[iDC] Course: The Social Web (Web 2.0: What went wrong?)

Fri Aug 31 13:31:51 UTC 2007

Following on Trebor's note, I'll share the reading list for my course at 
the University of North Carolina's School of Information and Library 
Science, entitled "Online Social Networks."

In this class, we're going to spend requisite time exploring social 
networking sites, but the larger theme of the course is an exploration of 
online identity and the dynamics of information flow in online social 
spaces.

Course webpage: http://www.ibiblio.org/fred/inls_490/
Syllabus: http://ibiblio.org/fred/inls_490/syllabus/inls_490_syllabus.pdf

Best,
Fred

On Thu, 30 Aug 2007, Trebor Scholz wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> Many of you are feverishly finishing their syllabi now, which is a
> good moment to share my critical reading list about the Social Web with
> you.
>
> The subtitle of the course is "Web 2.0 What Went Wrong?" For those of
> you who have not followed my work, it may not be immediately obvious
> what in fact did go wrong but I'll post essays that are based on my
> lectures as the fall progresses.
>
> My goal is to strike a balance between a critique of the Web 2.0
> ideology and the many possibilities of the Social Web based on specific
> cross-cultural examples, which I'll add throughout the semester.
> If you just finished your course on these topics, why not post it here?
>
> Best,
> Trebor S.
>
> ==
> The Social Web
> (Web 2.0: What Went Wrong?)
>
> Trebor Scholz
>
> URL:
> http://www.collectivate.net/the-social-web/
>
> Course Description
>
> Is it feasible to live ethical, meaningful lives in the context of the
> Social Web today?
>
> Based on the rapid growth of participation in social life online and in
> mobile space-- from social news, referral, social search, media sharing,
> social bookmarking, tagging, virtual worlds and social networked games,
> social mapping, IM, social networking, blogging and dating, this class
> formulates a critical analysis (and critique) of the international
> Social Web with regard to privacy, intellectual property, and the
> utilization of social creation of value through the lens of a small
> number of case studies in the areas of education, political activism,
> and art. The course starts with a history of computer-facilitated
> networked sociality.
>
> Weÿÿll discuss the preconditions, motivations, and typologies of
> participation in order to then start to debunk the Web 2.0 ideology.
> The course concludes with an examination of the future of the Internet
> (mobile social space, net neutrality, and the changed nature of the
> digital divide) in order to then locate fields of possibility for social
> change.
>
> Weÿÿll study key theoretical texts including Yochai Benklerÿÿs "Wealth of
> networks," Henry Jenkinsÿÿ "Convergence culture," Trebor Scholzÿÿ "What
> the MySpace generation should know about working for free," Jurgen
> Habermas' speech about the Internet and the public sphere, Fred Turnerÿÿs
> "Where the counterculture met the new economy," Jeff Jarvisÿÿ ÿÿWho owns
> the wisdom of the crowd? The crowd.,ÿÿ Nicholas Carrÿÿs ÿÿSharecropping the
> long tail,ÿÿ Michael Hardtÿÿs ÿÿAffective labor,ÿÿ Olga Goriunovaÿÿs ÿÿFrom
> art on networks to art on platformsÿÿ and Adam Arvidssonÿÿs ÿÿThe crisis of
> value and the ethical economy.ÿÿ
>
> This is a theory-based course that also teaches you to participate,
> debate and analyze practices on the Social Web (e.g., the use of
> Facebook, Twitter, IM, blogs, SecondLife).
>
>
> Syllabus:
>
> ÿÿ    Week 1 (08/28,08/30)
> Overview and Introduction to the Syllabus
>
> Slidecast of lecture (sound):
> <http://tinyurl.com/2qy4pk>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 2 (09/04, 09/06)
> A History of the Social Web
>
> Required Readings:
> Allen, Christopher. "Life With Alacrity: Tracing the Evolution of Social
> Software." Life With Alacrity. 13 Oct 2004. 12 Jul 2007
> <http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/10/tracing_the_evo.html>.
>
> "History of the Internet." the history of computing project. 19 Mar
> 2001. 17 Jul 2007
> <http://www.thocp.net/reference/internet/internet1.htm>.
>
> Suggested Reading:
> Kelly, Kevin. "Wired 13.08: We Are the Web." Wired News .  1 Jan 2005.
> 26 Aug 2007  <http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/tech.html>.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 3 (09/11, 09/13)
> A History of the Social Web
>
> Required Readings:
