COMM 410 NEW MEDIA AND COMMUNITY LIFE

Annenberg School for Communication

University of Pennsylvania

Spring, 2011

Tue 1:30-4:30 (ANNS 225)

Prof. Keith Hampton

Office Hours: Fridays 1:00-2:00 (Room ASC 327)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This upper level course provides an overview of recent research on the social implications of new media. The focus is on how recent technological innovations, including personal computing, the Internet and mobile phones may be changing the way we interact with our environments and those around us. This seminar takes students beyond basic questions of “are virtual communities real communities?” and “does the Internet destroy or save community?” to an in depth discussion of how networks of community relations are maintained and transformed on and offline as a result of new media. The course is based around the argument that computer networks are inherently social networks, linking people, organizations and communities. This subject is heavily weighted towards the evaluation of empirical studies, the use of social network analysis, and studies that address sociological research questions. Students will learn to critically examine the impact of new media on society through in-depth seminars and independent research.

REQUIREMENTS

Students are not expected to have personal experience with the technologies discussed in this course. A major component of the course will involve the development and use of a personal blog. Students will receive access to the necessary blogging software and will be provided with basic instruction on how to maintain a blog.

Final grades will be based on an evaluation of 10 blog postings on the subject of the weekly course readings (30%), 20 comments on other students’ blog postings (10%), four assignments (50%), and class participation (10%). Students are urged to pay close attention to due dates, late assignments will not be accepted.

Course readings and participation: Students are expected to have read the week’s readings in advance of the course meeting. Class meetings will be in a seminar format and students should be prepared to participate in a discussion based on the topic and readings of the week.

Blog Postings: Students are responsible for submitting short commentaries on 10 of the weeks’ readings (400-650 words). Commentaries should focus on all of the readings from each week and should consist of limited summary; focusing on an evaluation of the readings and identifying 2-3 questions for discussion during the class meeting (focus on the papers’ key issues, strengths and limitations, and a comparison to previous weeks’ readings). Each commentary must be submitted as a post to the student’s personal class blog by 5:00pm on the Sunday before the class meeting.

Blog Comments: Each student is responsible for contributing comments to fellow students’ blogs. Comments should be a minimum of 150 words and offer a critique of that week’s posting, seek clarification, compare or contrast postings, or provide additional evidence or new information (such as a link to a related article, website, etc.). Each student must contribute a minimum of 20 comments, credit will be given for a maximum of two comments each week, students cannot comment on the same blog more than three times over the duration of the course. Comments must be posted by 7:30am on the day of class for posts related to that week’s readings.

Assignments: Students are responsible for completing all four of the following assignments. The following are intended as brief outlines of each assignment, detailed instructions will be provided in class and supporting material will be posted to the class Blackboard website.

1) Important Matters (10%), Handout: February 1, Due: February 15. Listen to two radio interviews: i) Lynn Smith-Lovin (Duke University) and Robert Putnam (Harvard University), and ii) Keith Hampton (University of Pennsylvania) and Lee Rainie (Pew Research center). Write a short blog posting (500-750 words) addressing the questions in the assignment handout.

2) Video Game Lab (15%), Handout: February 15, Due: March 29. Each student will be responsible for playing a series of games on the Nintendo Wii (Wii Dance 2 or Wii Resort) and Microsoft X-Box 360 (Grand Theft Auto IV). Based on your video game experience (8 hours of game play in the Media Lab), you will write a blog post (1250-1500 words) reflecting on one of four themes: violence, gender, community, or health. Important: As part of this assignment you will be exposed to video games that require physical activity. In addition, the content of these games may include violence, nudity, strong language, and sexual content.

3) Public Space (15%), Handout: March 22, Due: April 12. Conduct 5 hours of observations on how new media (e.g., mobile phones, computers, digital media players) influence social interactions in one of two assigned public/semi-public spaces. Write a blog posting (1250-1500 words) addressing the questions in the assignment handout.

