rule is to consider social facts as things."
[1] Actor-network theory has developed this concept as the object around which social networks form.
[3] This version was applied to social media networks by Jyri Engeström in 2005 as part of the explanation of why some social media networks succeed and some fail.
Instead, he proposed what he called "object centered sociality," citing the work of the sociologist Karin Knorr-Cetina.
[4] The concept was popularized by Hugh MacLeod, cartoonist and social observer in 2007.