Ginsburg Ingerman Overseas Students Program
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Internet Society
Fall Semester
13-5-345
Dr. Erez Cohen
Email: erezjane@gmail.com
Course Description:
This course explores different aspects of the social effects of the Internet on our
social lives. We will look at various issues, such as public policy and the internet
usage of both individuals and organizations. We will explore the complex
relationship between people’s virtual social lives and their actual social lives, and
study some of the ways by which the Internet provides us with new methods of
conducting social and cultural research.
Course Objectives:
Students will learn about various social aspects of the Internet and Internet
culture. They will be able to theorize and analyze Internet influences on our daily
lives, in order to better understand the different ways in which the Internet
shapes and changes our current social and media reality.
Field of Education and Discipline: Communication, Sociology
Course Structure:
Total # of Credits: 2
ECTS (European Credit Transfer System): 3
Teaching Method:
The course will be conducted through a combination of formal lectures, small
study groups and class discussions. The lectures will be based on weekly
reading assignments. In addition to these readings, we will watch a number of
documentaries and study other materials in relation to the course subjects and
objectives.
Course Requirements
Compulsory attendance YES
Pre-requisites: No previous courses required
Structure of Final Course Grad
1. Participation
05%
2. Midterm Exam
15%
3. Final Exam
70%
4. Student presentation
10%
100%
Note:
- Work handed in late, will not be graded!
- Penalties and course policies should be clearly articulated (i.e. students will have their final
grade lowered an entire grade level if they miss more than 2 class meetings unexcused)
- Language of Instruction is English
Course Schedule Layout:
Week 1
Weekly subject title: Technology and social change - How the Internet changes
our lives.
Weekly brief description: The lecture will deal with the effects of technology on
our social lives. We will begin to look at the different ways in which Internet
technology has transformed our social and private lives.
Readings:
Postman N. (1992) Technopoly: the Surrender of Culture to Technology.
Vintage. New York. (pp. 1-55)
Green L. (2002) 'What Fules Technology Change?' Communication, Technology
and Society, Allen and Unwin, NSW Australia. (pp.1-20)
Week 2
Weekly subject title: The Internet Revolution- Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Web 3.0 …
Weekly brief description: The Internet has changed the world as it keeps on
changing. In this lecture, we will talk about the Internet as 'a new and
revolutionary way' of connecting individuals and computers.
Readings:
O’Reilly, T. (September 30, 2005). What Is Web 2.0. OreillyNet –
http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html
Mesch Gustavo and Ilan Talmud. 2006. Online Friendship Formation,
Communication Channels, and Social Closeness. International Journal of
Internet Sciences. 1, 1, 29-44. Available athttp://www.ijis.net/ijis1_1/ijis1_1_mesch.pdf
Yzer M.C., Southwell B.G. (2008) New Communication Technologies, Old
Questions American Behavioral Scientist September 2008 52: 8-20.
http://abs.sagepub.com/content/52/1/8.abstract
Week 3
Weekly subject title: Social Media - Effects and Influences
Weekly brief description: In this lesson, we will watch the documentary film
"Catfish" by Nev and Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. We will use this film to
begin thinking about social media and identities in the digital age. (Catfish Movie
Official Site - iamROGUE.com)
Readings:
Benkler, Yochai (2006) "Chapter 10- Social Ties Networking together", The
Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom,
Yale University Press.
Chapter 10. Social Ties: Networking Together (341 KB) Paper-friendly version
(175 KB)
Deresiewicz William, (2010) Faux Friendship
The Chronicle of Higher Education - May-June
Read at: http://chronicle.com/article/Faux-Friendship/49308/
Week 4
Weekly subject title: Social Identities On line- Ethnic Minorities, Migrants and
Gender.
Weekly brief description: This week lecture will explore how the Internet
enables ethnic minorities and other minorities to express, voice and fortify their
particular identities online. The Internet enables access to information and
audiences and may generate a new digital divide.
Readings:
Castells Manuel (2002) Chapter 9: "The Digital Divide in a Global Perspective".
The Internet galaxy : reflections on the Internet, business, and society. Oxford,
UK : Oxford University Press, 2002. (pp.247-274)
Week 5
Weekly subject title: Politics On-Line and Politics of the Internet
Weekly brief description: One of the areas where Internet communication has
had major and dramatic social effects is in the area of politics. In this lecture, we
will discuss the new and interesting ways by which the Internet becomes both a
place for political gathering and political action.
Readings:
Brunsting, S.,& Postmes, T. (2002). Social movement participation in the digital
age: Predicting offline and online collective action. Small Group Research, 33,
525-554.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
Richard Kahn and Douglas Kellner. (2004) “New media and internet activism:
from the ‘Battle of Seattle’ to blogging”. New Media Society. Vol. 6. no. 1.
