OC - SP08 - 0225
Content
Online Communities 021-259/160-259
Spring 2008
5:30 PM to 8:00 PM Tuesday
Library 3083
Instructor: André Brock Office: 3074 Library/212 Bowman House Office phone: (319) 335-6074 E-mail: [email protected] Mail Box: Located in the SLIS office Office Hours: Two hours prior to each class session, or by appointment
Course Description1 This course will explore the concept of online communities. Students will gain an understanding of community through the review and reflection on relevant theoretical and historical texts, as well as the development of a culturally-aware framework for observation and evaluation, and the design of an online community through groupwork. We will explore various online communities in various manifestations and explore the principles tying them together. For clarity, a community is defined as a group of people who sustain interaction over time. The bonds tying the group together could be a shared identity, a collective focus or purpose, or even the salvation of a particular need. Course Goals •
Students should understand cultural and theoretical constructs of community, as well as the technologies and trends of online communities over time.
•
Students will learn and apply a critical cultural evaluative framework to online communities.
•
Students will draft, plan, build, and evaluate an online community.
Assignments and Grading Participation
30%
Online Community Profile
25%
Community Planning and Design
40%
Implementation and Evaluation
15%
Course Policies You are responsible for reading all required readings on the syllabus, including additional handouts. Please notify me in advance in writing if you have to miss a class; unexcused absences will count against your grade.
Much thanks for the unwitting assistance of Professors Elizabeth Osder, Jennifer Preece, Paul Resnick, Susan Herring, Howard Rheingold, Amy Bruckman, and many others. 1
Online Communities syllabus - Spring 2008
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This course is given by the Graduate College. As such, class policies on matters such as requirements, grading, and sanctions for academic dishonesty are governed by the Graduate College. Students wishing to add or drop this course after the official deadline must receive the approval of the Dean of the Graduate College. Policy governing students enrolled in courses outside their own college or degree program may be found at: http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/deos/crossenroll.doc Academic Fraud Plagiarism and any other activities when students present work that is not his or her own are academic fraud. Academic fraud is reported to the departmental DEO and to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Services who enforces the appropriate consequences. www.clas.uiowa.edu/students/academic_handbook/ix.shtm Making a Suggestion or a Complaint Students with a suggestion or complaint should first visit the instructor, then the course supervisor and the departmental DEO. Complaints must be made within six months of the incident. www.clas.uiowa.edu/students/academic_handbook/ix.shtml#5 Understanding Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment subverts the mission of the University and threatens the well-being of students, faculty, and staff. www.sexualharassment.uiowa.edu Reacting Safely to Severe Weather In severe weather, the class members will seek shelter in the innermost part of the building, if possible at the lowest level, staying clear of windows and free-standing expanses. (Operations Manual 16.14. i.) Accommodations for Disabilities A student seeking academic accommodations should register with Student Disability Services and meet privately with the course instructor to make particular arrangements. www.uiowa.edu/~sds/ It is my desire to fully include persons with disabilities in this course. Please let me know within the first two weeks of class if special accommodations are necessary to enable you to fully participate.
Online Communities syllabus - Spring 2008
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Spring 2008
Topical Schedule Readings Selections are listed under the day on which they will be discussed. The syllabus is subject to constant revision, so make sure you keep up with the posted version on [xxxx]. Each day’s readings will be presented by one or more students. For more detail, see the assignment section. Culture, Community, and Technology January 22 January 29 February 5
February 12
Introduction Rhetoric of Technology Technology and Culture Theories of Community Cultural Considerations - Critical Race Theory Social Capital What is an Online Community?
