Content and readings

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Contents

Part I: Self-presentation Online and Offline

Week 1 - Thursday, Sept 7 - 8, 2017

Course Introduction / Syllabus Review

See: Syllabus on Google Drive

Readings

  • See next week

Week 2 - Monday & Wednesday, Sept 11 & 13

Developing the Online Self

Readings

Ervin Goffman: Presentation of Self (1956)

Goffman's The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life was published in 1956, with a revised edition in 1959.[13] He had developed the book's core ideas from his doctoral dissertation.

It was Goffman's first and most famous book, for which he received the American Sociological Association's 1961 MacIver Award.

Goffman describes the theatrical performances that occur in face-to-face interactions. He holds that when an individual comes in contact with another person, he attempts to control or guide the impression that the other person will form of him, by altering his own setting, appearance and manner.

At the same time, the person that the individual is interacting with attempts to form an impression of, and obtain information about, the individual.

Goffman also believes that participants in social interactions engage in certain practices to avoid embarrassing themselves or others

Society is not homogeneous; we must act differently in different settings.

This recognition led Goffman to his dramaturgical analysis. He saw a connection between the kinds of "acts" that people put on in their daily lives and theatrical performances.

In a social interaction, as in a theatrical performance, there is an onstage area where actors (individuals) appear before the audience; this is where positive self-concepts and desired impressions are offered. But there is, as well, a backstage – a hidden, private area where individuals can be themselves and drop their societal roles and identities.

Nancy Baym, Personal Connections in the Digital Age
  • Baym, Nancy. Chapter 1 and 2 in Personal Connections in the Digital Age (2010)
  • Nancy Baym, Wikipedia

Personal Connections in the Digital Age (2010), is about thinking critically about the roles of digital media in personal relationships, it offers data-grounded information on how to makes sense of these changes in relational life. She defines seven concepts "that can be used to differentiate digital media and which influence how people use them and with what effects." These concepts are:

  • interactivity
  • temporal structure
  • social cues
  • storage
  • replicability
  • reach
  • mobility

Ultimately, "the author states at the end that the book was written for those who see communication technologies as new and different, those who take them for granted and those who will be thinking through technologies not yet invented," claimed Stuart James Fitz-Gerald in his review of the book

Week 3 - Monday & Wednesday, Sept 18-20

Review

  • What did you learn? What questions do you have?

The Networked Self

Readings

Week 4 Monday & Wednesday, Sept 25-27

Review

  • Discuss Instagram Postings in Class

Taste Performances and Authenticity

Readings

  • Hunt, Elle “Instagram Star Essena O'Neill Quits 2D Life to Reveal True Story
  • Liu, H. (2007). Social network profiles as taste performances. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13 (1), 13.
  • Marwick, A. E., & Boyd, d. “To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter.” Convergence (2011)
  • Mendelson, A. L. and Papacharissi, Z. “Look At Us: Collective Narcissism in College Student Facebook Photo Galleries,” pp. 251-273 in A Networked Self (2011) (OPTIONAL)
  • O'Neill quits Instagram claiming social media 'is not real life," The Guardian (OPTIONAL)

Videos - in-class

Part II: Sociality in Digital Contexts: Dating, Relationships, and Communities

Week 5 - Monday & Wednesday, Oct 2-4

Review

  • Discuss Instagram Postings in Class

Online Dating, Relationships and Love

Readings

Videos

  • Videos: Excerpt from Black Mirror, Season 1 Episode 3, “The Entire History of You” – Available on Netflix (OPTIONAL)

Week 6 - Monday & Wednesday, Oct 9-11

Review

  • What did you learn? What questions do you have? (pairs OR person next to you)
  • How do you stay safe / protect yourself online?
  • Discuss Instagram Postings in Class

Groups and Communities

Readings

  • Boyd, D. “Social network sites as networked publics: Affordances, Dynamics, and Implications,” pp. 39-58 in A Networked Self (2011)
  • Parks, M. ““Social Network Sites as Virtual Communities,” pp. 105-123 in A Networked Self (2011)

Videos - In-Class

Video: “The Pleasures of Community” on YouTube

Week 7 - Monday & Wednesday, Oct 16-18

Review

  • What did you learn from last week? Questions (pairs OR person next to you)
  • Discuss Instagram Postings in Class

Prep for Test 1

Readings

  • None.

