COMM 410: New Media and Community Life

This project involves identifying and mapping all video cameras directed into public spaces within University City and the surrounding area. You will be assigned two quadrants on the assignment handout.

Steps:
1) Walk your quadrants and record the location of any cameras on a paper map (you can use Google Maps). Take pictures of the cameras using your own camera or one supplied by the instructor.

2) Go to http://www.communitywalk.com/map/19256 and click on "sign up." Use your university email address to create an account. The site will send you a confirmation email - please check your mail and click the link they send you.

3) Zoom into your assigned quadrants. Then click on "add marker." The easiest way for you to precisely place the camera is to click where you want the marker. Title the camera (preferably with something interesting/informative), add your blog username to the comment, select a category, and click "save."

4) After you've created a marker, add your photo. Click on the marker, then click "add photo."

5) Write a blog post (500-750 words) discussing observations from your quadrants and the collective observations of the class map. You may choose to address the "questions to consider" in the assignment handout. , but it is not required, nor are you limited to these questions. Within your post, provide references to the course readings whenever possible.

IMPORTANT DUE DATES:
December 1 - Observations from your quadrants must be posted to the class map!
December 5 - Your blog post is due. Bring your personal maps of your quadrants to class and hand in to the instructor.

NOTE: Only photograph/record cameras that "point" into public space (including university campuses). You should not enter private businesses, although there may be relevant cameras on private property that point into public spaces.

SAFETY: For your own safety, your observations should be conducted between 9:00am and 4:00pm.

Readings

Peretti, Jonah. (2001). Culture Jamming, Memes, Social Networks, and the Emerging Media Ecology. The Nike Sweatshop Email as Object-to-Think-With. Peretti Media Online. http://depts.washington.edu/ccce/polcommcampaigns/peretti.html

Vegh, Sandor. (2002). “Hacktivists or Cyberterrorists? The Changing Media Discourse on Hacking.” First Monday 7(10). http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_10/vegh/index.html

Readings

Chan, E., & Vorderer, P. (2006). Massively Multiplayer Online Games. In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing Video Games (pp. 77-113). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Jenkins, Henry (1999). Testimony before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/0504jen.pdf

Lee, K. M., & Peng, W. (2006). What Do We Know About Social and Psychological Effects of Computer Games? A Comprehensive Review of the Current Literature. In P. Vorderer & J. Bryant (Eds.), Playing Video Games (pp. 327-345). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Williams, Dmitri (2005). “Groups and Goblins: The Social and Civic Impact of Online Gaming”. Working paper.

Lyon, David (2003). “Surveillance in the City.” In Steve Graham (ed.), The Cybercities Reader. New York: Routedge.

Green, Nicola (2001). “Who's Watching Whom? Monitoring and Accountability” in Mobile Relations, Wireless World: Social and Interactional Aspects of the Mobile Age. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Curry, M., Phillips, D., & Regan, P. (2004). Emergency Response Systems and the Creeping Legibility of People and Places. The Information Society, 20, 357-369.

Zetter, K. (2005, April 15). Surveillance Works Both Ways. Wired News.
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/1,67216-0.html

Holson, L. (2006, April 5). Disney Phone Service Has Parents in Mind. New York Times.

Updated due date: NOVEMBER 21, 2006

Internet companies routinely collect and retain personal information on Internet users. Companies like AOL and Google collect information on the browsing habits, search history, shopping patterns, and email use of their users. Other companies, such as Facebook and MySpace allow Internet users to create elaborate personal profiles and to create links to other users. Information collected, stored, used and lost by Internet companies can represent a threat to personal privacy.

Choose one of the following Internet companies: Facebook, MySpace, AOL, or Google. Based on publicly available information (i.e. what you can find on the Internet, academic publications, and media reports) and your own analysis, what if any privacy concerns do you have about the website/organization you selected? Possible research directions include identifying other websites and/or companies owned/operated by the same organization, identifying companies that finance or operate the website, and/or instances of how information reveled by users has been used by other people or organizations (e.g., information used by governments, colleges, hackers, individuals, etc).

Discuss your findings in a (750-1000 word) post to your course blog. Copy of assignment handout.

Readings

Verini, J. (2006, March). Will Success Spoil MySpace.com. Vanity Fair.

Marks, Paul (2006, June 9). Pentagon sets its sights on social networking websites. New Scientist. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19025556.200

Ellison, N., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2006). Spatially Bounded Online Social Networks and Social Capital: The Role of Facebook, Annual Conference of the International Communication Association. Dresden, Germany.

Gross, R., & Acquisti, A. (2005). Information Revelation and Privacy in Online Social Networks. Paper presented at the ACM Workshop on privacy in the Electronic Society, Alexandria, VA.

Readings

Farrell , Elizabeth. (September 2, 2005) “Logging On, Tuning Out: When Students Lose Themselves in Online Worlds, it can be Hard to bring Them Back to Reality.” The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Mesch, G., & Talmud, I. (2006). The Quality of Online and Offline Relationships: The Role of Multiplexity and Duration of Social Relationships. The Information Society, 22, 137-148.

Ling, R., & Yttri, B. (2006). Control, Emancipation, and Status. In R. Kraut, M. Brynin & S. Keisler (Eds.), Computers, Phones, and the Internet: Domesticating Information Technology (pp. 219-234). New York: Oxford University press.

Ito, M., & Okabe, D. (2006). Intimate Connections. In R. Kraut, M. Brynin & S. Keisler (Eds.), Computers, Phones, and the Internet: Domesticating Information Technology (pp. 235-247). New York: Oxford University press.

Readings:

Hampton, Keith and Barry Wellman. (2003). “Neighboring in Netville: How the Internet Supports Community and Social Capital in a Wired Suburb.” City and Community 2(4), 277-311.

Hampton, Keith (forthcoming). e-Neighbors: Neighborhoods in the Network Society. Information, Communication and Society.

Servon, L., & Pinkett, R. (2004). Narrowing the Digital Divide: The Potential and Limits of the US Community Technology Movement. In M. Castells (Ed.), The Network Society: A Cross-cultural Perspective (pp. 319-338). Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

Your assignment is to conduct ethnographic observations of how new media (mobile phones, WiFi, Computers, PDAs, music players, etc) influences social interactions in public/semi-public spaces (if they do at all!). The course instructor will assign you to observe either 30th Street Station or Starbucks at Centre Square (1500 Market Street). Spend a total of 5 hours (two 2½ hour observation periods over two days Mon-Fri) at your assigned location. All observations must be conducted between 8:00am and 8:00pm. You may visit the field site with a classmate, but observations and notes must be made independently. Follow the guidelines in the course handout on how to conduct observations and take notes.

In preparation for your ethnographic work, note taking, and reporting, you make find guidance in the following readings, they are strongly recommended:

Schensul, Stephen. Jean Schensul, and Margaret LeCompte. (1999). Essential Ethnographic Methods. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. Pp 91-120.

Laurier, Eric, Angus Whyte, & Kathy Buckner (2001). An ethnography of a neighbourhood café: informality, table arrangements and background noise. Journal of Mundane Behavior 2(2).

Write a blog posting (1250-2000 words) discussing your findings. You are free to explore any theme(s) based on the course material related to the question: “How does new media change social interaction in public spaces?” Discuss your observations in relation to the course readings. Your blog post is due by 1:30pm on October 31. A copy of the assignment handout and readings can be found on Blackboard.