Online Communities I February 19 February 25 March 4
March 11
March 18
Online Communities Identity and the Internet Online Communities Embodiment, Identity, and the Internet Online Communities Typology Purpose Research Method and Ethics CMDA Content Analysis Cyberethnography Spring Break
Online Communities II March 25
April 1
April 8 April 15 April 22 April 29 May 6
Culture, Technology, Community BlackPlanet Second Life Rituals, Beliefs, and Norms MMOs Games Practices and Governance Wikipedia TBA TBA Presentations Presentations
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Spring 2008
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Course Calendar Date
Assignment Due
Readings
Jan 22, 2008
None
None
Jan 29, 2008 Rhetoric of Technology Technology and Culture
Pacey, A. (1983). The culture of technology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pp. 1-34, 78-96 [UIowa InfoLink] Winner, L. (1980) Do artifacts have politics? Daedelus 109(1). Available from: http://cscl.ist.psu.edu/public/users/mrosson/IST501/readings/Winner86 .pdf Dinerstein, J. (2006) Technology and its discontents: On the verge of the posthuman. American Quarterly 58(3). 569 [UIowa InfoLink] Baraka, A. (1979) Technology and Ethos. In Rage, rays, raise, raze: Essays since 1965. Available from: http://www.marilynnance.com/titanic/baraka.html Lockard, J. (1995). Selling Brooklyn bridges in cyberspace. Bad Subjects 18. Available from: http://eserver.org/bs/18/Lockard.html
Feb 5, 2008
Dyer, R. (1999) The matter of whiteness. White. London: Routledge. Pp. 1-40 [Handout]
Theories of Community
Lipsitz, G. (1995). The possessive investment in Whiteness: Racialized social democracy and the "White" problem in American Studies. American Quarterly 47(3). Pp. 369-387. [UIowa InfoLink}
Cultural Considerations Critical Race Theory
Tonnies, F. (1957). On Gemeinschaft and gesellschaft. In Community and society: Gemeinschaft und gesellschaft. Translated and edited by Charles P. Loomis. Lansing, MI: Michigan State UP. Pp. 223-231 Available from: http://media.pfeiffer.edu/lridener/courses/GEMEIN.HTML
Social Capital
Putnam, R. D. (1995). Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America. PS: Political Science and Politics, 28(4), 664683. [UIowa InfoLink] Putnam, R. D. (1995) Bowling alone. Journal of Democracy 6(1). 65. [UIowa InfoLink] Oldenburg, R. Chapters 1&2. The Great Good Place. [TBS]
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Course Calendar Lessig, L. (1999). Chapter 6. Code and other laws of cyberspace. New York, NY: Basic Books. Available from: http://codebook.jot.com/Book/Chapter6/Ch6Part1
Feb 12, 2008 What is an online community?
Wellman, B. and Gulia, M. (1999) Net surfers don’t ride alone. In In P. Kollock and M. Smith (Eds.) Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge. Available from: www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/publications/netsurfers/netsurfers.pdf Wellman, B. (2001) Computer networks as social networks. Science, 293(14 September), 2031-2034. [UIowa InfoLink] Paccagnella, L. (2001) Online community action: Perils and Possibilities. In C. Werry and M. Mowbray (Eds), Online Communities: Commerce, community action, and the virtual university. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Pp. 365-393 [Handout] Preece, J., Maloney-Krichmar, D, Abras, C. (2003) History and emergence of online communities. In B. Wellman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Community. Berkshire Publishing Group, Sage. Available from: http://www.ifsm.umbc.edu/~preece/paper/6%20Final%20Enc%20preece %20et%20al.pdf Rheingold, H. (1992). Introduction and “Daily Life in Cyberspace: How the Computerized Counterculture Built a New Kind of Place”. The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Available from: http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/
Feb 19, 2008 Online Communities Identity and the Internet
Post discussions online
Goffman, E. (1959) Introduction and Chapter 1. Presentation of self in everyday life. Donath, J. (1999). Identity and deception in the virtual community. In P. Kollock and M. Smith (Eds.) Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge. Available online: http://smg.media.mit.edu/papers/Donath/IdentityDeception/IdentityDe ception.pdf Benkler, Y. (2006) Peer production and sharing. The Wealth of Networks. New Haven, CT: Yale UP. Available from: http://www.benkler.org/Benkler_Wealth_Of_Networks_Chapter_3.pdf
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Course Calendar Feb 26, 2008 Online Communities Embodiment and Identity
Gefen, D. And Ridings, C.M. (2004). Virtual community attraction: Why people hang out online. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 10(1). [UIowa InfoLink] Robinson, L (2007). The cyber-self: the self-ing project goes online, symbolic interaction in the digital age. New Media and Society 9. 93. [UIowa InfoLink] Burkhalter, B. (1999). Reading race online: discovering racial identity in Usenet discussions. In P. Kollock and M. Smith (Eds.) Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge. Available from: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/communities_03. htm Senft, T. (2000) Baud girls and cargo cults. In T. Swiss and A. Herman (Eds.) World Wide Web: Myth, Metaphor, Magic New York: Routledge. Available from: http://www.terrisenft.net/writing/bgcc.html Suler, J. (2005). The psychology of cyberspace. Available from: http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/basicfeat.html Nakamura (2002) Race in/For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet available at: http://www.humanities.uci.edu/mposter/syllabi/readings/nakamura.html
Mar 4, 2008 Online Communities Typology Purpose
Stanoesvska-Slabeva and Schmid (2001) A typology of online communities and community supporting platforms. Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Available from: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/iel5/7255/20032/00927041. pdf?tp=&arnumber=927041&isnumber=20032 Preece, J. and Maloney-Krichmar, D. (2003). Online communities: Design, theory, and practice. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(4), article 1. [UIowa InfoLink] Rheingold, H. (1993) Chapter 5 and 6. In The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Available from: http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/5.html and http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/6.html Doering, N. (2002). Personal home pages on the Web: A review of research. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 7(3). [UIowa InfoLink]
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Course Calendar Mar 11, 2008 Research Methods Research Ethics
Complete UIowa human subjects online certification course (IRB-02) at http://ww w.citiprogr am.org/
You must turn in a copy of the certificate.
