The Last Post

Our time in COMM 373 is coming to an end. It's the last week of class, and most of us are super ready for winter break.

Courtesy of Memes Happen

Your last blog post, then, should be a review of the course. In the spirit of David Letterman's famous Top 10 lists, tell me ten things that you learned or liked about this course.

Via Hockey Jersey Concepts

Be thoughtful; be creative. Include pictures where appropriate, and have fun with it!

After you do your top 10 list, ponder these questions briefly as well: Was there anything you did not like about class? Was there something you were hoping to learn about that we didn't quite get to? Be constructive in your feedback - you have the ability to help make this course stronger for future students!

Posts are due by 5PM on Friday, December 8.
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That said, I encourage you to keep blogging either here or somewhere else. Delve further into social media... different apps, different platforms... find what works for you! Make yourself marketable as you get ready for Spring semester. For many of you, graduation is on the horizon. For others, you're pursuing internships. Be thoughtful of your online presence as you begin/continue on your career paths!

Social Media in the News

Find a recent article concerning anything social media related in the news. Link the article to your blog post. (A simple Google search under the 'news' tab on Google using the search terms 'news articles about social media' or 'news articles about [fill in the blank platform]' can lead you to articles, for example.)

Courtesy of David Hall Social Media

Summarize what you've found. What impact does it have on the world? On you?

Blog posts should be at least 3 paragraphs. Make sure to proofread! Posts are due by 5PM Friday, December 1.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Thanksgiving Break Edition

This week, what you post is up to you! (You still have to post something...)

Here are some thoughts to guide you if choosing your own adventure isn't your thing:

• What are you doing for Thanksgiving break... anything fun and exciting? Or just rest?
• What did you think about Janie Henderson's talk on Social Movements?
• What are you most looking forward to at the end of the semester (it's so close!)

Your post doesn't have to be related to the ideas above - they're just suggestions to get you moving. Have fun; post something interesting. Be you and be authentic. Posts are due Sunday, November 26 by 5pm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Public Shaming

There have been some interesting cases of public (online) shaming that have happened ever since social media gave us the ability to make commentary on anything and everything. Public shaming has become a form of Internet vigilantism wherein the targets of the shaming are humiliated via various social media channels. Those who do the shaming see it as an opportunity to right injustices.

Photo courtesy of Public Shaming Twitter Account

For example, the Ashley Madison leak outed several users who were using the site to conduct extramarital affairs. For class this week, we read about Justine Sacco who tweeted an awful joke and subsequently had her life ruined while she was on a flight. Even here on campus, we have seen several incidents where students have tweeted or posted on Instagram something that struck a chord and took on a life of its own, even if it was mostly isolated to our Mountain home.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

So... where do you stand on the idea of public shaming? Is it ever ethical for someone to publicly shame another? What are some good practices to get into as you begin to use your social media accounts for posting both personal and professional content? Provide a list of a least 3 tips (please number your tips as opposed to writing them in paragraph style).

Blog posts are due by Friday, November 17 at 5PM. Make sure to include some visual elements to break up your paragraphs. Make sure to proofread!

Wikipedia and Privacy

Once again, you have two options to complete for this week's blog post.

Option 1. Using the Van Dijck reading (Chapter 7) and Tuesday's discussion on Wikipedia, make a case for whether or not Wikipedia should be used as a reliable source for student research papers.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Supplement your argument with specific examples from the reading and discussion. Responses should argue for or against in about 3 paragraphs.

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Option 2. Have you thought about the information you share online? What does it say about you? Are you protected?

Photo Courtesy of Online Gladiators

Thursday's topic is Privacy Online. There are so many ways that hackers, scammers, and phishers can access our information. Is any of it actually private?

Tell me what you think about privacy. Are you being proactive about protecting your identity and information online? Explain what you do to keep yourself safe online.

As a part of your response, come up with a set of guidelines (a list of 3-5 governing ideas/techniques) that you would give a high school senior in terms of online protection as they begin thinking about an adult life away from home for the first time.
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Posts are due by 5:00 PM on Friday, November 10. Make sure to proofread your blog posts. Break up large chunks of writing with something visual like a picture or gif. 

YouTube, Food, and Followers

This week we are talking about YouTube (on Tuesday) and blogging and its performative aspects, especially when it comes to food production and social roles (on Thursday). Interesting concepts, no? So you have two options for the blog this week.