> Donath, Judith. "Sociable Media." Sociable Media Group - MIT Media Lab.
> 15 Apr 2004.  9 Jul 2007
> <http://smg.media.mit.edu/papers/Donath/SociableMedia.encyclopedia.pdf>.
>
> Turner, Fred. "Where the Counterculture Met the New Economy ." Stanford.
> 1 Jan 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.stanford.edu/~fturner/Turner%20Tech%20&%20Culture%2046%203.
> pdf>
>
> Scholz, Trebor.  A History of the Social Web. (unpublished, via email)
>
> Suggested Reading:
> "List of social networking websites - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia."
> Main Page - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 16 Jul 2007. 16 Jul 2007
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites>.
>
> Udell, Jon. "Tag mania sweeps the Web | InfoWorld | Column | 2005-07-20
> | By Jon Udell." InfoWorld - Information Technology News, Computer
> Networking & Security.  2 Jul 2005. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/07/20/30OPstrategic_1.html>.
>
> "Social Software Timeline / Many-to-Many Space." Socialtext
> Documentation / Socialtext Documentation.  1 Jan 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.socialtext.net/m2m/index.cgi?social_software_timeline>.
>
> Glickman, Matt, and Mark Horton. "Netnews History - Usenet Server, Jim
> Ellis, Tom Truscott, Steve Bellovin." Internet history, design, web,
> email....  1 Jan 1996. 17 Jul 2007
> <http://www.livinginternet.com/u/ui_netnews.htm>.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 4 (09/18, 09/20)
> Social Isolation, the Public Sphere and the WWW
>
> Required Readings:
> Boeder, Piter. "Habermas' heritage." First Monday. 21 Aug 2005. 26 Aug
> 2007 <http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_9/boeder/>.
>
> Kluge, Alexander, Peter Labanyi, and Oskar Negt.  Public Sphere and
> Experience: Toward an Analysis of the Bourgeois and Proletarian Public
> Sphere (Theory and History of Literature). Minneapolis:  University of
> Minnesota Press, 1993.
>
> Kellner, Douglas. "Habermas, the Public Sphere, and Democracy: A
> Critical Intervention." Graduate School of Education and Information
> Studies.  1 Aug 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/habermas.htm>.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 5 *(09/25, 09/27)
> The Participatory Turn
>
> Tuesday (09/25): Who Cares? The Social Web in Numbers
>
> Required Reading:
>
> Rosen, Jay. "PressThink: The People Formerly Known as the Audience."
> Department of Journalism at New York University. 27 Jun 2006. 16 Jul
> 2007
> <http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2006/06/27/
> ppl_frmr.html>.
>
> Heuer, Chris. "Social Media Club- The Importance of Social Media."
> Social Media Club. 19 Sep 2006. 11 Jul 2007
> <http://www.socialmediaclub.org/2006/09/19/the-importance-of-social-
> media/>.
>
> Suggested Reading:
>
> "Top 10 highest traffic websites." Canadian Content Forums. 27 Jan 2007.
> 12 Jun 2007
> <http://forums.canadiancontent.net/computers-internet/56699-top-10-
> highest-traffic-websites.html>.
>
> "Nielsen BuzzMetrics - Bloggers' Top-Cited Wikipedia 2006 Entries: "Web
> 2.0," "Steve Irwin" and "Mark Foley Scandal," Says Nielsen BuzzMetrics."
> MarketWire. 13 Dec 2006.  9 Jul 2007
> <http://www.marketwire.com/2.0/release.do?id=709391&sourceType=1>.
>
> Hamman, Robin. "cybersoc.com: "nearly 50%" of US users visit social
> networking sites...sort of." cybersoc.com. 15 May 2006. 27 Jun 2007
> <http://www.cybersoc.com/2006/05/nearly_50_of_us.html>.
>
>
> Thursday (09/27): Quality. The Wisdom or Ineptitude of Networked Publics
>
>
> Required Reading:
>
> Lanier, Jaron. "Edge; DIGITAL MAOISM: The  Hazards of the New Online
> Collectivism By Jaron Lanier." Edge. 30 May 2006. 31 Jul 2007
> <http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/lanier06/lanier06_index.html>.
>
> "Reactions to Digital Maoism. Many-to-Many:." Many-to-Many:.  3 Feb
> 2006. 27 Jun 2007
> <http://many.corante.com/archives/2006/06/07/reactions_to_digital_maoism
> .php>.
>
> Suggested Reading:
>
> Levy, Pierre.  Collective Intelligence: Mankind's Emerging World in
> Cyberspace. New York:  Plenum Publishing Corporation, 1999.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 6 (10/02, 10/04)
> The Web 2.0 Ideology
>
> Required Reading:
>
> Best, David. "Web 2.0Next Big Thing or Next Big Internet Bubble?."
> Lecture Web Information Systems. 11 Jan 2006.  9 Jul 2007
> <http://page.mi.fu-berlin.de/~best/uni/WIS/Web2.pdf>.
>
> O'Reilly, Tim. "Not 2.0?." O'Reilly Radar.  5 Aug 2005.  9 Jul 2007