Schneider, S.M. and Foot, K.A. (2004) The Web as an object of study. New Media & Society 6(1). 114-122 [UIowa InfoLink] Herring, S. (2004) Computer-mediated discourse analysis: An approach to researching on-line behavior. Available from: http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/%7Eherring/cmda.pdf Hudson, J. and Bruckman, A. (2004) 'go away': Participant objections to being studied and the ethics of chatroom research. The Information Society, 20(2), 127-139. [UIowa InfoLink] Bruckman, A. (2006). Teaching students to study online communities ethically. Journal of Information Ethics 15(2), 82-98. [UIowa InfoLink] Churchill, E.F. And Halverson, C.A. (2005). Social networks and social networking. IEEE Internet Computing 9(5). Pp. 14-19 [UIowa InfoLink] Ess, C. (2001) AoIR research ethics. Available from: http://aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf Walther J.B. Research ethics in Internet-enabled research: Human subjects issues and methodological myopia. Ethics and Information Technology 4. 205-216 Available from: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/ethics_wal_full.html Miller, R. and Slater, D. (2000). Chapter 1. The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach. [TBS}
Mar 18, 2008
Online Communities syllabus - Spring 2008
Spring Break
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Course Calendar Mar 25, 2008 Culture, Community, and Technology
Online Community Evaluation Due
Winner, L. (1996). Who will we be in cyberspace? The Information Society 12. 63-72. [UIowa InfoLink] boyd, d. [blog post] Viewing America. Available from: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2007/06/24/viewing_america. html Raymond, E. (xxxx) The Cathedral and the Bazaar http://catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/cathedra l-bazaar.ps http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/ boyd,d. and Ellison, N. (2007) Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1), 210– 230 [UIowa InfoLink]
April 1 Rituals, Beliefs, and Norms MySpace Livejournal MMOs Casual Games Slashdot
Preece, J. and Nonnecke,B. (2000) Lurker demographics: counting the silent. Proceedings of CHI 2000, April 1 - 6, 2000, The Hague, Netherlands, pp. 73-80 [UIowa InfoLink] Postmes, T., Spears, R. And Lea, M. (2000). The formation of group norms in computer mediated communication. Human Communication Research 26. 341-371 [UIowa InfoLink] Dibbell, J. (1998). A rape in cyberspace. In My Tiny Life. New York: Henry Holt. pp. 11-32. Available online: http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle.html and also: http://www.lulu.com/content/1070691 (I recommend this one for readability) Castronova, E. (2001). Virtual worlds: A first-hand account of market and society on the Cyberian Frontier. Available from: http://www.bepress.com/giwp/default/vol2/iss1/art1/current_article.html Morris, S. (xxxx) Online gaming culture: an examination of emerging forms of production and participation in multiplayer first person shooter gaming” [UIowa InfoLink] boyd, d. (2006). Friends, friendsters, and top 8: Writing community into being on social network sites. First Monday 11(12) (December) Available from: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_12/boyd/index.html
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Course Calendar April 8 Practices, Governance, and Design (PG&D) Wikipedia YouTube Flickr Digg iVillage
Coates, J. (1993) Cyberspace innkeeping: Building online community. Available from: http://gopher.well.sf.ca.us:70/0/Community/innkeeping Miklaucic, S. (xxxx) Virtual real(i)ty: SimCity and the production of urban cyberspace. [UIowa InfoLink] Godwin, M. (1994). Nine principles for making virtual communities work. Wired 2.06 (June). Available from: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.06/vc.principles_pr.html Suler, J. (1998). Making virtual communities work. Available from: http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/commwork.html Bruckman, A. (1996) Finding one's own space in cyberspace. Technology Review 99(1) (January) [UIowa InfoLink] Kollock, P. (1999). The economies of online cooperation: Gifts and public goods in cyberspace. In P. Kollock and M. Smith (Eds.) Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge. Available from: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm
Apr 15, 2008 PG&D continued...