Option 1: When we talked about YouTube on Tuesday, you were given the assignment to make a viral video. Reflect on the nature of viral videos. What is it that makes them go viral? Can you set out to make a viral video?

Courtesy of Wikimedia

Detail the process your group used in creating the video for class. Link your video to your blog post. What were some of the challenges you faced as you began to think about and shoot your video? Noting that you had no control over the topics for the videos or the timeline you were given, if you had this assignment to do over again, would you change anything about your approach? What did this activity teach you about completing tasks in a fixed amount of time?

Finally, how did you go about trying to leverage support for your video in terms of winning the contest? What strategies did you use to get people to like and RT to up your chances of winning the contest? Refer back to Kawasaki and Fitzpatrick - did their tips work for you? Why or why not? What did this activity teach you about the challenges of marketing ideas and projects?
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Option 2: Both Salvio and Seddon (read for Thursday's class) refer to food blogs and performance.

I made dis. No photo credit necessary.

What do you think about blogging and its strengths and weaknesses, based off of the readings we've done this week (specifically focusing on Salvio and Seddon)? In general, what types of performances do we do in social media spaces? Your topics can relate to performing and food, but can also be more general. How do you perform in your social media spaces? (Think back to when we read Goffman... yep, here he is again.)

Remember to break up your text by including appropriate images for either of the options you choose to write about for this week's post. Blogs are due by 5:00 PM on Friday, November 3.

Sports on Social Media and Health Apps

This week you have one of two options to choose from for your blog post.

Photo courtesy: Sports Networker

Option 1:
Choose a sport team (college, semi-pro, professional) and search for their social media holdings. Include some screen shots of their profiles and analyze the types of content they produce to increase fan engagement and experience.

or

Option 2:
Offer a profile on some type of health or activity app (especially if you yourself use the application). What does the app do well? What aspects would you improve if you had the ability to? How do you use the app (if applicable)? Finally, what strides toward community building does the app make?

Blog posts are due Sunday, October 29 by 5PM.

Choose your own adventure!

This week, what you post is up to you! (You still have to post something...)

You can talk about something that interests you, current events, sports, movies... the possibilities are endless! Make sure your post has a point, but other than that - it's totally up to you what you blog about this week.

Have fun; post something interesting. Be you and be authentic. Posts are due Friday, October 20 by 5pm.

Midterm Check up!

It's that time of semester... the time that everyone sort of, kind of dreads....

MIDTERMS. THE WEEK BEFORE FALL BREAK. CAN'T WE JUST HAVE A BREAK?

Courtesy of Oracle Charter Schools

So in that spirit, this week's blog post will be more of a reflection of the semester so far. Easy peasy, right?

To that end... tell me what you've learned so far this semester in COMM 373.

• What's been the most interesting concept?
• What's been the most boring concept? Is there anything you could care less about? Be honest.
• How do you think you'll be able to apply what you've been learning so far to the real world? 

Address each of those questions in a separate paragraph with supporting details. Include at least one image to spice things up. Explain why you've chosen this image and how it relates to your entry.

NOTE: Make sure to proofread your posts for grammar and spelling. Points are being deducted for poor grammar, spelling, and typos!

Twitter and the News

For a long time (and arguably still today), no one really knew what Twitter was for or how to use it. Is it a social networking site? Is it a utility? Is it an information network? Is it sort of all three? Sometimes it seems to depend on your perception of the platform and how you use it.

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

First - tell me what you think. What is Twitter for? What can we do with the platform? How does it hold power to shape our realities? Or does it?

Next - find a recent article concerning Twitter in the news. Link your article to your blog post.  (A simple Google search under the 'news' tab on Google using the search terms 'news articles about Twitter' can lead you to articles, for example). Does what this story reports on match up with your perception of what Twitter is for? Why or why not?

Photo Courtesy of Max Pixel

For example, the article I linked above simply explains a new feature added to Twitter that shows articles your connections (i.e., the people you follow) are tweeting about under a tab called "popular articles." If I hold the notion that Twitter is about making connections with people as an information network (that is, I use it to be a more informed citizen), this article might support my perception of the platform as such. Blog posts are due by 5PM on Friday.

Gif courtesy of GIPHY Studios

Make sure you offer the link to your news article; and, once again, break up your text with a gif or picture. As we have read and continue to read in our tips by K+F, long blocks of text make posts more difficult to read!

Facebook: Choose your own adventure

This week, you should blog about Facebook. But that's all the direction you get! How you proceed and what angle you take is up to you.

