Sociology 447: Digital Social LifeTR 10-11:20, 195 ANS

Ryan Lightlight@uoregon.eduOffice Hours: 1-3 Wednesday & 12-1 Friday, 632 PLC

GTF: Diego Contreras Medranodiegoc@uoregon.eduOffice Hours: TBD, TBD

”We are now part of a giant machine where every second we have to take out a device andcontribute our thoughts and opinions.” - Gary Shteyngart

Course Description: Social life has changed in dramatic ways since the advent of the inter-net. Social organization has evolved alongside the spread of digitization as individuals engage innew forms of collective activity mediated by machines. How has the internet changed our families,friendships, and workplaces? Social scientists have only begun to develop an understanding of thesequestions. This class aims to provide an overview of the recent literature to date with a focus ondigital culture and online social networks. Topics include social inequality in digital spaces, digitalyouth culture, and social movements in the digital age.

Learning Objectives: At the completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Describe sociological approaches to understanding digital social life2. Thoughtfully engage and discuss challenging material3. Build a project that asks sociologically relevant questions4. Write a sociologically meaningful analysis

Grade Distribution:Participation & Quizzes 20%Reader Responses 30%Class Leader 10%Final Exam 40%

Requirements:

• Participation and Quizzes

– In-class participation is essential for this course. By this time in your academic career,you have the skills and knowledge to contribute and should be confident in this fact.Any PowerPoint slides or notes will be made available after class. My hope is that thiswill facilitate more thoughtful note-taking and more creative engagement in the course.Attendance is required and you should be prepared in at least two ways: Please read thecourse materials prior to the class and bring the necessary course materials for each class.

Expect frequent reading quizzes/in-class assignments to keep us all on our toes.– No makeup quizzes will be given. The final quiz score will be curved.

1

• Reader Response Essays

– Reader response essays are short (1-2 pages, single-spaced) opportunities to engage inthat day’s readings. Successful essays will begin by offering a short description of 1 or 2 ofthe day’s assigned articles or chapters. Next, a successful essay will compare and contrastthe article(s) to other material from the class or from other academic courses. Last, asuccessful response will conclude with a brief critique or evaluation of the article(s).

– 5%/day deduction for late assignments. This include weekend days.

• Class Leader

– Every student will be assigned to serve as a class leader for one class session. Thisstudent will be able to provide an introduction to the day’s reading and ask at least 5questions relevant to the course material. The leader will help lead discussion. You arerequired to submit a 200 word summary of the day’s reading and your 5 questions tome over email by 10pm the night before you are assigned to lead.

• Final Project

– The final project is an original research project that consists of two parts: A proposaland the final paper. The final project may be on a topic of your choice related to coursematerial. The data for the paper will consist of at least two interviews. I will providemore detail about the final project around week 6.

1. Final Proposal: The proposal (2-pages, double spaced) will help lay the foundationfor your final project. It should include an overview of your project and a discussionof your data.

2. Final Paper: The final paper (12+ pages, double-spaced or digital alternatives)will represent the culmination of your original research. Unless you elect to create adigital alternative, the paper will be formatted as a standard sociological article witha theory section, data section, results section and so forth. As is the standard withmost scholarly writing, it should err on the side of formality and should representyour best work!

– 5%/day deduction for late assignments. This include weekend days.

• Attendance and Absences

– Attendance Bonus: 2% bonus for missing 1 or fewer classes.

– Minimum Attendance Requirement: If you miss more than 6 classes, you willreceive a failing grade for this course.

Required Texts: Rainie, Lee and Barry Wellman. 2012. Networked. Cambridge, MA: MITPress.

boyd, danah. 2014. It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. New Haven, CT:Yale.

2

Course Outline:The schedule is subject to change with appropriate notice in class or through email. Note that CVindicates that the reading is available on the Canvas course page.