Andrews (2002). Audience-specific online community design. Communications of the ACM 45(4), 64-68. [UIowa InfoLink] Suler, J. (xxxx) Communicative subtlety in multimedia chat. Available from: http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/ Kim, A.J. (1998) Secrets of successful web communities: 9 timeless design principles for community building. [TBS] Bruckman, Amy (xxxx) Approaches to managing deviant behavior in virtual communities. Available from: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/papers/deviance-chi94.txt
Apr 22, 2008
TBA
Apr 29, 2008
Presentations
May 6, 2008
Presentations
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Assignments Participation Grade (30%) Discussion Leader (20%) - Each student is required to present at least THREE assigned readings during the course of the semester. Your presentation should cover the argument and your interpretations of those arguments, rather than a “book report” of the reading. Since the readings are grouped loosely by topic, you should work together with the other students presenting readings during that class. Bonus points will be given for presentations that examine some online community through the arguments of the assigned reading(s). Class Participation (10%) All students not doing readings are required to submit at least two questions about the readings for that class. Your questions can NOT be about the same reading, but one question can ask about similar themes in multiple readings (ask if you’re not sure what this means). This is intended to give me an idea of what to focus on during class discussion. Questions must be emailed to me (use the subject heading “[class date] discussion questions”) by Monday at 5 PM. Late questions will cause a reduction of your participation grade...cuz that means you haven’t read the readings. Online Community Profile (25%) - 5 to 7 pages This assignment requires you to select an online community and evaluate it using the questions and criteria below. The purpose of this assignment is to acquaint you with the technological, social, and cultural frameworks of an online community of your choice. This assignment cannot be started until the completion of the UIowa IRB human subjects research training, and is due March 25. Your community must be clearly identified and, if possible, a link to the community should be provided. Please answer the following questions in the course of your report: 1. How does this community manifest itself online? Describe the platform and software used by the community. a. Describe in detail the text, graphics, multimedia, and page design used to represent the community themes. b. What are the major sections and organizational elements of the community? What are the contents vs. the functions available on the site? c. How do the aesthetics of the community strike you? Do they appeal or repel? Why? 2. What is the central interest of this community? Is there a a particular theme, philosophy, or style that informs this interest? a. How did you find your community (e.g., search engine)? 3. What is the central or common interest of the community? a. What need does it fulfill? i. Why do people participate?
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ii. What is their reward? b. Does the community have a prevailing philosophy or style? i. Do community members use terms or expressions that are unique to the group? ii. Are there ethical, social, and cultural issues that are of concern for this community? iii.When you joined or visited the community, did you feel welcome in the group? 1. Is it a group you would be interested in joining? 4. Who created the community? 5. Who are the participants in this community? a. Did you join or visit? 6. How is identity constructed in this community (e.g., bios, aliases, avatars)? 7. What is the method of interaction? How do users interact? a. What is the “quality” of the discourse? b. What is the tone of the interaction? c. How often do users post/login/participate? 8. Do the members trust each other? How is trust created? 9. What policies or rules govern the community? 10. What aspect of this community appeals to you most? Least?
Online Community Design (40%) As a team (to be decided later), you will be required to plan and design an online community. The final product will be erected on the web using OC templates from www.ning.com, but before we get to that stage, you must produce a detailed analysis and explanation of your community and how it will operate, using materials from the readings of the course, your evaluations of other online communities, and your practical experience. Your community will be written up using the Project Roadmap framework (see below) and evaluated by the other teams. Project Roadmap Here is a broad outline of the report that your team will prepare and present to explain your online community. This document will be due at the final presentation.
I. Executive Summary
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II. Mission A.
About your Community
B.
Mission and Values 1. What is the purpose? 2. How will this clear purpose facilitate credibility and trust in the community?
C.
Strategy: How is it unique?
D.
Goals and Objectives of your community
III. The People 1. Who are the residents of your community? a. Describe them? b. Why do they need this? c. Can they get it anywhere else? A. Research 1. What do you know about this audience? 2. How can you learn more about them? a. Research Plan b. Research cited B. How do you design a community to meet their unique needs? 1. What about this topic or audience provides guidance for community design? IV. The Community A. Detailed description of your community as a product? 1. Topic: What is it about? 2. Audience: Who is it for? 3. What does it provide? a. Interaction model? Users talk to each other, publish content, Share? Peer Production B. Programming/Content Plan C. Sections, Services, Special Features 1. Design
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2. Layout 3. Style 4. User interactions a. How will you get people to participate? i. Incentives? Rewards? ii. How will users build Trust? iii. What is the role of identity? 1. What assessment signals will your community promote to create transparency and promote trust? V. Marketing A. How will your community: 1. Learn about your site? 2. Find your site? 3. Will you “link” or partner with other content or communities?