> <http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/08/not_20.html>.
>
> O'Reilly, Tim. "O'Reilly -- What Is Web 2.0." O'Reilly Network --
> Developers' Hub -- web development, open source development, open and
> emerging technologies. 30 Sep 2005.  9 Jul 2007
> <http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web
> -20.html>.
>
> Scharmen, Fred (2006, May). "You Must Be Logged In To Do That!" Yale
> Arch 752b
> <http://www.sevensixfive.net/myspace/myspacetwopointoh.html>
>
> Arvidsson, Adam. "Crisis of Value and the Ethical Economy - P2P
> Foundation." The Foundation for P2P Alternatives - P2P Foundation. 26
> Jun 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.p2pfoundation.net/Crisis_of_Value_and_the_Ethical_Economy#
> Text>.
>
> Hiram Soltren, Jose, and Harvey Jones. "Facebook: Threats to Privacy."
> MIT.  1 Jan 2005. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/6.805/student-papers/fall05-papers/facebook
> .pdf>.
>
> Suggested Reading:
>
> "Web 2.0 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Main Page - Wikipedia, the
> free encyclopedia.  9 Jul 2007.  9 Jul 2007
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0>.
>
> Barnes, Susan. "A privacy paradox: Social networking in the United
> States." First Monday.  1 Jan 2006. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/barnes/index.html>.
>
> Carr, Nicholas. "Nicholas Carr: The net is being carved up into
> information plantations | Technology | The Guardian." Guardian Unlimited
> home | Guardian Unlimited. 17 May 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/may/17/media.newmedia>.
>
> "Web Worker Daily  &raquo; Blog Archive  The Two-Edged Sword of Web 2.0
> &laquo;." Web Worker Daily  . 29 Mar 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/03/29/the-two-edged-sword-of-web-20/>.
>
> Mchenry, Robert. "Web 2.0: Hope or Hype? - Britannica Blog." Britannica
> Blog. 25 Jun 2007.  9 Jul 2007
> <http://blogs.britannica.com/blog/main/2007/06/web-20-hope-or-hype/>.
>
> Hardie, Martin . "The Factory without Walls." The Factory without Walls.
> 1 Jan 2005. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://openflows.org/~auskadi/factorywoutwalls.pdf>.
>
> "Facebook | Terms." Facebook |. 24 May 2007. 12 Jun 2007
> <http://www.facebook.com/terms.php>.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 7 (10/09, 10/11)
> Art and the Social Web
>
> Lecture from excerpts:
>
> Bishop, C;Aire. Participation (Documents of Contemporary Art).
> Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Mit Press, 2006.
>
> Required Reading:
>
> Goriunova, O.; Shulgin,A. From Art on Networks to Art on Platforms,
> Casestudies: Runme.org, Micromusic.net and Udaff.com. Unpublished, 2006.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 8 (10/16, 10/18)
> Education and the Social Web
>
> Required Reading:
>
> Catone, Josh . "Web 2.0 Backpack: Web Apps for Students." Read/WriteWeb.
> 22 Jun 2007. 27 Aug 2007
> <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/
> web_20_backpack_web_apps_for_students.php>.
>
> "The Web Credibility Project: Guidelines - Stanford University."
> Stanford University. 1 Jun 2002. 27 Aug 2007
> <http://www.webcredibility.org/guidelines/index.html>.
>
> ÿÿ    Week 9 (10/23, 10/25)
> Political Activism and the Social Web
>
> Required Reading:
> Spouse, Ea. "ea_spouse: EA: The Human Story." ea_spouse. 10 Nov 2004. 20
> Jun 2007 <http://ea-spouse.livejournal.com/274.html>.
>
> "Hello Garci scandal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Main Page -
> Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 24 Jun 2005. 20 Jun 2007
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_Garci_scandal#_note-10>.
>
> Zuckerman, Ethan. "My heart is in Accra ÿÿ; Mapping land distribution in
> Bahrain." Ethan Zuckerman. 31 Oct 2006. 20 Jun 2007
> <http://ethanzuckerman.com/blog/?p=1085ap/>.
>
> The Internet and youth political participation. 1 Dec 2006. 20 Jun 2007
> <http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_8/kann/#author>
>
> Video:
> "Bush/Blair Love Song." Archive.org. 19 Dec 2003. 20 Jun 2007
> <http://ia300131.us.archive.org/0/items/bush_blair/bush_blair.mov>.
>
> Suggested:
> "Kiva.org - Loans that change lives." Kiva.org - Loans that change
> lives.  1 Jan 2004. 20 Jun 2007
> <http://www.kiva.org/>.
>
> Dale, Michael, and Warren Sack. "Metavid." Metavid. 27 Apr 2007. 20 Jun
> 2007 <http://metavid.ucsc.edu/>.
>
> "FAQ." wikileaks.org.  1 Jan 2007. 20 Jun 2007
