Web 2.0 Theory Research Uses Effects Syllabus

7/31/2019 Web 2.0 Theory Research Uses Effects Syllabus

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WEB 2.0: THEORIES, RESEARCH, USES & EFFECTS

RTVF 4450.001/5660.001 - Topics in Industry Studies

Fall 2013

Tuesdays/Thursday 2:00-3:20, RTFP 180F

The University of North Texas, Dept. of Radio-TV-Film

Professor

Dr. Jacqueline Vickery, Ph.D.

Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:30-5:30 and by appointment

Location: RTFP 237

Email: [email protected]

Course Description

This course examines Web 2.0from a social and cultural perspective and focuses on how media

technologies (re)configure practices of everyday life. We will approach Web 2.0 from a broad definition

to encompass social networking sites, mobile technologies and applications, online communities, games,

and virtual worlds. The course incorporates the perspectives of various stakeholders including citizens,

consumers, industries, policymakers, and governments. This class primarily takes an American

perspective but welcomes intercultural and international perspectives as well. In addition to studying

and analyzing social and digital media, we will also be actively communicating through and participating

in the platforms and networks we study. Students will have the opportunity to simultaneously conduct

analytical research as well as create and participate in social media practices.

The objectives of this course are to:

- Offer students the conceptual and analytical tools necessary to examine the real and potentialinfluences of social media

- Provide students with a working knowledge of the development, organization, and operation ofdifferent digital media technologies and industries

- Highlight the social choices students face as citizens, consumers, producers, and mediaprofessionals in their own encounters with Web 2.0 technologies and applications

- Provide students with opportunities to critically engage with social and digital media for thepurposes of learning, collaborating, and research

By the end of this course students will be able to:

- Describe how social media enables the formation of community- Analyze how identity is performed, complicated, complimented, and challenged in/with/through

digital media, as well as critically examine how social media affect constructions of youth,

gender, race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality

- Assess the commercial uses of Web 2.0 technologies- Critique debates about ownership, labor, privacy, intellectual property, regulation, civic

engagement, and ethics in a digital age


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Required Texts

1. The Social Media Readerby Michael Mandiberg (Ed.) (paperback edition); Publisher: NYUPress; ISBN-10: 0814764061

2. Other readings will be made available online or on Blackboard throughout the semester.Course Assignments & Evaluation

Blog Posts (80 points)

As a group (8-10 members) you will maintain a blog for the entirety of the semester. You will be

responsible for posting 4 times throughout the semester (350-500 words; 10 points each = 40 total

points) and commenting on at least 8 posts (150-250 words; 5 points each = 40 total points). The blog

will be one of the primary ways you engage with course readings throughout the semester. One entry

will be selected as the Blog Post of the Week (BPOTW); if your post is selected it will be featured on

the class blog and you will receive 5 bonus points towards your overall blog grade. Blog posts are due by

5:00 p.m. on Mondaysand comments are due by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Lead Class Discussion (40 points)As a team, you will prepare to lead class discussion for one class period. Your team will be responsible

for covering at least one of the readings from the week, incorporating outside examples, and posing 3-4

discussion questions for the class. Presentations will be 30 minutes. All materials must be submitted to

Dr. Vickery by 12:00pm the day before your presentation in order to offer feedback and suggestions.

Midterm Paper (45 points)

You will write a 5-7 page paper responding to one of three prompts I will provide.

Participation (35 points)

This course is largely discussion and activity based, therefore participation is expected. All students start

with a D for participation and must earn points towards their desired grade.

We will hold an ongoing conversation about our observations of social media in contemporary culture in

the form of a class Twitter feed, which counts towards your overall participation grade. You may either

use your current Twitter username or create one specifically for this course. Tweets should be personal

thoughts, insights, questions, responses to readings or lectures, and/or links to relevant material on the

web, and should include the course hashtag #RTVFWEB. To earn full credit you must be Tweeting

regularly throughout the semester.

Points are earned by a) contributing during class discussions, b) contributing to in-class group work, c)

completing in-class assignments, and d) regularly participating on Twitter. Alternatively, points will be

deducted for arriving late/leaving early, sleeping or not paying attention in class, or other disruptive

behavior.