VI. Operations & Policies A. How will you run your community? 1. Technology? a. What technologies will you use? b. Can you buy or do you need to build your technology? B. Staffing 1. Who will you need to run the community? a. Job descriptions b. Skills? Interests c. Organizational Plan i. Who does what? d. Operations Plan: i. How does it all fit together? C. Logistics
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1. Unique issues to your idea? a. De-centralized management i. Remote, low cost of operations b. centralized management i. office, other expenses D. Policies? 1. What are the policies or rules that guide your community? a. What are the implications of these choices? i. Do users have to “accept” to participate? VII. Appendices A. Examples (mock-ups, page designs, examples) B. Additional Research 1. Copies of any important documents. C. Other supporting documents
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Spring 2008
5:30 PM to 8:00 PM Tuesday
Library 3083
Instructor: André Brock Office: 3074 Library/212 Bowman House Office phone: (319) 335-6074 E-mail: [email protected] Mail Box: Located in the SLIS office Office Hours: Two hours prior to each class session, or by appointment
Course Description1 This course will explore the concept of online communities. Students will gain an understanding of community through the review and reflection on relevant theoretical and historical texts, as well as the development of a culturally-aware framework for observation and evaluation, and the design of an online community through groupwork. We will explore various online communities in various manifestations and explore the principles tying them together. For clarity, a community is defined as a group of people who sustain interaction over time. The bonds tying the group together could be a shared identity, a collective focus or purpose, or even the salvation of a particular need. Course Goals •
Students should understand cultural and theoretical constructs of community, as well as the technologies and trends of online communities over time.
•
Students will learn and apply a critical cultural evaluative framework to online communities.
•
Students will draft, plan, build, and evaluate an online community.
Assignments and Grading Participation
30%
Online Community Profile
25%
Community Planning and Design
40%
Implementation and Evaluation
15%
Course Policies You are responsible for reading all required readings on the syllabus, including additional handouts. Please notify me in advance in writing if you have to miss a class; unexcused absences will count against your grade.
Much thanks for the unwitting assistance of Professors Elizabeth Osder, Jennifer Preece, Paul Resnick, Susan Herring, Howard Rheingold, Amy Bruckman, and many others. 1
Online Communities syllabus - Spring 2008
1
Online Communities 021-259/160-259
Spring 2008
This course is given by the Graduate College. As such, class policies on matters such as requirements, grading, and sanctions for academic dishonesty are governed by the Graduate College. Students wishing to add or drop this course after the official deadline must receive the approval of the Dean of the Graduate College. Policy governing students enrolled in courses outside their own college or degree program may be found at: http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/deos/crossenroll.doc Academic Fraud Plagiarism and any other activities when students present work that is not his or her own are academic fraud. Academic fraud is reported to the departmental DEO and to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Services who enforces the appropriate consequences. www.clas.uiowa.edu/students/academic_handbook/ix.shtm Making a Suggestion or a Complaint Students with a suggestion or complaint should first visit the instructor, then the course supervisor and the departmental DEO. Complaints must be made within six months of the incident. www.clas.uiowa.edu/students/academic_handbook/ix.shtml#5 Understanding Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment subverts the mission of the University and threatens the well-being of students, faculty, and staff. www.sexualharassment.uiowa.edu Reacting Safely to Severe Weather In severe weather, the class members will seek shelter in the innermost part of the building, if possible at the lowest level, staying clear of windows and free-standing expanses. (Operations Manual 16.14. i.) Accommodations for Disabilities A student seeking academic accommodations should register with Student Disability Services and meet privately with the course instructor to make particular arrangements. www.uiowa.edu/~sds/ It is my desire to fully include persons with disabilities in this course. Please let me know within the first two weeks of class if special accommodations are necessary to enable you to fully participate.
Online Communities syllabus - Spring 2008
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Online Communities 021-259/160-259
Spring 2008
Topical Schedule Readings Selections are listed under the day on which they will be discussed. The syllabus is subject to constant revision, so make sure you keep up with the posted version on [xxxx]. Each day’s readings will be presented by one or more students. For more detail, see the assignment section. Culture, Community, and Technology January 22 January 29 February 5
February 12
Introduction Rhetoric of Technology Technology and Culture Theories of Community Cultural Considerations - Critical Race Theory Social Capital What is an Online Community?