> <http://wikileaks.org/faq>.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 10 (10/30, 11/01)
> Preconditions and Typologies of Participation
>
> Questions:
> Which different types (and intensities) of participation can you
> identify?
>
> Kann, M. First Monday. 27 Jul 2007. 31 Jul 2007
> <http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue12_8/kann/#author>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 11 (11/06, 11/08)
> Motivations for Participation
>
> Questions:
> Which desires and needs motivate people on the Social Web to engage?
>
> Required Reading:
> Gefen, David, and Catherine M. Ridings. " Virtual Community
> Attraction:Why People Hang Out Online." Journal of Computer-Mediated
> Communication.  1 Nov 2004. 31 Jul 2007
> <http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue1/ridings_gefen.html#s2>.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 12 (11/13, 11/15)
> The Ethics of Participation. Got ethics? Labor, what?
> (The production of value on the Social Web)
>
> Questions:
> What are ethical standards on both, the side of the users and the
> corporate platform providers?
>
> Whatÿÿs the difference between moralistic posturing and discussions about
> context-specific ethics?
>
> Does talk about ethics mean that we canÿÿt have any more fun?
> Do the activities on the Social Web qualify as immaterial labor?
>
> Required Reading:
>
> Scholz, Trebor. " What the MySpace generation should know about working
> for free -   Trebor Scholz 'journalisms'  - Collectivate.net."   home  -
> Collectivate.net.  3 Apr 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.collectivate.net/journalisms/2007/4/3/what-the-myspace-
> generation-should-know-about-working-for-free.html>.
>
> Roush, Wade. "Technology Review: The Moral Panic over Social-Networking
> Sites." Technology Review: The Authority on the Future of Technology.  7
> Aug 2006. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17266&ch=infotech>
>
> Jarvis, Jeff. "BuzzMachine Blog Archive Who owns the wisdom of the
> crowd? The crowd.." BuzzMachine. 26 Oct 2005. 12 Jun 2007
> <http://www.buzzmachine.com/2005/10/26/who-owns-the-wisdom-of-the-crowd-
> the-crowd/>.
>
> Suggested Reading:
>
> Wyrick, Brian, and Dmytri   Kleiner. "Infoenclosure 2.0." Mute magazine
> - Culture and politics after the net. 29 Jan 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.metamute.org/en/InfoEnclosure-2.0>.
>
> Virno, Paolo. A Grammar of the Multitude (Semiotext(e) / Foreign
> Agents). Los Angeles: Semiotext(E), 2004.
>
> Terranova, Tiziana. "Free Labor." Universitat Oberta de Catalunya UOC.
> 15 Aug 2000. 12 Jun 2007
> <http://www.uoc.edu/in3/hermeneia/sala_de_lectura/t_terranova_free_labor
> .htm>.
>
> Pollard, Dave. "Finding People to Make a Living With." Recently Changed
> Weblogs.  7 Feb 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2007/03/26.html#a1818>.
>
> Rauch, Peter. "Confessions of an Aca/Fan:  The Official Weblog of Henry
> Jenkins: Fable and Other Moral Tales: A Study in Game Ethics (Part
> One)." Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins.
> 1 Aug 2007. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/08/games_and_ethics.html>.
>
> ÿÿ    Week 13 (11/20, 11/22)
> Fields of Possibilities
>
> Questions:
> What are the core characteristics of the Social Web?
>
> How can networked publics fight back?
> Today, is it practical to live ethical lives in the context of the
> Social Web and mobile social space? If so, tactics could be learned and
> shared with others.
>
> Required Reading:
> Jarvis, Jeff. "New News: Deconstructing the newspaper." BuzzMachine  .
> 18 Jan 2006. 26 Aug 2007
> <http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/01/18/new-news-deconstructing-the-
> newspaper/>.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 14 (11/27, 11/29)
> The Future of the Social Web
>
> Required Reading:
>
> Cascio, Jamais. "WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a
> Bright Green Future: The Rise of the Participatory Panopticon."
> WorldChanging: Tools, Models and Ideas for Building a Bright Green
> Future.  4 May 2005. 12 Jul 2007
> <http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002651.html>.
>
>
> ÿÿ    Week 15 (12/04, 12/06)
> Presentations, Finals
>
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 

Fred Stutzman
919-260-8508
ibiblio.org/fred
fred at metalab.unc.edu

Co-Founder and Developer, ClaimID.com
Ph.D. Student and Research Fellow, SILS UNC-Chapel Hill