Social Media and
Social Change
Reading arguments 10/15/2013
Reflection—what did you
notice? What stands out to
you? What did you mark?
• 10 minutes no book
• 5 minutes with the book
• Groups
Working with difficulty
• Look for places of confusion or difficulty in Chapter 5 and/or 7.
Locate the passage (i.e. the quote). What is said? What
language is used? What is difficult, unclear, confusing, or
frustrating? Why? Where is the discussion located? What kind
of meaning can you piece together?
Summarizing the chapters
separately
• How would you summarize chapter 5?
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What is the author’s topic in this chapter?
What is the author’s overall argument in the chapter?
What are some of his main supporting points?
What kinds of examples does he give?
• Example: John Watts argues in chapter 2 of his text The Connected
World that developing countries are increasingly more “wired into”
internet connectivity and therefore have become increasingly more
democratic. He shows the ways in which small, rural towns in the
Caribbean became more politically active when internet cafes began to
pop up more frequently. He looks at one particular town in Samana,
Dominican Republic, to highlight how three internet cafes becomes the
hub of political activism. He suggests that the rise of social media allows
a small town to connect more expansively and demand more political
presence where as in the past it would have been overlooked. He calls
this “empowering the grid” (38) and believes it leads to more shared
information and therefore more power.
Chapter 5 & Chapter 7
• Take 20 minutes to sketch out chapter summaries of 6-8
sentences each.
Gladwell’s Argument
(in groups)
• Main Argument:
• Supporting points and examples
• Point 1 & example
• Point 2 & example
• Point 3 & example
• Conclusion?
Oct. 22—Online Work Due
• Read Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody (Chapter 9 & Epilogue)
• View: http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_faceboo
k_can_make_history.html
• Read http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/425137/streetbook/
• Read http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/07/facebooktwitter-revolutionaries-cyber-utopians
• Find & read one other article from a strong publication on social media and the
Arab Spring
• PART !: RESPONSE due online discussion forum (as post to course
blog): Summarize Clay Shirky’s view on social media and social change. What is
his main argument? What does he believe in? Point to specific ideas and
passages in his discussion to support your summary. How do the articles on the
Arab Spring uprisings relate to Shirky’s discussion? What do they add? Be
specific. What is Morozov’s argument in his article? How does he confront or
critique Shirky? Last, what did you find? Summarize your article and what it
contributes. Be specific, give examples, and point to passages or specific areas of
the texts.
• PART 2: COMMENT Choose one person’s ideas to respond to.
Oct. 29—Online work due
• October 29 (NO IN CLASS MEETING, ONLINE READING/VIEWING
DUE)
• Finding related
research: view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OonV7LGMs to learn about Academic Search Premier through the DVC
library website.
• Find 2 more articles on the idea of social media and social change by
using the DVC databases. Download full text articles and save them
(you will upload them to your post and your portfolio)
• Read your articles
• RESPONSE due online on course blog–What articles did you find?
Summarize the two articles and the arguments they make. How do
these discussions connect to each other? How do they connect to
what we have read thus far? What do they contribute?
• Introduction to Unit 2 Formal Write Up (Posted here)
Nov. 5
• November 5
• Choose a set of 5 articles (one of which can be a video) on the
topic of social media and social change to form research
cluster of readings & read them!
• Summarize each article clearly (topic, main argument, major
supporting points) and give examples/details to support your
ideas.
• Group Presentation 2 (Articles posted here: TBA
Research
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DVC lib
Google Search
Google Scholar
Google Books