Online Communities I February 19 February 25 March 4
March 11
March 18
Online Communities Identity and the Internet Online Communities Embodiment, Identity, and the Internet Online Communities Typology Purpose Research Method and Ethics CMDA Content Analysis Cyberethnography Spring Break
Online Communities II March 25
April 1
April 8 April 15 April 22 April 29 May 6
Culture, Technology, Community BlackPlanet Second Life Rituals, Beliefs, and Norms MMOs Games Practices and Governance Wikipedia TBA TBA Presentations Presentations
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Course Calendar Date
Assignment Due
Readings
Jan 22, 2008
None
None
Jan 29, 2008 Rhetoric of Technology Technology and Culture
Pacey, A. (1983). The culture of technology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pp. 1-34, 78-96 [UIowa InfoLink] Winner, L. (1980) Do artifacts have politics? Daedelus 109(1). Available from: http://cscl.ist.psu.edu/public/users/mrosson/IST501/readings/Winner86 .pdf Dinerstein, J. (2006) Technology and its discontents: On the verge of the posthuman. American Quarterly 58(3). 569 [UIowa InfoLink] Baraka, A. (1979) Technology and Ethos. In Rage, rays, raise, raze: Essays since 1965. Available from: http://www.marilynnance.com/titanic/baraka.html Lockard, J. (1995). Selling Brooklyn bridges in cyberspace. Bad Subjects 18. Available from: http://eserver.org/bs/18/Lockard.html
Feb 5, 2008
Dyer, R. (1999) The matter of whiteness. White. London: Routledge. Pp. 1-40 [Handout]
Theories of Community
Lipsitz, G. (1995). The possessive investment in Whiteness: Racialized social democracy and the "White" problem in American Studies. American Quarterly 47(3). Pp. 369-387. [UIowa InfoLink}
Cultural Considerations Critical Race Theory
Tonnies, F. (1957). On Gemeinschaft and gesellschaft. In Community and society: Gemeinschaft und gesellschaft. Translated and edited by Charles P. Loomis. Lansing, MI: Michigan State UP. Pp. 223-231 Available from: http://media.pfeiffer.edu/lridener/courses/GEMEIN.HTML
Social Capital
Putnam, R. D. (1995). Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America. PS: Political Science and Politics, 28(4), 664683. [UIowa InfoLink] Putnam, R. D. (1995) Bowling alone. Journal of Democracy 6(1). 65. [UIowa InfoLink] Oldenburg, R. Chapters 1&2. The Great Good Place. [TBS]
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Course Calendar Lessig, L. (1999). Chapter 6. Code and other laws of cyberspace. New York, NY: Basic Books. Available from: http://codebook.jot.com/Book/Chapter6/Ch6Part1
Feb 12, 2008 What is an online community?
Wellman, B. and Gulia, M. (1999) Net surfers don’t ride alone. In In P. Kollock and M. Smith (Eds.) Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge. Available from: www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/publications/netsurfers/netsurfers.pdf Wellman, B. (2001) Computer networks as social networks. Science, 293(14 September), 2031-2034. [UIowa InfoLink] Paccagnella, L. (2001) Online community action: Perils and Possibilities. In C. Werry and M. Mowbray (Eds), Online Communities: Commerce, community action, and the virtual university. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Pp. 365-393 [Handout] Preece, J., Maloney-Krichmar, D, Abras, C. (2003) History and emergence of online communities. In B. Wellman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Community. Berkshire Publishing Group, Sage. Available from: http://www.ifsm.umbc.edu/~preece/paper/6%20Final%20Enc%20preece %20et%20al.pdf Rheingold, H. (1992). Introduction and “Daily Life in Cyberspace: How the Computerized Counterculture Built a New Kind of Place”. The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Available from: http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/
Feb 19, 2008 Online Communities Identity and the Internet
Post discussions online
Goffman, E. (1959) Introduction and Chapter 1. Presentation of self in everyday life. Donath, J. (1999). Identity and deception in the virtual community. In P. Kollock and M. Smith (Eds.) Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge. Available online: http://smg.media.mit.edu/papers/Donath/IdentityDeception/IdentityDe ception.pdf Benkler, Y. (2006) Peer production and sharing. The Wealth of Networks. New Haven, CT: Yale UP. Available from: http://www.benkler.org/Benkler_Wealth_Of_Networks_Chapter_3.pdf
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Course Calendar Feb 26, 2008 Online Communities Embodiment and Identity
Gefen, D. And Ridings, C.M. (2004). Virtual community attraction: Why people hang out online. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 10(1). [UIowa InfoLink] Robinson, L (2007). The cyber-self: the self-ing project goes online, symbolic interaction in the digital age. New Media and Society 9. 93. [UIowa InfoLink] Burkhalter, B. (1999). Reading race online: discovering racial identity in Usenet discussions. In P. Kollock and M. Smith (Eds.) Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge. Available from: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/communities_03. htm Senft, T. (2000) Baud girls and cargo cults. In T. Swiss and A. Herman (Eds.) World Wide Web: Myth, Metaphor, Magic New York: Routledge. Available from: http://www.terrisenft.net/writing/bgcc.html Suler, J. (2005). The psychology of cyberspace. Available from: http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/basicfeat.html Nakamura (2002) Race in/For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet available at: http://www.humanities.uci.edu/mposter/syllabi/readings/nakamura.html
Mar 4, 2008 Online Communities Typology Purpose
Stanoesvska-Slabeva and Schmid (2001) A typology of online communities and community supporting platforms. Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Available from: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/iel5/7255/20032/00927041. pdf?tp=&arnumber=927041&isnumber=20032 Preece, J. and Maloney-Krichmar, D. (2003). Online communities: Design, theory, and practice. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(4), article 1. [UIowa InfoLink] Rheingold, H. (1993) Chapter 5 and 6. In The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Available from: http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/5.html and http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/6.html Doering, N. (2002). Personal home pages on the Web: A review of research. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 7(3). [UIowa InfoLink]
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Course Calendar Mar 11, 2008 Research Methods Research Ethics
Complete UIowa human subjects online certification course (IRB-02) at http://ww w.citiprogr am.org/
You must turn in a copy of the certificate.