Week Content

Week 1• 9/29 Introductions• 10/1 Opening Salvos

- Reading: CV:Burkeman (2009); CV:Carr (2008)

Week 2

• 10/6 Our Networked Life 1: Introduction to social networks- Reading: Rainie and Wellman (ch 1-2)

• 10/8 Our Networked Life 2: Introduction to social networks- Reading: Rainie and Wellman (ch 3-4)- Reading Response #1 Due

Week 3

• 10/13 Our Networked Life 3: Introduction to social networks- Reading: Rainie and Wellman (ch 5-6, 10-11 (skim))

• 10/15 Theories 1- Reading: CV:Granovetter (1973); CV:Bourdieu(1986)

Week 4

• 10/20 Theories 2- Reading: CV:Jurgenson (2012)

• 10/22 Methodological Considerations- Reading: CV:Ruppert et al. (2013); CV:Pascoe(2012)- Reading Response #2 Due

Week 5

• 10/27 Digital Inequality 1- Reading: CV:Hargittai and CV:Taylor(2008)

• 10/29 Digital Inequality 2- Reading: CV: Schradie (2010) and CV:Sims(2014)

Week 6

• 11/3 Adolescents and Digital Culture 1- Reading: boyd (2014: 1-3)- Reading Response #3 Due

• 11/5 Adolescents and Digital Culture 2- Reading: boyd (ch. 4-8)

Week 7

• 11/10 Social Media 1- Reading: CV:Vitak and Ellison (2012) and CV:Zhao et al. (2008)- Final Proposal Due

• 11/12 Social Media 2- Reading: CV:Tufecki (2011) and CV:Lewis et al (2014)- Final Proposal Due

Week 8

• 11/17 Economy, Work, Internet- Reading:CV:Ritzer and Jurgenson(2011), CV:Lessig(2010), and Mar-

vit(2014)• 11/19 Reading Day-No Class

Week 9

• 11/24 Social Movements- Reading:CV:Murthy(2013) and CV:Gladwell(2010)- Reading Response #4 Due

• 11/26 Thanksgiving Day

Week 10

• 12/1 Critique 1- Reading: CV:Turkle (2011)

• 12/3 Critique 2- Reading: CV:Lanier (2010)

Final Paper • 12/9 Final Paper Due at 4pm at 632 PLC

3

Being A Good Academic Citizen:What it means to be a good academic citizen is changing at a rapid pace. Classroom normsdiffer between departments and professors. Technology and our relationship to it have much todo with these ambiguities. So, being a good academic citizen means following traditional normsof good academic behavior: dont plagiarize, including non-appropriated paraphrasing and quo-tation (see full statement below), be respectful of others ideas, and so forth. But, it is also worthconsidering newer norms. For my class your phones should be put away. It is distracting toothers to have people fidgeting with their text messages. You can use a laptop, but you shouldstay on task and respectful of others around you. If someone is being distracting, please contactme or a GTF. Last, you may NOT sell material for this class (notes, study guides, etc.). If youare caught selling material for this class, you will be given a failing grade for the term. Anystudent who needs help with note-taking should talk to me.

Academic Misconduct:The University Student Conduct Code (available at conduct.uoregon.edu) defines academic mis-conduct. Students are prohibited from committing or attempting to commit any act that consti-tutes academic misconduct. By way of example, students should not give or receive (or attemptto give or receive) unauthorized help on assignments or examinations without express permissionfrom the instructor. Students should properly acknowledge and document all sources of infor-mation (e.g. quotations, paraphrases, ideas) and use only the sources and resources authorizedby the instructor. If there is any question about whether an act constitutes academic miscon-duct, it is the students obligation to clarify the question with the instructor before committingor attempting to commit the act. Additional information about a common form of academicmisconduct, plagiarism, is available at www.libweb.uoregon.edu/guides/plagiarism/students.

Encouraging Inclusive Learning Environments:The University of Oregon is working to create inclusive learning environments. Please notify meif there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in disability relatedbarriers to your participation. You are also encouraged to contact the Accessible EducationCenter (formerly Disability Services) in 164 Oregon Hall at 346-1155 or uoaec@uoregon.edu.

4