Self and society in virtual contexts/Instagram postings

Instagram Postings and Discussions - Weekly Schedule (pp. 6-7 of Syllabus
The class will connect on Instagram using the class hashtag _____#DCIMPACT17_____. The purpose of this assignment is to get you thinking about how and what we communicate about ourselves on social media. We will also think about the affordances of Instagram as a platform – what can we and what can we not do in this medium.

You will be required to post at least four times a week; one initial post and three responses to your classmates. Please start a new Instagram account for the class even if you already have one. You can keep your profile private, but in that case you have to make sure that your and I classmates can follow you and view your posts.

You are not required to follow me, but you have to inform me of your Instagram account name so that I can make sure that you complete the assignments (you will do this on the Canvas course site). If I “like” your post it means that I have seen and approved of it. Your postings will be counted as "complete or incomplete" each week, and students' postings will be graded cumulatively at the mid-semester point and the end of the semester. Will be graded with Instagram Posting Discussion Rubric (see Appendix and on Canvas course site). See “Policies for Instagram Discussions” and “Social Media Policies” in the policies section of this syllabus.

Here are the tentative prompts; they are subject to change.

Week 3 Online: INTRODUCTIONS
Place a photo on the hashtag introducing yourself to the group. Include some brief information.

Week 4 Online: TASTE PERFORMANCES AND AUTHENTICITY
Find an example of a clear taste performance. It can be from one of your own or someone else’s (a celebrity/politician/other public persona) social media account. Make sure that your examples display taste, for example by listing or showing off favorite music, books, films, etc.

Week 5 Online DATING, RELATIONSHIPS AND LOVE
Think about what face-to-face interactions provide to a relationship that online interactions do not, and vice versa, and express this in an Instagram post. Perhaps a picture of an interaction that you feel it would be impossible to have online and explore why - what is it that will be lost in a "virtualization" of that interaction? Or look at the opposite - what is an online interaction that could not take place face-to-face?

WEEK 6 Online: GROUPS AND COMMUNITIES
Find an example of an online community or a networked public (perhaps one that you consider yourself to be a part of) and describe. What makes this a community or networked public? Decide how best to express this visually in your photo as well.

Week 7 Online: TEST PREP
Ask at least one question to the class relating to some aspect of the class (note: do not ask a yes/no question). As you answer one another, discuss your responses and deepen your understanding of the issues. Scroll the hashtag so there is no duplication of issues. Accompany your question with any relevant photo.

WEEK 8 Online: COUNTERPUBLICS
Try to find a counterpublic and give an example of how it communicates and organizes online. This can be a counterpublic you consider yourself to be a part of. Include some kind of photo.

WEEK 9 Online: THE HISTORY OF VIRTUAL WORLDS
Are you part of a game or social virtual world like Sanchez and Taylor describe? How do your experiences of being part of those communities correspond to what they talk about in the readings? Create a post that speaks to the relations you have made with people there and/or to the avatar you have chosen to represent yourself in the virtual world. If you are NOT part of a virtual world, post and discuss a photo example that addresses some of these questions.

WEEK 10 Online: POSSIBILITIES AND RISKS IN ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS
Discuss an example of online harassment you have seen. Include a photo that you think depicts the emotional aspect of this issue. NOTE: These need not be photos of people – be creative.

WEEK 11 Online: MORAL PANICS ABOUT THE DIGITAL LIVES OF TEENS

 * Discuss and pair with a photo an example of when a teenager’s social media use has become a problem (for example leading to bullying, exposure to risk due to oversharing, or access to inappropriate behavior); OR
 * Discuss and pair with a photo an example of Internet addiction. NOTE: These need not be photos of people – be creative.

WEEK 12 Online: TEST PREP
Ask at least one question to the class relating to some aspect of the class (note: do not ask a yes/no question). As you answer one another, discuss your responses and deepen your understanding of the issues. Scroll the hashtag so there is no duplication of issues. Accompany your question with any relevant photo.

Instagram Postings / Due Dates
Instagram Postings / Due Dates
 * Sign up for an Instagram account.
 * Post one (1) “introductory” post and photo to the class hashtag and three (3) substantive replies to your classmates.
 * DUE: Next Monday (1st post); and Next Wednesday (3 replies). All posts must occur by 11 pm.

Instagram Postings / Due Dates
 * Comment on the readings
 * Post one (1) substantive post (and photo if available) to the class hashtag and three (3) substantive replies to your classmates.
 * DUE: Next Monday (1st post); and Next Wednesday (3 replies). All posts must occur by 11 pm.

Instagram Postings DUE on Mondays
Hi - are you aware that the 1st Instagram posting is DUE Monday nights? (You lose points if it is posted later - and I don't want you to experience this, if you can avoid it.) - Prof. Fisher

The first posting is due on Monday - and the link to it MUST be posted on Canvas. I mentioned this several times in class, and it is also articulated in the course policies for Instagram postings and in the Syllabus - https://rutgers.instructure.com/courses/4116/pages/policies-for-instagram-discussions?module_item_id=303622

Instagram Posting URL Must be Submitted to Assignments (i.e., Week 4 Assignment)
Hi Everyone,

Great postings on Instagram - however, I also need you to Submit the URL via the Assignment function in Canvas. (Some of your classmates have done this, but the majority have not.)

