Fred Stutzman
Graduate Teaching Fellow
UNC School of Information and Library Science
Email: fred@metalab.unc.edu
Phone: (919) 260-8508
Website: http://ibiblio.org/fred
Weblog: http://chimprawk.blogspot.com
Tuesday, 12:30PM – 3:15PM, Manning Hall 304
http://ibiblio.org/fred/inls_490/
Authentication credentials: Username: inls490, Password: inls490
The class Facebook group is "INLS 490 Spring 2008", you may
either search for it or browse directly via this URL: http://tinyurl.com/ypaspa
Monday, 10AM – 12PM, Open Eye Coffee Shop, Carrboro
Tuesday, 11AM-12PM, INLS Library
Other times by appointment
This is a course about our networked selves. Social network sites, Web 2.0 tools and
the participatory turn in digital information production/consumption cycles
have made the individual centric in modern social information processing and
retrieval. Leveraging emergent
technologies of interaction, this course will explore fundamental
social/informational questions: how/why does one construct and enact a digital
identity, how/why do we communicate in technologically mediated social space,
what are the social impacts of this ubiquitous mediation? These information questions will act as
the centerpiece of this class, and we will use online social networks to
explore potential answers.
In this class, we will use online social networks as a
vehicle for understanding broader cultural and informational phenomena. This emergent area of research is
providing scholars from a number of disciplines fresh perspectives on classic
questions, as well as generating plenty of new questions. During the semester, we'll read from a
number of diverse literatures, including Communications, Cultural Studies,
Sociology, Physics, Information Science and Psychology. We'll read broadly to situate the
question, and then study how research in online social networks is generating
new answers.
This class will explore four broad areas that contain
interconnecting subfields. For the
purpose of simplicity, I've termed these areas Network Dynamics, Identity,
Communications and Cultural Impacts.
This is also how our class will flow. In the first section of the class, we will explore the
everyday dynamics of networks.
With this perspective, we will see how networks influence things such as
the ranking algorithms of search engines and information flow in the
blogosphere. In the second section
of the class, we will explore identity and place as presented in social
networks. In the third section of
the class, we will explore signaling and Computer Mediated Communication. In the last section, we will look a
number of applications of social networks, including social networks in the
practice, personal and portable networks, and mobile networks.
*
Barabasi,
Albert-Laszlo. (2002). Linked. Cambridge, MA: Plume Books.
*
Goffman,
Erving. (1959). The
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York:
Anchor Books.
*
Turkle,
Sherry (1995). Life on the
Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New
York: Simon and Schuster.
All textbooks for this course are available in trade
paperback.
*
Vogt,
W. Paul (2005). Dictionary of Statistics and Methodology: A Nontechnical Guide
for the Social Sciences. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
The preceding textbook is suggested for those new to reading
research.
Readings are organized by week in the syllabus, and are
available online via the course website.
This class will employ a mixture of lecture and seminar
formats. In the first half of
class, I will lead a semi-structured discussion based on the reading and
contributed questions. Active
participation and discussion is expected.
In the second half of the class, two students will deliver topical
presentations and help lead the class discussion.
In addition to active participation in class, there are a
number of assignments you will be expected to complete this semester. First, you will be expected to
contribute a question, observation or enhancement to our online forum each
week. Second, you will be expected
to produce a topical issues presentation once this semester, as well as act as
a discussion facilitator on your presentation day. Third, you will be asked to complete a term project; as part
of this term project you will be expected to submit a proposal, outline and
bibliography. Further instructions
on your assignments follow.
Finally, please note that this course is being taught at the
graduate level. There is significant reading each week,
but I hope you'll find it enjoyable and thought-provoking. Additionally, I reserve the right to
amend this syllabus if I see a need to do so.
By 5PM on the Monday of each week, you will be expected to
pose a question, observation or enhancement to our online discussion board, located
in our Facebook group. This Q, O,
or E should arise from our reading, and generally be one or two paragraphs long
(if you're especially inspired, feel free to go longer). Why not just a question? I'd like for the fora to be
conversational, so if someone asks a question that you can build on, or draw on
your personal experience to enhance, feel free.
