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!