Schneider, S.M. and Foot, K.A. (2004) The Web as an object of study. New Media & Society 6(1). 114-122 [UIowa InfoLink] Herring, S. (2004) Computer-mediated discourse analysis: An approach to researching on-line behavior. Available from: http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/%7Eherring/cmda.pdf Hudson, J. and Bruckman, A. (2004) 'go away': Participant objections to being studied and the ethics of chatroom research. The Information Society, 20(2), 127-139. [UIowa InfoLink] Bruckman, A. (2006). Teaching students to study online communities ethically. Journal of Information Ethics 15(2), 82-98. [UIowa InfoLink] Churchill, E.F. And Halverson, C.A. (2005). Social networks and social networking. IEEE Internet Computing 9(5). Pp. 14-19 [UIowa InfoLink] Ess, C. (2001) AoIR research ethics. Available from: http://aoir.org/reports/ethics.pdf Walther J.B. Research ethics in Internet-enabled research: Human subjects issues and methodological myopia. Ethics and Information Technology 4. 205-216 Available from: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/ethics_wal_full.html Miller, R. and Slater, D. (2000). Chapter 1. The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach. [TBS}
Mar 18, 2008
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Course Calendar Mar 25, 2008 Culture, Community, and Technology
Online Community Evaluation Due
Winner, L. (1996). Who will we be in cyberspace? The Information Society 12. 63-72. [UIowa InfoLink] boyd, d. [blog post] Viewing America. Available from: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2007/06/24/viewing_america. html Raymond, E. (xxxx) The Cathedral and the Bazaar http://catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/cathedra l-bazaar.ps http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/ boyd,d. and Ellison, N. (2007) Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1), 210– 230 [UIowa InfoLink]
April 1 Rituals, Beliefs, and Norms MySpace Livejournal MMOs Casual Games Slashdot
Preece, J. and Nonnecke,B. (2000) Lurker demographics: counting the silent. Proceedings of CHI 2000, April 1 - 6, 2000, The Hague, Netherlands, pp. 73-80 [UIowa InfoLink] Postmes, T., Spears, R. And Lea, M. (2000). The formation of group norms in computer mediated communication. Human Communication Research 26. 341-371 [UIowa InfoLink] Dibbell, J. (1998). A rape in cyberspace. In My Tiny Life. New York: Henry Holt. pp. 11-32. Available online: http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle.html and also: http://www.lulu.com/content/1070691 (I recommend this one for readability) Castronova, E. (2001). Virtual worlds: A first-hand account of market and society on the Cyberian Frontier. Available from: http://www.bepress.com/giwp/default/vol2/iss1/art1/current_article.html Morris, S. (xxxx) Online gaming culture: an examination of emerging forms of production and participation in multiplayer first person shooter gaming” [UIowa InfoLink] boyd, d. (2006). Friends, friendsters, and top 8: Writing community into being on social network sites. First Monday 11(12) (December) Available from: http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_12/boyd/index.html
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Course Calendar April 8 Practices, Governance, and Design (PG&D) Wikipedia YouTube Flickr Digg iVillage
Coates, J. (1993) Cyberspace innkeeping: Building online community. Available from: http://gopher.well.sf.ca.us:70/0/Community/innkeeping Miklaucic, S. (xxxx) Virtual real(i)ty: SimCity and the production of urban cyberspace. [UIowa InfoLink] Godwin, M. (1994). Nine principles for making virtual communities work. Wired 2.06 (June). Available from: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.06/vc.principles_pr.html Suler, J. (1998). Making virtual communities work. Available from: http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/commwork.html Bruckman, A. (1996) Finding one's own space in cyberspace. Technology Review 99(1) (January) [UIowa InfoLink] Kollock, P. (1999). The economies of online cooperation: Gifts and public goods in cyberspace. In P. Kollock and M. Smith (Eds.) Communities in Cyberspace. London: Routledge. Available from: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm
Apr 15, 2008 PG&D continued...