Each week, I will start a new thread (the thread name will
correspond to the upcoming week number), and I ask that you try to keep your
discussions inside the thread if possible. However, feel free to contribute links, photos, videos and
wall postings to our group, have fun with it.
You will be expected to deliver a topical issues presentation
once during the semester. Drawing
on our reading for the week, you will present a relevant current issue in the
online social networks space. I
encourage you to make your presentation not only relevant to the reading, but
your interests at large.
Presentations should be no more than 15 minutes in length, and you may
use Powerpoint. Examples of
topical presentations may be: Presenting a new social network site,
exploring a feature shift by an online social network, analysis of a technology
delivered by a social network site. Other examples
may include presentations on how social networks integrate in your area of
practice, how communities of practice are utilizing social networks, or a
current news issue about social networks. I encourage
you to be creative and find interesting or novel connections between your
topical presentation and the class material.
On the day you deliver your topical issues presentation, you
will also be expected be a facilitator of discussion in the second half of the class. Prepare a few questions about the
material to get the discussion rolling, but again feel free to be creative in
your facilitation.
The term project will be a substantive original piece of
research, literature or a topical project in the area (research proposals
acceptable as well). I encourage
you to develop a project that is relevant to your area of interest; to this
extent I am quite flexible in the types of projects I'll approve. As social networks pose interesting
questions to industry, the academy and society at large, there are many
opportunities for you to develop a project that is relevant to your
interests.
Twice during the semester you will be asked to deliver a
short description of your project idea to the class. Additionally, you will be required to turn in a project
proposal and bibliography/outline.
The project proposal should be a 2-page description of your project; you
will be expected to present your idea, rationale and why the project is
relevant to your interests.
For the bibliography/outline, you will be required to turn
in two things. The first in a list
of at least 8 source citations (APA or whatever style your field uses) you plan
to use in your project. With the
citations, include a paragraph-long original abstract of the work. Note, you should not be copying the
paper's abstracts, but creating your own.
Second is a detailed outline of the paper. Your outline should be an in-depth exploration of your
project's roadmap; a simple bullet list is not sufficient.
As this project counts for 1/2 of the overall grade,
significant effort is expected.
The final project should be professional, written in academic tone and
style, and should not include any typographic errors. The instructor is flexible in terms of fitting the project
to the student's discipline or interests.
I would suggest that you talk to me early and often about your project;
if you keep me in the loop, I'm happy to provide feedback, guidance and
connections. Group work (max group
size: 2) is allowed, though group projects must reflect the substantive work of
all parties.
Project presentations will occur on the last day of class,
April 22. On this day you will be
expected to deliver a 5-7 minute presentation or demonstration of your term
project. Term project writeups
will be due at 5PM on Tuesday, April 29.
Topical Issues Presentation: 10%
Weekly Questions, Comments or Enhancements: 10%
Term Project Proposal/Bibliography/Outline: 10%
Term Project: 50%
Students are expected to conform to the Honor Code in all
academic manners. For more
information about the Honor Code, please visit the following URL: http://honor.unc.edu/honor/index.html.
Supplementary
*
Wasserman,
S. and Faust, K. (1994). Social
Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. New York: Cambridge.
*
Jones,
S. ed. (1999). Doing Internet Research: Critical
Issues and Methods for Examining the Net.
Thousand Oaks: Sage. Note:
Chapters 1, 3, 4, 10, 11.
*
Vogt,
W. Paul (2005). Dictionary of
Statistics and Methodology: A Nontechnical Guide for the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Exploring
the research space, framing uses and motivations.
*
boyd, danah. (2008). Why
Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage
Social Life. In Youth, Identity and Digital Media. Edited by David Buckingham. MacArthur Foundation on
Digital Learning. Cambridge, MA:
The MIT Press. Pages 119-142.