Final Exam (50 points)

There will be 1 exam in this class; it will be open note essays completed in class on Thursday, December

6 @ 1:30 p.m.


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Final Paper or Project (50 points)

Choose one:

a) Complete an individual paper (2000 words in length) about a theme or digital tool/community ofyour choice. The paper must include original research and analysis.

b) Work with a group of 3-5 students to create a digital media project on one of the courses themes.The project can be, but is not limited to, a piece of digital film (animation, machinima, mash-up,

etc.), a digital game, a wiki, or an app. I am open to other ideas, but you MUST get approval from

me.

Paper and project topics must be related to Web 2.0/digital media/social media and must incorporate

theories, concepts, and ideas from the course. You must submit a proposal (approx. 250 words) of your

paper or project by October 3.An extended abstract or outline of your paper or project is due

November 14. This is for your benefit, to make sure you are on track and to help you identify areas

where you may need help. Final papers and projects are due on December 6.

Evaluation:

270-300 points = A240-269 points = B

210-239 points = C

180-209 points = D179 or fewer = F

Attendance Policy: I do not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences. Everyone is

granted two free absences during the semester, no questions asked. Each additional absence will

result in a loss of 5 points from your participation grade. Additionally, you will lose points for arriving

late or leaving early. If you experience extenuating circumstances during the semester (e.g. extended

illness, death of a close family member, etc.) talk to Dr. Vickery ASAP.

Late Assignments: You will lose a full letter gradeon the assignment for every day your assignment is

late. Assignments more than 3 days late will NOT be accepted; this means you will receive an

automatic 0 for the assignment. Assignments are considered late if they are not turned in by thedates and times provided on the syllabus.

Extra Credit:You can earn 5 bonus points if your blog post is selected as the BPOTW.No extra credit

opportunities will be offered on an individual basis, so do not ask. If you are struggling with the course

materials then talk to the instructor for additional guidance and resources. Do not wait until the end of

the semester to try to salvage your grade.

For Graduate Students Only: Graduate students have different requirements concerning the grade. The

Professor will share these requirements and options for the course.

ODA Notification: The University of North Texas makes reasonable academic accommodation forstudents with disabilities. Students seeking accommodation must first register with the Office of

Disability Accommodation (ODA) to verify their eligibility. If a disability is verified, the ODA will provide

you with an accommodation letter to be delivered to faculty to begin a private discussion regarding your

specific needs in a course. You may request accommodations at any time, however, ODA notices of

accommodation should be provided as early as possible in the semester to avoid any delay in

implementation. Note that students must obtain a new letter of accommodation for every semester and

must meet with each faculty member prior to implementation in each class. For additional information


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Course Schedule & Readings

Week 1: Introduction

August 29

- No readings

- Meet with groups, set up Twitter, set up blogs

Week 2: What is NewMedia?

September 3

- Cameron Chapman, The History of the Internet in a Nutshell (http://bit.ly/3R5kW8)

- Nancy Baym, Making New Media Make Sense (available on Blackboard)

September 5

- danah boyd & Nicole Ellison, Social Network Sites: Definition, History, &Scholarship

(http://bit.ly/e5MlA)

- Mark Hopkins, Just what is social media, exactly? (Mashable:http://on.mash.to/96KI)

- Shea Bennett, A History of Social Media (Infographic)(http://bit.ly/ViYiua)

Recommended: 50 definitions ofsocial media (bit.ly/jPHHuL) and 50 (mostly) free social media tools

you cantlive without in 2012 ( tnw.co/ybRPSl)

Week 3: Collaboration & Participatory Culture

September 10

- Nancy Baym, Communities and Networks (available on Blackboard)

- Adam Hyde et al., What is Collaboration Anyway? (p. 53 in Social Media Reader)

September 12

- Henry Jenkins, Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Media(pp. 2-11, bit.ly/2bnWVo)

- Drake Bennett, Assessing Wikipedia, Wiki-Style, on its 10thAnniversary (Business Week,

buswk.co/RQ7qBW)