4) Social Networking Services (10%), Handout: April 5, Due: May 3. Administer the “Facebook Survey” to a minimum of 20 people, half age 18-22, half over the age of 35 (half men, half women). Answer the questions in the course handout and submit as a blog post of 2000-3000 words.

COURSE MATERIALS

Baym, Nancy. (2010). Personal Connections in the Digital Age. Cambridge, UK:

Turkle, Sherry (2011). Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic Books.

All other readings, files, and grades will be available from the course Blackboard website: https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu/.

Handouts, information on assignments, and other announcements will be available from the course blog: http://www.mysocialnetwork.net/blog11/410.

COURSE OUTLINE

WEEK 1 (Jan 18) - Introduction and Blogging 101

WEEK 2 (Jan 25) - Foundations

Hampton, Keith (2009). Social Ties and Community in Urban Places. In Harry Hiller (Ed.) Urban Sociology 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 86-107.

Rheingold, H. (1993). A slice of life in my virtual community. In L. M. Harasim (Ed.), Global Networks: Computers and International Communication (pp. 37-80). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Baym, Nancy. (2010). Personal Connections in the Digital Age. Cambridge, UK: Polity (pp. 1-49).

WEEK 3 (Feb 1) - Dystopian

Turkle, Sherry (2011). Alone Together. Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. New York: Basic Books. (Introduction & Ch. 8, 9, 10)

Chih-Hung, K., Sigmund, H., Gin-Chung, L., Ju-Yu, Y., Ming-Jen, Y., & Cheng-Fang, Y. (2010). The characteristics of decision making, potential to take risks, and personality of college students with Internet addiction. Psychiatry Research, 175(1), 121-125.

Gergen, K. J. (2008). Mobile Communication and the Transformation of the Democratic Process. In J. E. Katz (Ed.), Handbook of Mobile Communication Studies (pp. 297-310). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L., & Brashears, M. E. (2006). Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks over Two decades. American Sociological Review, 71, 353-375.

WEEK 4 (Feb 8) - Relational Quality and Social Networks

Wellman, B. (2001). Physical Place and Cyberplace: The Rise of Networked Individualism. In L. Keeble & B. Loader (Eds.), Community Informatics: Shaping Computer-Mediated Social Relations. London: Routledge

Baym, N. K., Zhang, Y. B., Kunkel, A., Ledbetter, A., & Lin, M.-C. (2007). Relational Quality and Media Use in Interpersonal Relationships. New Media Society, 9(5), 735-752.

Hampton, K. N., Sessions, L., & Ja Her, E. (2011). Core Networks, Social Isolation, and New Media: Internet and Mobile Phone Use, Network Size, and Diversity. Information, Communication & Society, 14(1), 130-155.

Hampton, K. N., Lee, C. J., & Her, E. J. (in press). How New Media Afford Network Diversity: Direct and Mediated Access to Social Capital Through Participation in Local Social Settings. New Media & Society.

WEEK 5 (Feb 15) - Relationship Formation [Video Game Tutorial]

Toma, C., Hancock, J., & Ellison, N. (2008). Separating fact from fiction: An examination of deceptive self-presentation in online dating profiles. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 34: 1023-1036.

Hancock, J. T., & Toma, C. L. (2009). Putting Your Best Face Forward: The Accuracy of Online Dating Photographs. Journal of Communication, 59(2), 367-386.

Tufekci, Z. (2010). Who Acquires Friends Through Social Media and Why?" Rich Get Richer" versus" Seek and Ye Shall Find.

Steinkuehler, C. A., & Williams, D. (2006). Where Everybody Knows Your (Screen) Name: Online Games as “Third Places”. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4), 885-909.

WEEK 6 (Feb 22) - Social Networking Services

Facebook 'linked to rise in syphilis'. (2010). The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/7508945/Facebook-linked-to-rise-in-syphilis.html

Boyd, D., & Ellison, N.B. (2007). Social network sites: definition, History, and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.

Steinfield, C., Ellison, N. B, & Lampe, C. (2008). Social Capital, self-esteem, and use of online social network sites: a longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 29: 434-445.

Burke, M., Marlow, C., & Lento, T. (2010). Social network activity and social well-being. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Human factors in computing systems.