*
boyd, danah and Nicole
Ellison. (2007). Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.
JCMC, 13 (1).
*
Turkle, Introduction.
Recommended
*
Lenhart,
A. and Madden, M. (2007). Teens, Privacy & Online Social Networks. Pew Internet and American Life
Project Research Report.
*
Lenhart,
A, Madden, M., Macgill, A. and Smith, A. (2007). Teens and Social Media. Pew Internet and American Life
Project Research Report.
An introduction to the science of networks.
*
Barabasi,
Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4.
*
Shirky,
C. (2003). Power Laws, Weblogs and
Inequality. http://www.shirky.com/writings/powerlaw_weblog.html.
Exploring the dynamics and characteristics of online social
networks.
*
Barabasi,
Chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8.
*
Golder,
S., Wilkinson, D., and Huberman, B. (2006). Rhythms of social interaction:
messaging within a massive online network. 3rd
International Conference on Communities and Technologies (CT2007), East
Lansing, MI.
*
Kumar,
R., Novak, J., and Tomkins, A. (2006). Structure and evolution of online social
networks. In Proceedings of KDD 2006, pages 611–617.
* Term
Project Proposal Due
Exploring
concepts of the self using Turkle's psychoanalytic lens, as well as notions of
digital/cyber-identity.
*
Thurlow,
C., Lengel, L. and Tomic, A.
(2004). Online Identity:
Real or Virtual? In Computer
Mediated Communication: Social Interaction and the Internet. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Pages 95-106.
*
Turkle
Chapters 3, 7.
*
Bell,
D. (2001). Identities in
Cyberculture. In An
Introduction to Cybercultures. London:
Routledge. Pages 113-136.
*
Aronowitz,
S. (1995). Reflections on Identity. In The Identity In Question. Edited by John Rajchman. London: Routledge.
Pages 111-127.
Thinking
about how/why we construct, present and experience online identity.
*
Goffman, Introduction, Chapter 1.
*
Donath, J. (2008). Signals in Social Supernets. JCMC, 13 (1).
*
Lampe, C., Ellison, N. and Steinfeld, C. (2006). A face(book) in
the crowd: social searching vs. social browsing. Proceedings of CSCW 2006,
Banff, Alberta, Canada.
*
Donath,
J. (1999). Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. In Communities in Cyberspace, edited by Peter Kollock and Marc
Smith. London: Routledge. Pages 29-60.
*
Donath, J and boyd, d.
(2004). Public displays of connection. BT Technology Journal, 22(4).
*
Liu,
H. (2008) Social Network Profiles
as Taste Performances. JCMC,
13(1).
*
Willet, R. (2008) Consumer Citizens Online: Structure, Agency and
Gender in Online Participation. In Youth, Identity and Digital Media,
edited by David
Buckingham. MacArthur Foundation on Digital Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Pages 49-70.
Expanding
on the production of identity and exploring how it is communicated.
* Goffman, Introduction, Chapter 7.
*
Thurlow,
C., Lengel, L. and Tomic, A.
(2004). Describing CMC:
Interpersonal Dynamics In Computer
Mediated Communication: Social Interaction and the Internet. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Pages 45-57.
*
Dwyer, Cathy. (2007). Digital Relationships in the 'MySpace'
Generation: Results From a Qualitative Study. 40th Hawaii International
Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), Waikoloa, HI.
*
Lampe, C, Ellison, N and Steinfeld, C. (2007). A
Familiar Face(book): Profile Elements as Signals in an Online Social Network.
Proceedings of CHI 2007. San Jose, CA, ACM Press.
*
Whitty,
M. and Gavin, J. (2001).
Age/Sex/Location: Uncovering the Social Cues in the Development of
Online Relationships.
CyberPsychology and Behavior 4(5).
*
de
Certeau, M. (1984). The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California
Press.
Exploring
ideas of place, space and interaction in online social networks.