I've had to manually write down whose posted where / what (pix attached) - and with 40 people in the class, it's extra, unnecessary work for me.

Can you do the needful? I did mention this in class last week.

Thanks for your cooperation.

- Prof. Fisher IMG_5095.JPG

Instagram Posting Rubric
Instagram posting rubric

Reminder: Discussing Instagram Postings
Hi Everyone,

As a reminder, we'll be discussing our Instagram postings in class - I'll be using your Instagram ID to identify the poster, and postings - so be ready to jump in and share comments, insights and learning with your peers. See you on Thursday!

Link to Storify Drones Project
https://storify.com/jennybeacham/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-drones

Storify Project Focus (broad or deep)
Hi Everyone,

Yesterday, several people came up to me after class to ask about specifics regarding the Storify project (i.e., whether to go broad or deep). Both have merits, but delving deeply into one topic area - using our class hashtags as examples - will result in a more focused learning experience.

If you have questions about the focus of your projects, please email me / or raise them in class next week. I will devote a portion of our time together to answer your questions so that everyone can learn.

- Prof. Fisher

Storify Story Requirements
Hi Everyone,

I am reposting the instructions from the Syllabus here -

You will use our course hashtag and posts as examples to illustrate some of your ideas.

The Storify story should include approximately 800 words of your own text in the text boxes, which will be “wrapped around” the sources.

Include at least eight (8) Instagram posts from our course hashtag, “dragged into” your Storify (be sure to link your Instagram account to your Storify account), using the Storify webtool on the right hand side of the workspace in “edit” mode. Integrate these posts into the story you are telling in your own words in the text boxes.

Also include six (6) other relevant, reputable sources (but they need not be “scholarly” sources -- videos, tweets, blog posts, web stories, etc. are all acceptable), found using the Storify webtool on the right hand side of the edit space, and integrated into your story, “dragging them into” your Storify using the Storify webtool on the right hand side of the workspace in “edit” mode. Again, integrate these sources into the story you are telling in your own words in the text boxes.

Storify Story Frustration & WorkAround
Hi Amanda,

Sorry to hear that you are having this problem - it is SOO frustrating!

Yes, others have had it too.

At this point, the best I can say is this:

1. Do the best you can with Storify and its limitations - and submit the appropriate link on Canvas

AND

2a. Make a Google Doc - and copy all of the info, posts and images and links into the Google Doc. Name it Properly - Your First Name, Last Name + Assignment and Save it to the Following Folder in Google Docs - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qbZM6nA8jvoa08qjMsbT35_1Awv2kKBT?usp=sharing (BE SURE TO GIVE ME FULL PERMISSIONS TO EDIT, VIEW AND ORGANIZE)

2b. At the top of the document - put your Full Name & Contact information - phone number (best to reach you) and email address

2c. Make sure to also put the link in, to the Storify Story that you have. (I know you will have submitted this in Canvas - but this way, all of the information is in one place, for me to view / evaluate).

3. Peer Review - Do your best to review other people's stories on CANVAS.

Online Game Yields Heartwarming Intergenerational Friendship
As you are working madly to end the term - and gearing up for the holidays, I wanted to share a heartwarming article about a unique friendship that formed via an online game. In our course, we have covered really serious stuff, and this story, while not exactly fluff, has a serious part and a heartwarming quality to it too. Friends come in all shapes and sizes, races and religions, young and old, and near and far. Enjoy the read - https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/12/06/a-22-year-old-rapper-an-81-year-old-woman-and-an-unlikely-long-distance-friendship.html

Individual Instagram Posts not Just Class Hashtag (redux)
Hi - I have reviewed a number of assignments and I am noticing that people are just linking to the class hashtag.

You MUST link directly to the specific Instagram post within the class hashtag. The requirement is 8 individual posts, and then 6 other posts (tweets, popular sources, etc.)

Please take the opportunity to fix this in your assignments.

Thanks,

Hello Professor,

Q. Is the 8 individual Instagram posts supposed to be the post within the class hashtag? Can it be any other Instagram posts outside of the class hashtag? I remember you mentioned that the posts can be anything related to our own topic and it does not have to within class hashtag.

A. I have said, many times in class - the Instagram posts from the class hashtag is a starting point. You may use other hashtags (and individual posts).

Our class hashtag models the development of a community - much like you would find in any other community. People are tentative at first, and over time, they become more comfortable, revealing more about themselves, their tastes, their likes and dislikes. And, as they explore various issues (as part of the class requirement to post on different topics), you begin to see a profile emerge and a consensus (or lack of a consensus) in the class - both virtually and physically. Analyzing both the content as well as individual posts and the interactions within the #dcimpact17 hashtag is revealing and awesome in many ways - as we see the development of 'community' - over a limited time for a specific purpose (our class). The images and reflections will live on, as they are a fairly permanent record (unless of course, Instagram's terms of service change, or the service is sold or shut down), but it remains to be seen, and is probably unlikely that people in the class will post in the #dcimpact17 hashtag after class is over.

This brings me to a thought I hadn't considered before - but in most groups, as they wind down, there is a type of closure activity. We didn't really have that in our class. The end of the term, and the submittal of final papers seem to constitute the boundary here. But it is instructive, in that for other communities - how do they 'close', and what is the effect on the thoughts, feelings, identities and actors in the community?