Andrews (2002). Audience-specific online community design. Communications of the ACM 45(4), 64-68. [UIowa InfoLink] Suler, J. (xxxx) Communicative subtlety in multimedia chat. Available from: http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/ Kim, A.J. (1998) Secrets of successful web communities: 9 timeless design principles for community building. [TBS] Bruckman, Amy (xxxx) Approaches to managing deviant behavior in virtual communities. Available from: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~asb/papers/deviance-chi94.txt
Apr 22, 2008
TBA
Apr 29, 2008
Presentations
May 6, 2008
Presentations
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Assignments Participation Grade (30%) Discussion Leader (20%) - Each student is required to present at least THREE assigned readings during the course of the semester. Your presentation should cover the argument and your interpretations of those arguments, rather than a “book report” of the reading. Since the readings are grouped loosely by topic, you should work together with the other students presenting readings during that class. Bonus points will be given for presentations that examine some online community through the arguments of the assigned reading(s). Class Participation (10%) All students not doing readings are required to submit at least two questions about the readings for that class. Your questions can NOT be about the same reading, but one question can ask about similar themes in multiple readings (ask if you’re not sure what this means). This is intended to give me an idea of what to focus on during class discussion. Questions must be emailed to me (use the subject heading “[class date] discussion questions”) by Monday at 5 PM. Late questions will cause a reduction of your participation grade...cuz that means you haven’t read the readings. Online Community Profile (25%) - 5 to 7 pages This assignment requires you to select an online community and evaluate it using the questions and criteria below. The purpose of this assignment is to acquaint you with the technological, social, and cultural frameworks of an online community of your choice. This assignment cannot be started until the completion of the UIowa IRB human subjects research training, and is due March 25. Your community must be clearly identified and, if possible, a link to the community should be provided. Please answer the following questions in the course of your report: 1. How does this community manifest itself online? Describe the platform and software used by the community. a. Describe in detail the text, graphics, multimedia, and page design used to represent the community themes. b. What are the major sections and organizational elements of the community? What are the contents vs. the functions available on the site? c. How do the aesthetics of the community strike you? Do they appeal or repel? Why? 2. What is the central interest of this community? Is there a a particular theme, philosophy, or style that informs this interest? a. How did you find your community (e.g., search engine)? 3. What is the central or common interest of the community? a. What need does it fulfill? i. Why do people participate?
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ii. What is their reward? b. Does the community have a prevailing philosophy or style? i. Do community members use terms or expressions that are unique to the group? ii. Are there ethical, social, and cultural issues that are of concern for this community? iii.When you joined or visited the community, did you feel welcome in the group? 1. Is it a group you would be interested in joining? 4. Who created the community? 5. Who are the participants in this community? a. Did you join or visit? 6. How is identity constructed in this community (e.g., bios, aliases, avatars)? 7. What is the method of interaction? How do users interact? a. What is the “quality” of the discourse? b. What is the tone of the interaction? c. How often do users post/login/participate? 8. Do the members trust each other? How is trust created? 9. What policies or rules govern the community? 10. What aspect of this community appeals to you most? Least?
Online Community Design (40%) As a team (to be decided later), you will be required to plan and design an online community. The final product will be erected on the web using OC templates from www.ning.com, but before we get to that stage, you must produce a detailed analysis and explanation of your community and how it will operate, using materials from the readings of the course, your evaluations of other online communities, and your practical experience. Your community will be written up using the Project Roadmap framework (see below) and evaluated by the other teams. Project Roadmap Here is a broad outline of the report that your team will prepare and present to explain your online community. This document will be due at the final presentation.
I. Executive Summary
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II. Mission A.
About your Community
B.
Mission and Values 1. What is the purpose? 2. How will this clear purpose facilitate credibility and trust in the community?
C.
Strategy: How is it unique?
D.
Goals and Objectives of your community
III. The People 1. Who are the residents of your community? a. Describe them? b. Why do they need this? c. Can they get it anywhere else? A. Research 1. What do you know about this audience? 2. How can you learn more about them? a. Research Plan b. Research cited B. How do you design a community to meet their unique needs? 1. What about this topic or audience provides guidance for community design? IV. The Community A. Detailed description of your community as a product? 1. Topic: What is it about? 2. Audience: Who is it for? 3. What does it provide? a. Interaction model? Users talk to each other, publish content, Share? Peer Production B. Programming/Content Plan C. Sections, Services, Special Features 1. Design
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2. Layout 3. Style 4. User interactions a. How will you get people to participate? i. Incentives? Rewards? ii. How will users build Trust? iii. What is the role of identity? 1. What assessment signals will your community promote to create transparency and promote trust? V. Marketing A. How will your community: 1. Learn about your site? 2. Find your site? 3. Will you “link” or partner with other content or communities?
VI. Operations & Policies A. How will you run your community? 1. Technology? a. What technologies will you use? b. Can you buy or do you need to build your technology? B. Staffing 1. Who will you need to run the community? a. Job descriptions b. Skills? Interests c. Organizational Plan i. Who does what? d. Operations Plan: i. How does it all fit together? C. Logistics
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1. Unique issues to your idea? a. De-centralized management i. Remote, low cost of operations b. centralized management i. office, other expenses D. Policies? 1. What are the policies or rules that guide your community? a. What are the implications of these choices? i. Do users have to “accept” to participate? VII. Appendices A. Examples (mock-ups, page designs, examples) B. Additional Research 1. Copies of any important documents. C. Other supporting documents
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