*
boyd, danah. (Forthcoming). None of this is Real. In Structures
of Participation, edited by Joe Karaganis.
New York: Social Science Research Council.
*
Engstrom,
J. (2005). Why some social network
services work and others don't – Or: the case for object-centric sociality. http://www.zengestrom.com/blog/2005/04/why_some_social.html.
*
Goodings,
L., Locke, A. and Brown, S. (2007).
Social Networking Technology: Place and Identity in Mediated
Communities. Journal of Community
and Applied Social Psychology, 17:463-476.
*
Valentine, G and Holloway, S. (2002). Cyberkids?
Exploring Children's Identities and Social Networks in On-line and
Off-line Worlds. Annals of the
Association of American Geographers, 92(2), 2002.
*
Kollock,
P. (1999). The economies of online
cooperation: gifts and public goods in cyberspace. In Communities in
Cyberspace, edited
by Peter Kollock and Marc Smith.
London: Routledge. Pages
167-195.
*
Barwell,
G. and Bowles, K. (2000). Border Crossings: The Internet and dislocation of
citizenship. In The
Cybercultures Reader,
edited by David Bell and Barbara M. Kennedy. London: Routledge.
Pages 702-711.
*
Lefebvre,
H. (1974, Trans. 1991). The
Production of Space. Translated by
Donald Nicholson-Smith.
Massachusetts: Blackwell.
*
Jacobs,
J. (1961). The Death and Life of
Great American Cities. New York:
Vintage Books.
*
Meyrowitz,
J. (1985). No Sense of Place. New York: Oxford University Press.
*
Massey,
D. (1994). Space, Place and
Gender. Minnesota: University of
Minnesota Press.
* Quiz Distributed
The functions of social
capital and relationship maintenance in online social networks
*
Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The
benefits of Facebook friends: Social capital and college students' use of
online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,
12(4).\
*
Resnick,
P. (2001). Beyond Bowling Together: SocioTechnical Capital. In HCI in the New Millennium, edited by J. Carroll. New York: ACM Press.
*
Granovetter,
M. (1973). The Strength of Weak
Ties. The American Journal of
Sociology, 78(6).
*
Feld,
S. (1981). The Focused Organization
of Social Ties. The American
Journal of Sociology, 86(5).
*
Wellman,
B., Haase, A. and Witte, J. (2001).
Does the Internet Increase, Decrease, or
Supplement Social Capital? American Behavioral Scientist, 45. Pages 437-456.
*
Mahar,
C., Harker, R. and Wilkes, C. (1990). The Basic Theoretical Position. In An Introduction to the Work of
Pierre Bourdieu: The Practice of Theory. Edited by
Richard Harker, Cheleen Mahar and Chris Wilkes. New York: St. Martin's Press.
*
Bourdieu,
P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of
Practice. Translated by Richard
Nice. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
*
Putnam,
R. (2000) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American
Community. New York: Simon and
Schuster. Note: Chapters 1, 9, 13, 22.
*
Lin,
N. (2002) Social Capital.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Quiz Due
Examining
information sharing, privacy, and social surveillance in social network sites.
*
Palen,
L. and Dourish, P. (2003). Unpacking Privacy for a Networked World. Proceedings of CHI 2003.
*
Zimmer,
M. (2007). Privacy and Surveillance in Web 2.0: Unintended Consequences and the
Rise of "Netaveillance". http://idtrail.org/content/view/696/42/
*
Acquisti, A. and Gross, R. (2006). Imagined Communities:
Awareness, Information Sharing, and Privacy on the Facebook. 6th Workshop on
Privacy Enhancing Technologies. Cambridge.
*
DiMicco,
J. and Millen, D. (2007). Identity Management: Multiple
Presentations of Self in Facebook.
Proceedings of GROUP 2007.
