Registry

Module Specifications

Archived Version 2017 - 2018

Module Title
Module Code
School
Online Module Resources
NFQ level	9	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

Description

This module seeks to provide students with a set of tools to gauge social media practices. In part, the module will develop a theoretical awareness of the different affordances of specific social media within a polymedia environment; in part, it will critically discuss various user practices and how they feed into beta versions of social media. And in a final part, students will contribute their own experience-based accounts of the different social media. These three parts will provide students with a template for critically assessing different practices.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand the specificity of the different social media, and their role in a polymedia environment
2. Develop a set of appropriate criteria for assessing the various user practices
3. Critically evaluate the ways in which social media articulate technical characteristics (affordances) with user practices

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full-time hours per semester
Lecture	22	No Description
Online activity	25	No Description
Assignment Completion	60	Case study analysis
Independent Study	18	No Description
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Inter-media relationships
What is a polymedia environment (Madianou and Miller); what do actors do with the media; remediation (Bolter and Grusin)

Mediations
Understanding the role of the media, mediation (Silverstone), mediatization (Krotz) and media logic (Altheide and Snow). Sonia Livingstone and the mediation of everything.

Media as a field and a system
What can traditional sociology teach us about the media? Bourdieu and Luhmann.

Specific social media case studies
o Mobile phones o Voice over IP (Skype) o Social networking sites (Facebook) o Microblogging (Twitter, Tumblr) o Blogs o App cultures and gaming o Poly-mediated events: various social media campaigns, e.g. Kony2012

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	%	Examination Weight	%

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Course Work Breakdown

Reassessment Requirement
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; 1 = A resit is available for all components of the module 2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module 3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
Unavailable

Indicative Reading List

Siperia, Eugenia: 2011, Understanding New Media, Sage, London,

Other Resources

None

Programme or List of Programmes

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