Week 6
Weekly subject title: The Internet as New Media
Weekly brief description: The Internet is often perceived as New Media, new
ways of communicating, producing and accessing media. In this lecture, we will
ask 'What is new in the new media and how has the Internet transformed the old
media industries and influences?'
Readings:
Chaffee, S. and Metzger, M. (2001). The End of Mass Communication?
Mass Communication and Society, 4(4), 365-379.
http://www.udel.edu/communication/COMM418/cai/extra/chaffee.pdf
Jenkins, H. (2006). Introduction: Worship at …. Grassroots creativity meets the
media industry. In Convergence Culture: Where Old Media and New Media
Collide, pp. 131-168. New York & London: New York University Press.
[Available through Google books]
Arsenault, A & Castells, M. (2008) Switching power: Rupert Murdoch and the
global business of media politics: A sociological analysis. International Sociology
23(4): 488.
http://iss.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/23/4/488
Week 7
Weekly subject title: Internet Economy - Understanding the Long Tail Theory
Weekly brief description: One of the main areas that have been radically
transformed by internet technologies is that of work and commerce. In this
lecture, we will talk about the new internet economy that digitization and new
forms of commerce have created. This new e-commerce destroys old industries,
while it enables new industries and new global and niche markets.
Readings:
Fisher, E. "From Safety Net to Internet: Discourse on Network Production in
Post-Fordist Society" ”, New Media and Innovative Technologies, Tal SamuelAzran and Dan Caspi (Eds), Burda Center for Innovative Communications, BenGurion University Press
http://burdacenter.bgu.ac.il/
Week 8
Weekly subject title: Internet video Games - a new Cultural Medium.
Weekly brief description: This week's lecture focuses on the popularity and the
influences of 'gaming' on Internet culture. Internet games such as GTA are often
perceived to be too violent and addictive, and yet it appears that video games
are likely to become a new cultural and artistic medium.
Readings:
Week 9
Weekly subject title: Dangers on the net - Terrorism, Addiction, Criminality and
Moral Panic.
Weekly brief description: In this week's lecture, we will discuss different
aspects of some of the dangers on the net, such as criminal activities, terrorism
and addiction. We will also look at the argument claiming that such dangers and
risk are an over exaggeration amounting to 'technopanics', a particular type of
moral panic.
Readings:
Weimann, G. (2004). www.terror.net: How Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet
(Special Report No. 116)
http://www.usip.org/files/resources/sr116.pdf
Marwick, A. (2008). To catch a predator? The MySpace moral panic. First
Monday,
13(6).
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2152/1
966
Week 10
Weekly subject title: Internet as a new form of Social Research
Weekly brief description: The Internet has transformed and affected different
social aspects, while at the same time, due to the large numbers of participants
and the ability to access and collect information about online activities, turns the
Internet into a new means for collecting and analyzing social behaviors.
Readings:
Rogers, (2009) “The End of the Virtual: Digital Methods”, Inaugural Lecture,
Amsterdam University Press.
http://www.govcom.org/publications/full_list/oratie_Rogers_2009_preprint.pdf
Week 11
Weekly subject title: Internet Ethnography
Weekly brief description: This lecture will look at the ways ethnographic
research of online communities and activities enable researchers to gain new
insights into how people interact online in relation to particular issues and
identities.
Readings:
Robinson,
Laura,
Schulz,
Jeremy
(2009)
New Avenues for Sociological Inquiry: Evolving Forms of Ethnographic Practice
Sociology 43: 685-698
http://soc.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/43/4/685
Sade-Beck, L. (2004). Internet ethnography: Online and offline. International
Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(2). Article 4.
http://cmsprod.bgu.ac.il/NR/rdonlyres/13B59519-F419-46B3-B48185CA36E7339B/12997/sadebeck.pdf
Week 12
Weekly subject title: Internet as a Cloud – possible sociological developments
Weekly brief description: The recent development and new technologies that
have transformed the Internet into a "Cloud" mean that our social reality and
activities are almost always conducted online – What might be the social
changes that Cloud computing help to generate?
Readings:
Leadbeater, C. (2010). Cloud culture: the future of global cultural relations.
London: British Council. Available at http://www.counterpoint-online.org/wpcontent/uploads/2010/02/CloudCultureCharlesLeadbeater.pdf
Lasica, J. D. (2009). Identity in the Age of Cloud Computing: The nextgeneration Internet's impact on business, governance and social interaction: A
Report of the Seventeenth Annual Aspen Institute Roundtable on Information
Technology (Washington, D.C.: Aspen Institute, May 2009), accessed
September 4, 2009.
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/sites/default/files/content/docs/pubs/Identity
_in_the_Age_of_Cloud_Computing.pdf
Week 13
Weekly subject title: Review of the course preparation for the exam
Weekly brief description: We will dedicate this lecture to a review of the course
materials and explain the aims and expectations of the final exam.
Course Textbook