WEEK 7 (Mar 1) - Video Games

Yamaguchi, M. (October 23, 2008). Angry online divorcee ‘kills’ virtual ex-hubby. MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27337812/

Anderson, C., & Dill, K. (2000). Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(4), 772-790.

Dill, KE, Brown, BP, & Collins MA (2008). Effects of exposure to sex-stereotyped video game characters on tolerance of sexual harassment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 44(5): 1402-1408.

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

Biddiss, E., & Irwin, J. (2010). Active Video Games to Promote Physical Activity in Children and Youth: A Systematic Review. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 164(7), 664-672.

WEEK 8 (Mar 8) – Spring Break

WEEK 9 (Mar 15) – Video Game Lab

WEEK 10 (Mar 22) – Children & Youth

Livingstone, S. (2010). e-Youth:(future) policy implications: reflections on online risk, harm and vulnerability.

Vandebosch, H., & Van Cleemput, K. (2009). Cyberbullying among youngsters: profiles of bullies and victims. New Media & Society, 11(8), 1349-1371.

Draper, Nora. (2011). ‘Is your teen at risk?’: Discourse of Adolescent Sexting in American Broadcast Television. Working paper.

Hargittai, E., & Hsieh, Y.-l. P. (2010). Predictors and Consequences of Differentiated Practices on Social Network Sites. Information, Communication & Society, 13(4), 515 - 536.

WEEK 11 (Mar 29) – Mobile Life

Humphreys, L. (2005). Cellphones in public: social interactions in a wireless era. New Media & Society, 7(6), 810-833.

Chen, Y., & Katz, J. (2009). Extending family to school life: College students' use of the mobile phone. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 67(2), 179-191.

Hampton, K. N., & Gupta, N. (2008). Community and Social Interaction in the Wireless City. New Media & Society, 10(6), 831-850.

Hampton, K. N., Livio, O., & Goulet, L. S. (2010). The Social Life of Wireless Urban Spaces: Internet Use, Social Networks, and the Public Realm. Journal of Communication, 60(4), 701-722.

WEEK 12 (April 5) - Civic / Political Engagement

DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Celeste, C., & Shafer, S. (2006). From unequal access to differentiated use. In D. B. Grusky & S. Szelényi (Eds.), The Inequality Reader (pp. 549-565).

Haragittai, Eszter & Shaw, Aaron (2011). The Internet, Young Adults and Political Engagement around the 2008 Presidential Election. Working paper.

Hampton, K. N. (in press). Comparing Bonding and Bridging Ties for Democratic Engagement: Everyday Use of Communication Technologies within Social Networks for Civic and Civil Behaviors. Information, Communication & Society, 14(4).

WEEK 13 (April 12) - Local and Place-Based Community

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

Yardi, Sarita & boyd, danah. (2010). "Tweeting from the Town Square: Measuring Geographic Local Networks." ICWSM-2010.

Mok, D., Wellman, B., & Carrasco, J. (2010). Does Distance Still Matter in the Age of the Internet? Urban Studies, 47(13), 2747-2783.

Sessions, L. F. (2010). How Offline Gatherings Affect Online Communities -- When virtual community members ‘meetup’. Information, Communication & Society, 13(3), 375 - 395.

WEEK 14 (April 19) - Locative Media

Grinberg, Emanuella (2010). 3D illusion in street tries to change drivers’ attitudes .CNN.com http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/09/3d-illusion-in-street-tries-to-change-drivers-attitudes/?hpt=C2

Zraick, Karen (2010). Phone Apps Aim to Fight Harassment. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/nyregion/08hollaback.html

Gordon, Eric & de Souza e Silva, Andriana (in press). Net Locality: Why Location Matters in a Network World. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. (pp. 85-104).

Humphreys, L. (2007). Mobile social networks and social practice: A case study of Dodgeball. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 17.

Humphreys, L. (2010). Mobile social networks and urban public space. New Media & Society, 12(5), 763-778.

WEEK 15 (April 26) - Catch-up and Discuss Final Project