*
Nussbaum,
E. (2006). Say Everything. New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/news/features/27341/.
*
Dretzin,
R. (Producer). (2008, January
22). Frontline: Growing Up
Online [Television
Broadcast]. Alexandria: PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/
*
Stutzman, F. (2006). An Evaluation of Identity-Sharing Behavior in
Social Network Communities. iDMAa Journal, 3(1).
*
Barnes, S. (2006). A privacy paradox: Social networking in the
United States. First Monday 11(9).
*
boyd, d. (2007). Social Network Sites: Public, Private, or What?
Knowledge Tree 13, May 2007.
*
Tufekci, Z. (In press).
Can you see me now?
Audience and Disclosure Regulation in Online Social Network Sites. Bulletin of Science, Technology and
Society.
* Erickson, T. and Kellogg, W. (2000). Social translucence: an approach to designing systems that support social processes. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interactions, 7(1).
* Allen, M., Coopman, S., Hart, J. and Walker, J. (2007). Workplace Surveillance and Managing Privacy Boundaries. Management Communication Quarterly, 21.
* Poster, M. (1990). The Mode of Information: Poststructuralism and Social Context. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Note: Chapter 3: Foucault and Databases, Participatory Surveillance.
* Term Project Bibliography/Outline Due
The
intersection of social networks, personal networks and physical space.
*
Wellman,
B. (2001). Physical Place and Cyberplace: The Rise of Personalized
Networking. International Journal
of Urban and Regional Research, 25(2).
*
Castells,
M. (2001). Virtual Communities or
Network Society? In The
Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business and Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
*
Fischer,
C. (1982). The Spatial Dimensions
of Personal Relations. In To
Dwell Amongst Friends: Personal Networks in Towns and Cities. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
*
Hampton,
K. and Wellman, B. (2002). The Not
So Global Village of Netville. In The
Internet and Everyday Life, edited by Barry Wellman and Carolyn Haythornthwaite. MA: Blackwell.
*
McPherson,
M., Smith-Lovin, L., Brashears, M. (2006). Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion
Networks over Two Decades.
American Sociological Review, 71.
*
Watters,
E. (2003). Urban Tribes. New York: Bloomsbury.
*
Poster,
M. (1996). Cyberdemocracy:
Internet and the Public Sphere. In
Internet Culture,
edited by David Porter. London:
Routledge.
Social
networks in the academy.
*
Charnigo,
L. and Barnett-Ellis, P. (2007). Checking out Facebook.com: The Impact of a
Digital Trend on Academic Libraries.
Information Technologies and Libraries, March 2007.
*
Mazer,
J., Murphy, R. and Simonds, C. (2007).
I'll See You on Facebook.
Communication Education 56(1), 1-17.
*
Hewitt,
A. and Forte, A. (2006). Crossing
Boundaries: Identity Management and Student/Faculty Relationships on the
Facebook. Proceedings of CSCW
2006.
*
Mitrano,
T. (2006). Thoughts on
Facebook. Cornell University IT
Policy Office. http://www.cit.cornell.edu/policy/memos/facebook.html.
*
de Rosa, C. et. al. (2007).
Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World. Dublin: OCLC.
Exploring
social networks at the device and grid level.
*
Ling,
R. and Yttri, B. (2006) Control, Emancipation and Status. In Computers, Phones and the
Internet: Domesticating Information Technology, edited by R. Kruat and M. Brynin
and S. Kiesler. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
*
Dourish, P. and Bell, G. (2007). The Infrastructure of Experience
and the Experience of Infrastructure: Meaning and Structure in Everyday
Encounters with Space. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 34(3).
*
Turkle, S. (Forthcoming).
Always-on/Always-on-you: The Tethered Self. In Handbook of Mobile Communications and Social Change, edited by James
Katz. Cambridge: MIT Press.
*
Rheingold,
H. (2002) Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. New York: Basic Books.
*
Stald,
G. (2008). Mobile Identity: Youth,
Identity, and Mobile Communication Media. In Youth, Identity, and Digital
Media, edited by
David Buckingham. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on
Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Final
presentations, All projects due at 5PM on April 29.