Courtesy of Giphy

If you're having trouble thinking of something, here are some sample topics:

• Your personal experience with Facebook (when you got on, how you used it initially, how you now use it)
• Maybe you've never used Facebook - why not?
• Surprising information learned from Van Dijck this week

... the possibilities are endless! Be creative and thoughtful! Include a photo or gif in your post to make it more attractive. Posts are due by 5PM on Friday.

Impression Management

This week's classes are focusing on Impression Management. Below are two options for blogging - choose one to discuss at length in your blog post for this week!

Option 1: On Tuesday, we talked about truth, performance of self, and how it relates to impression management. So ponder in this post: How many selves do you feel like you project on your social media profiles? What is/where is truth and why do we choose certain features to promote in online settings? Now, take it a step further: Let's think about other people - How do public figures like Kylie Jenner or even Donald Trump figure in when we think about impression management? Why does understanding impression management matter?

Courtesy of Mastering the Dynamics of Communication Technology Blog

Option 2: Impression management is literally about putting our best face out there for audiences to see as they encounter us in social media spaces. What do you think some of the ethical considerations should be as we decide which face to present to people online? What do you think are some of the pitfalls/dark sides to impression management?  Be thoughtful in your response.

Regardless of which option you choose, include at least one photo in your post! Posts are due by Friday at 5PM.

Optimization or Disinhibition?

Choose one of the following options for this week's blog. Feel free to put your own personal spin on it. (Think about your general theme from last week's blog, but remember we are trying to keep it lined up with what we've been talking about in class too!) Blog posts are due by 5PM on Friday!

Option 1: Last week, you read Su's suggestions about emails, and you read K+F's tips for profile optimization. While these two things are a bit different, combine the two topics in terms of representing yourself professionally in an online space. What would you call your top 10 tips for presenting a professional image online, especially as college students? (Think Letterman's top 10 style!) Include at least one photo along with your Top 10 List.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

OR

Option 2: Sometimes we say and do things online that we would never say or do "in real life." Reflect on a time that you noticed the online disinhibition effect totally happening in one of your online encounters. Do you feel like it was toxic, benign, or a mixture of both? Relate your response to Suler's reading (Thursday, September 7). If you had to do it over again, what would you do?

This is Stan from the Old Disney show, Dog with a Blog. Because, you know, online no one knows that you're a dog. Unless you tell them and have your own blog called Dog with a Blog.

Your First Post

This week, your post will be a basic introduction to who you are and what your blog will be about - it's your first post, so you can really carve out your niche in this space. While you will have to follow prompts from week to week that relate to course content, I also want this to be a space that you can transform into something bigger than our course.

Photo Courtesy of Michael Lee Stallard: Helping Leaders Create Cultures that Connect

So - introduce yourself. Who are you? That's a loaded question. Unpack it (using as much self-disclosure as you deem fit). Example things to potentially include: Name and where you are in life right now, what you want to do in life, etc. As you went through the process of creating your blog, you made specific decisions in terms of the background, the images, and other things that you selected over something else. Was there a reason for that?

Next - what makes you tick? What interests you? This can potentially be the direction of the blog. It doesn't have to be just one thing either. This is your space. Personalize it.

Your blog post should be a few (short) paragraphs, roughly about a half page single spaced if you were to type it into a Word document. Posts should be up by 5PM Friday.

Carving Out Your Online Identity

By now, all of you should be linked to the course blog roll (which you'll find to the right of your screen if you're on a computer).

What are we going to do with your blogs? Well... each week, you'll post at least once in response to some topic I give you. Most weeks you'll receive the topic to respond to in class on Tuesday, and posts should be up by Friday.

One of the things you should consider is giving your blog its own identity. Much like your own identity, your blogs can take on a specific theme and your posts can fit into that theme. Maybe you want to be inspirational. Maybe you want to think about faith. Maybe you want to think about travel. Or food! Whatever it is, think about what kind of theme you may want to stick to, and try to tailor your posts as much as possible to that as the semester goes on. This way, you'll have the beginnings of your own space in the blogosphere. Who knows where it can take you!

Welcome to COMM 373!

Happy Fall Semester, COMM 373!

Hope you all had a fantastic summer! Welcome [back] to the Mount!

Emmit is excited you're back!

Are you ready for a great semester in COMM 373? I hope you are, because this class is going to be awesome. Check our trusty blog here for all of your updates and needs. If you have any questions, I'm available via email and Twitter (@MCK_PhD).

Let's get to it!