AMST 391-04/ENGL 391-94/NEXT 383-01 The Rise of Social Media
Fall 2021 ONLINE—synchronous Dr. Campbell
Class meetings via Zoom: MW 2:00-3:15 p.m.
Conferences via Zoom by appointment
NOTE: We will not use the Canvas “Inbox” for any class communication.
COURSE GOALS
**In the context of the rise of social media on the Internet in the first decade of the 21st century, to examine these questions: Was the “dream of Web 2.0” (Owens) a dream articulated in good faith? Was that dream a possible force for good? Or was it a scam, or a naïve illusion? If a possible force for good and not a scam or an illusion, why wasn’t the dream realized, or why didn’t it endure? What happened?
**To immerse ourselves as participant-observers in a hands-on experience of the culture of arguably the only major Web 2.0 environment that remains: Wikipedia.
** To form a strong, vibrant, and mutually supportive learning community.
SYLLABUS (subject to change; readings typically announced one week in advance unless specified below)
Note: Class meetings via Zoom occur Mondays and Wednesdays (except university closings—see below) from 2:00-3:15 p.m. Because this class is “online-synchronous,” I expect you to be present for, and participate in, each of our Zoom sessions, unless you are ill or an unforeseen circumstance interferes. Sessions will be recorded and the recordings will be available on Canvas for your review. Note that your attendance also indicates your consent to be recorded as part of the live session.
Assignments for each date should be read, annotated (where noted), and/or viewed before the live Zoom meeting on that date!
Aug. 25: Introduction to the course of study
Aug. 30: Watch The Web is Us/ing Us; Aaron Swartz, The Internet’s Own Boy; read “How Extortion Scams and Review Bombing Trolls Turned Goodreads Into Many Authors’ Worst Nightmare” (McCluskey)
Sept. 1: Hypothes.is 1: Read and annotate As We May Think (V. Bush);
Read (in a browser on a laptop or desktop) “What is Code” (P. Ford)–on the Web at https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-paul-ford-what-is-code/
Sept. 3: Quiz 1 due by 11:59 p.m.
Sept. 6 Labor Day (no class meeting)
Sept. 8: Hypothes.is 2: Read and annotate Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework (excerpts, Engelbart);
Watch “The Mother of All Demos” (selections)
Sept. 12: Quiz 2 and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Sept. 13: Town Hall: Your Wikipedia Project
Sept. 15: Hypothes.is 3: Read and annotate Berners-Lee, “WWW Design Principles” (excerpts on the Web)
Sept. 19: Quiz 3 and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Sept. 20: Hypothes.is 4: Read and annotate Levy, In The Plex (excerpts); Google I
Sept. 22: Google II; Gmail, Privacy, Ads, and the Cloud (reading linked in Module page for this day).
Watch: “EPIC 2014,” “EPIC 2015.”
Sept. 26: Quiz 4 and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m. Wikipedia article selection due (email selection to Dr. C.)
Sept. 27: Birth of blogging. Scott Rosenberg, Say Everything (excerpts). Anil Dash, 9/11 blog post series
Sept. 29: Hypothes.is 5: Read and annotate “Find Your Voice” (Phillip Agre, link on Module page for the day).
Oct. 3: Quiz 5 and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Oct. 4: Read “What is Web 2.0?” (O’Reilly)
Oct. 6: Hypothes.is 6: Read and annotate “Participatory Culture” (excerpts) (Jenkins et al.). Discuss RSS and architecture of RamPages.
Oct. 10: Quiz 6 and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Oct. 11: Wikipedia I. Watch “Heavy Metal Umlaut Band” screencast (Udell); read “Word War III” and “One Woman’s Mission”
Oct. 13: Wikipedia II. Hypothes.is 7 Read/annotate Shirky, “Personal Motivation Meets
Collaborative Production,” from Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.
Oct. 17: RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Oct. 18: Podcasting; Read “There’s Something in the Air” (Campbell), Peer Review Week Begins (so get that sandbox going!).
Oct. 20: Hypothes.is 8: Read and annotate “Digital Gates” (Watkins)
Oct. 22: Reading Day (University closed)
Oct. 24: Wikipedia sandbox peer review and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Oct. 25: Town Hall on Wikipedia Project
Oct. 27: Copyright and Creative Commons. Read Remix (Lessig, excerpt); Listen to interview with Lessig (Campbell)
Oct. 31: Quiz 7 and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Nov. 1 Discussion forums, Reddit (readings etc. TBA)
Nov. 3: Hypothes.is 9: Read and annotate Turkle, “Video Games and Computer Holding Power” (from The Second Self) Second Life, VR, the metaverse.
Nov. 5: Last day to withdraw from a course with a mark of “W”; last day to change grading modality to P/F
Nov. 7: Quiz 8 and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Nov. 8: Hypothes.is 10 (reading/annotating TBA) Facebook I
Nov. 10: Facebook II
Nov. 12: Wikipedia sandbox peer review 1 due by 11:59 p.m.
Nov. 14: Quiz 9 and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Nov. 15: YouTube I, Watch An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube; (readings TBA)
Nov. 17: YouTube II (readings/viewings TBA)
Nov. 21: Quiz 10 and RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Nov. 22-28 “FALL BREAK”
Nov. 29: Hypothes.is 11: Read and annotate “Twitter and Tear Gas” (selections; Tufekci) (other readings and viewings TBA); Twitter I
Dec. 1: Twitter II (readings, viewings TBA)
Dec. 3: Wikipedia sandbox peer review 2 due by 11:59 p.m.
