Keywords: Curation, Activism, Meme
This module examines the role of social media in public life.
Featured Image: Social Media by Pixelkilt on Pixabay.
| Th 9/29 | How does social media work? | Workshop: Introduction to HTML / CSS using the WordPress backend.
Think, Pair, Share: Name one moment in your life when the speed of technology created a problem for you. |
Rushkoff, “Introduction” and “Time” Program or Be Programmed.” | |
| T 10/4 | What’s your online identity? | Discuss Project 2.
Debate: Is the Internet Destroying Our Society? Students Teach the Professor: Present Your Online Self in Class. |
Rushkoff, “Identity” Program or Be Programmed.
Bazelon and boyd, “Don’t Stalk Your Kid Online” |
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| Th 10/6 | What is social media activism? | Debate: Is Social Media Activism effective to create progressive change?
Summary in Class: Deen Freelon et al., “Beyond the Hashtags: #Ferguson, #BlackLivesMatter and the Offline Struggle for Online Justice.” Discussion: What is the role of curation in archiving and understanding our history?
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Zeynep Tufekci, “What Happens to #Ferguson Affects Ferguson.”
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Oct 7: Go to the #BlackLivesMatter Symposium at the CDSC |
| T 10/11 | Do we have too much information? | Watch In Class: Black Mirror, “The Entire History of You”
Discussion: Curation and Information Overload. |
No Reading | Second Blog Due by Midnight.
#BlackLivesMatter Extra Credit Post due by midnight. |
| Th 10/13 | How can social media curation impact activist endeavors? | Watch: Percolate, “What is Curation?”
Investigate Meme Pages: Reddit’s page, Memegen, Memegenerator, and Know Your Meme. Discussion: Politics and Curation |
Rushkoff, “Social” Program or Be Programmed.
Maria Popova, “Introducing the Curator’s Code” |
Pick a social issue or meme and curate an example meme to the blog. Use The Curator’s Code as a standard for citing your sources. |
| T 10/18 | What’s responsible curation? | Discussion: Examples of Curated Memes from the blog.
Workshop: Thesis Statements and Argumentative Writing |
Megan Garber, “The Curator’s Guide to the Galaxy” | |
| Th 10/20 | Discussion: Other Curated Memes / Peer Review | |||
| T 10/25 | NO CLASS, Finish your meme project. | Project 2 due by midnight. |
Project 2: Social Media
DUE: 10/25/2016
Objectives: Analyze the political significance of memes; curate and track their contexts.
Determine: Decide on a social issue represented by a popular meme, like #BlackLivesMatter, Immigration, etc. Find memes on Reddit, Memegen, Memegenerator, and Know Your Meme.
Curate: At least 10 different variations. Analyze rhetoric (audience, purpose appeals). Post the memes and your analysis on your WordPress site. Is the meme funny? serious? original? derivative?
Contextualize: Aritculate the media and cultural contexts of the memes you highlight. How do these contexts relate? Where do they come from?
Connect: Compare your findings to the ideas in the boyd interview or in Rushkoff. Use curatorscode.org to attribute your memes and your references. Written portion should be at least 60 words per entry or 600 words total.
Grading: Grading is individually-assigned for this project and determined based upon the rubric posted below.
Rubric (50 pts per row; 200 total).
| Needs Work (15) | Criteria | Exceeds Standards (25) |
| Analysis Discussion of audience, purpose, appeals. | ||
| Curation: Use of curatorscode.org, organization of curation. | ||
| Tracking: Discussion of the contexts where the meme appears. | ||
| Context: Connections made to course readings and concepts. |