Review

  • Storify Story Project Assignment 1: Storify account and profile – to Canvas Assignments - coming DUE next online period.

Week 8 - Monday & Wednesday, Oct 23-25

Marginalized groups and counter publics

Readings

  • McCabe, J. “Resisting Alienation: The Social Construction of Internet Communities Supporting Eating Disorders.” Communication Studies (2009) (OPTIONAL)
  • Gross, L. “Somewhere there’s a place for us: Sexual Minorities and the Internet,” Technological Visions (2004)
  • Renninger, B. “Where I can be myself …where I can speak my mind: Networked counterpublics in a polymedia environment,” New Media & Society (2014)

Review & DUE

  • Due! Storify Story Project Assignment 1: Storify account and profile – to Canvas Assignments

Part III: Virtual Worlds: Second Life & the Promise of a New Life Online

Week 9 - Monday & Wednesday, Oct 30-Nov 1

Review

  • Discuss Instagram Postings in Class

The History of Virtual Worlds

Readings

  • Sanchez, J. “A Social History of Virtual Worlds,” in Library Technology Reports (2009)
  • Taylor, T.L. “Finding New Worlds,” in Play between worlds: Exploring online game culture (2006)

Videos

  • Life 2.0 (2010) - Available on Netflix (OPTIONAL)

Week 10 - Monday & Wednesday, Nov 6-8

Possibilities and Risks in Online Environments

Review

  • Discuss Instagram Postings in Class

Readings

Readings & Podcasts - In-Class

Review & DUE

  • Due! Storify Story Project Assignment 2: Pre-draft – to Canvas Assignments by [day & date], 11pm

Week 11 - Monday & Wednesday, Nov 13-15

Review

  • Discuss Instagram Postings in Class

Moral Panics

Readings

  • LaRose, R, Kim, J. and Peng, W. “Social Networking: Addictive, Compulsive, Problematic, or Just Another Media Habit?” pp. 59-81 in A Networked Self (2011)
  • Livingstone, S. “Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers’ use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression,” New Media Society (2008) 10: 393
  • Nussbaum, Emily. “Kids, the Internet, and the End of Privacy”. New York Magazine (2007) (OPTIONAL / POSSIBLE)

Videos

Review

  • Review - Work on Storify Story Project Assignment 3 – Due to Canvas Assignments and to Storify Story Canvas Discussion

Week 12 - Monday & Wednesday, Nov 20-22

Prep for Test 2

Readings

None.

Review

  • Review - Continue to Work on Storify Story Project Assignment 3

Week 13 - Monday & Wednesday, Nov 27-29

Review

  • Discuss Instagram Postings in Class
  • DCIM Google Folder - Reminder

Start a "DCIM Google Folder" into which they will place a link to all their DCIM projects from this semester and all those that will follow in their subsequent DCIM classes. Tell them that they will be creating a website in their final DCIM Capstone course that will serve as a portfolio for all these projects, and they'll need to find the links to them later. This can also serve as incentive to do a good job on their final projects -- they'll re-use them later in the DCIM!

Work on Projects

Readings

  • None

Review

  • Preview Unit 14 (online)
  • Review Storify Story Project Assignments 3 & 4 - (they are coming DUE in the next online period)

Week 14 - Monday & Wednesday, Dec 4-6

Storify Story Projects DUE

Review

  • Discuss Instagram Postings in Class

Readings

  • None

Review & DUE

  • Review Storify Story Project Assignments (Assignments 3 & 4) – Final Storify Story, to Canvas Assignments and to Storify Story Canvas Discussion DUE
  • DO: Storify Story Project Assignment 4 – Peer Review in Canvas Discussion.
    • Post a link to the Storify Story to the Storify Story Canvas Discussion;
      • Review THREE (3) of your peers’ Storify Stories on the Canvas Discussion by [day & date].

LAST CLASS - IN-PERSON (DECEMBER 14)

Activities (in-class)

  • Wrap-up activities / FINAL INSTRUCTIONS
  • Instagram Postings / Due Dates
    • Write two (2) takeaway posts (in class)
    • Substantive responses to four (4) other posts

DUE DATES: Monday, 12/11 (1st post); Wednesday, 12/13 (3+ replies).

  • All posts must occur by 11 pm.

Course Evaluation

  • Complete course evaluation
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