Dec. 5: RamPage reflection due by 11:59 p.m.
Dec. 6: Hypothes.is 12: Read and annotate “Shared entanglements – Web 2.0, info-liberalism & digital sharing”; read Zuboff on Surveillance Capitalism (selected articles). Surveillance Capitalism I
Dec. 8: Surveillance Capitalism II, the end of Web 2.0? (readings and viewings TBA)
Dec. 10 Wikipedia Project due by 11:59 p.m. Email to Dr. Campbell, post to your RamPage site.
Dec. 13: Conclusion. Digital Gift Day.
PLEASE NOTE: Many of the materials in this class—films, books, lectures, discussions—concern issues and topics including but not limited to race, gender, sexuality, religion, and politics. I will do my best to treat these matters discreetly and with the highest standards of professional good conduct. In turn, I expect you to help me create a community in which these challenging and potentially uncomfortable issues can be discussed in a mature, sensitive, and tolerant manner.
ASSIGNMENTS
All assignments count toward your final grade. Discussion forum posts, blog posts, and Hypothesis annotations are graded holistically; the grade will be based on how they demonstrate the consistency of your participation and the quality of your engagement with your classmates and the readings. As you will see below, some of your work is in private, class-based environments, and some of your work will be published to the World Wide Web.
- A Wikipedia project (public). This is your major course project, to be submitted for a grade. In addition to the work on the Wikipedia article and your two peer reviews, your grade will also reflect the quality of your project report, which is due on December 10 and should be the equivalent of an 8-10 page essay (i.e., 2000-2500 words, not including images/video/audio content). This essay should be sent to me via email as well as posted to your RamPages blog. See the full description below. This assignment immerses you in one of the last major working examples of Web 2.0 philosophy and practice, and in the spirit of Web 2.0, asks you to share an extended analysis of your experience on the World Wide Web.
- Daily posts to our class discussion forum every weekday, Monday through Friday (private to our class). These posts are informal and do not need to be long, but they should be interesting, substantive, and relevant. Pick a username you want to use. It can be your real name, a pen name, a favorite character in literature, TV, movies, songs, etc. Be expressive; be creative. Also, avatars are required, so please select an avatar (profile picture, “pfp”) and upload it to your profile in the Forum as soon as possible. (If avatars are new to you, never fear; we’ll help!) All I ask is that your posts be interesting, substantive, and relevant to this course of study. This assignment helps you engage with the course consistently, including the vital formation of a strong and vibrant learning community.
- One substantial reflective blog post each week, beginning the week of August 30 (public). This blog post should tell the story of your learning in the course so far. This post is not just a summary of our class meetings, but a story of your learning: what you’ve found most interesting, or surprising, or puzzling; what you’re happiest to have discovered; some new skill or insight you’ve acquired. As you work on your Wikipedia project, you should also reflect on that experience as part of your posts. I don’t have a set length in mind for these posts, but in my experience the best ones are usually at least three or four paragraphs long as well as thoughtfully creative, with links, embedded images or videos, etc. The writing style is informal, but more focused and extensively considered than a forum post. This post is due by11:59 p.m. every Sunday. This assignment gives you practice in public informal writing, and helps you narrate, curate, and share the story of your learning as well as your growing experience with the culture of Wikipedia.
- Hypothes.is online annotations (private to our class) on documents provided by Dr. Campbell. First, set up your account at https://hypothes.is. Next, join our course’s group. This assignment strengthens your close reading skills, both individually and as part of a learning community.
NOTE: Because Forum posts, RamPage reflections, and Hypothes.is annotations are part of our ongoing learning-community conversation, they may not be made up. It is vital that you post, reflect, and annotate regularly and on time, as the assignments stipulate!
- Ten brief (timed) reading quizzes, administered via Canvas, open-book and open-notebook. I will drop your lowest grade. This assignment encourages you to pace yourself as you move through the course of study, and keep up with the course meetings and materials.
GRADING:
All work is graded on a 100‑point scale, as follows:
A+ 98‑100 B+ 87‑89 C+ 77‑79 D+ 67‑69 F 59 and below
A 94‑97 B 83‑86 C 73‑76 D 63‑66
A‑ 90‑93 B‑ 80‑82 C‑ 70‑72 D‑ 60‑62
Weighting for each assignment:
Wikipedia Project 40%
Blog posts 15% Hypothesis annotations 20%
Forum Posts 15% Quizzes 10%
Additional Useful Information:
Students should visit http://go.vcu.edu/syllabus and review all syllabus statement information. The full university syllabus statement includes information on safety, registration, the VCU Honor Code, student conduct, withdrawal and more.
WIKIPEDIA PROJECT (overview; subject to modification)
For this project, you must select one existing article on Wikipedia and make a substantial contribution to that article. The overall project includes several steps:
- Establishing an account on Wikipedia, joining our course Wikipedia site, and completing the appropriate training modules in WikiEducation in a timely manner on the schedule as assigned by Dr. Campbell.
- Conducting and completing two peer reviews of a classmate’ s Wikipedia project work (an initial sandbox-work review, and a review of the nearly-complete sandbox work).
- Successfully moving your project work out of your Wikipedia “sandbox” into the Wikipedia article you’re working on, in accordance with Wikipedia policies and procedures.
- Writing and publishing on your course RamPage an essay describing, analyzing, and reflecting on your Wikipedia project, both the story of the project and your contributions to the article (roughly 2000-2500 words, not including images, video, or audio).