Stepping off the Information Highway and Ejoying the Scenic Routes

I have found that the process itself of researching my topic has been very enlightening.  I am trying very hard not to succumb to my frustration and change my topic to make my task easier.   The more I search the more I find that my topic has not been researched or written on much because it is a relatively new phenomenon.  I am learning that I have to break my idea down into smaller ideas and approach the overall question from many angles.  My initial inclination was to search the broad topic of youth violence displayed via social media, but because the use of these platforms in relatively new there just isn’t a great deal of published research on it.  

The good side of all this is that find I have learned two valuable things.  First, the direct route is not always best.  Sometimes it is on detours that we learn the most about our world, doing research seems to be no different than driving.  I seek a specific destination, but should I stick to the freeway and not venture off onto the scenic routes, I miss all the hidden gems along the way.  When I am in a hurry, I want to take the freeway in research.  I must learn to plan my route and add in the time to explore the side roads a bit.  Second thing I  have learned is to not be afraid of the search box and all the options available to me.  Knowing simple tricks such as truncating a word with an * at the end opens my search up to more results that I have been missing in the past.