Week 4: Remix & Convergence Culture

September 17

- Henry Jenkins, Quentin Tarantinos Star Wars? (p. 203 Social Media Reader)

September 19

- Patrick Davison, The Language of Internet Memes (p. 120 in Social Media Reader)
http://on.mash.to/96KIhttp://on.mash.to/96KIhttp://on.mash.to/96KIhttp://on.mash.to/96KI


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Week 5: Copyright & Intellectual Property

September 24

- Lawrence Lessig, REMIX: How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law (p. 155 in Social Media Reader)

September 26

- Gasser and Ernst, From Shakespeare to DJ Danger Mouse: A Quick Look at Copyright and User

Creativity in the Digital Age (available on Blackboard)

Recommended: UNT Copyright Compliance Checklist:http://bit.ly/UXhFWQ

Center for Social Media Guide to Fair Use: http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/fair-use

Week 6: Privacy in a Networked World

October 1

- Suasan B. Barnes, A Privacy Paradox: Social Networking in the United States (First Monday,

http://bit.ly/6E4YJC)

*October 3 **FINAL PAPER/PROJECT TOPIC DUE**

- Mary Madden, Privacy Management on Social Media Sites (Pew Research, bit.ly/Ae9k6Z)

- Naomi Troni, Social Media Privacy: A Contradiction in Terms? (Forbes: onforb.es/JDjBzt)

- Marshall Kirkpatrick, Why Facebook is Wrong: Privacy Is Still Important(Read Write,

http://bit.ly/XleJCZ)

Recommended: Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Social Networking Privacy: How to be Safe, Secure, and

Social (https://www.privacyrights.org/social-networking-privacy/)

Week 7: Performing Identities

October 8

- Jamie Beckland, Why Mainstream Social Networks Complicate Our Identities (Mashable,

on.mash.to/q9yKSF)

- Craig Watkins, Digital Gates: How Race and Class Distinctions Are Shaping the Digital World

(available on Blackboard)

October 10

- Tanja Carstensen, Gender Trouble in Web 2.0: Gender Relations in Social Network Sites, Wikis, and

Weblogs (International Journal of Gender, Science, and Technology, http://bit.ly/b3zNuZ)

Week 8: Communities & Fandom

October 15

- Megan M. Wood & Linda Baughman, GleeFandom and Twitter: Something New, or More of the Same

Old Thing? (available on Blackboard)
http://bit.ly/UXhFWQhttp://bit.ly/UXhFWQhttp://bit.ly/UXhFWQhttp://bit.ly/UXhFWQ


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Week 13: The Social Web beyond America

November 19

- Markus Sabadello, The Role of New Media for the Democratization Processes in the Arab World

(available on Blackboard)

November 21

- Tolu Ogunlesi and Stephanie Busari, Seven Ways Mobile Phones Have Changed Lives in Africa (CNN,

http://bit.ly/OXWnZ8)

- Jon Swartz, Social Networking Sites Going Global (USA Today, usat.ly/wdwpf)

- Spend some time exploring Alexas top internet sites by country, worldwide, category :

http://www.alexa.com/topsites

Week 14: Industry & Advertising

November 26

- Felix Stalder, Between Democracy and Spectacle: The Front-End and Back-End of the Social Web (p.

242 in Social Media Reader)

- John Biggs, A Dispute Over Who Owns a Twitter Account Goes To Court (NYT, nyti.ms/utJIWx- Ryan -

- Singel, How Does Google Make the Big Bucks? An Infographic Answer (Wired, bit.ly/NGm2R8)

November 28 - Happy Thanksgiving!

No readings

Week 15: Presentations

December 3

In-class presentations

December 5

In-class presentations

*December 6 @ Noon - FINAL PAPER/PROJECT DUE*

Week 16: Finals Week

Final ExamThursday, December 121:30-3:30 p.m.
http://www.alexa.com/topsiteshttp://www.alexa.com/topsiteshttp://www.alexa.com/topsites

Web 2.0 Theory Research Uses Effects Syllabus

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