Social Web Media

Social Web Media : DMS 528/DMS 415 : Spring 2009
Department of Media Study, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Al Larsen (alarsen [at] buffalo.edu)

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Description
Analysis of web media in terms of participation and community formation. We will examine social networking sites, blogging, peer-to-peer networks, reputation economies, mobile communciation technologies, activism, and surveillance while developing a critical framework for discussing the current state of networked culture. Readings will include selections from The Wealth of Networks (Yochai Benkler), Smart Mobs (Howard Rheingold), Here Comes Everybody (Clay Shirky).

"The belief that it is possible to make something happen in the world, and the practice of actually acting on that belief, represent a qualitative improvement in the condition of individual freedom. They mark the emergence of new practices of self-directed agency as a lived experience, going beyond mere formal permissability and theoretical possibility." - Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks (137)

Required Books
These will be available at Talking Leaves (Main Street location)

Smart Mobs - Howard Rheingold
(ISBN 9780738206080)

Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations - Clay Shirky
(ISBN 978 1 59420 153 0)

The Information Bomb - Paul Virilio
(ISBN 978 1 84467 059 8)

Additional readings will be posted online or distribted in class.

Conferences/Events
MiT6 (Media in Transition 6) - April 24-26, 2009

for grad students: GSA funding opportunity for attending conference
scroll down to: "Programs That Directly Benefit Graduate Students"