Networked individualism represent the shift of the classical model of social arrangements formed around large hierarchical bureaucracies or social groups tightly knit like households and group work to connected individuals using the means provided by the rises of ICTs. The term was coined by Manuel Castells and further popularized by Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman in their book Networked: The New Social Operating System (MIT Press). The networked individuals are members of diverse groups in which they seek different things; for instance, a group could be used to seek emotional support while another might be used to get good addresses in a city. Those groups can be dispersed around the globe, and the combination of those networks make for a highly individualized person.
Barry Wellman challenged the future of networked individualism after the event of the September 11 attacks in The Rise (and Possible Fall) of Networked Individualism.