VISIBLE EFFORT - Interaction

Purdue University, Spring 2013 COM 63200 Theories of On-line Interaction and Facilitation

Instructor

Dr. Sorin A. Matei

Monday 11:30 AM - 2:20 PM BRNG 2273

Office Hours: 10-11:15 AM at BRNG 2132

Phone: 1 765 494 3429 (main office)

Email: smatei "at" purdue "point" edu

Blog: http://matei.org/ithink

Introduction

As more and more traditional institutions and groups move their transactions on-line, the need to understand the advantages and disadvantages inherent in new media has increased. The present course discusses the social, organizational, and design implications of on-line social interaction. It also examines traditional and newer social theory related to organizational and social interaction in the context of on-line groups. At the same time, the students will be exposed to the main theoretical and practical literature related to community design in an on-line context.

Note: The class is designed to adapt itself to the needs of the unique collection of individuals that are its members. Some readings and details might change over the course of the semester to answer these needs. If you print a copy of this syllabus make sure that you check the online version periodically.

Objectives

The class objectives are:

• Acquisition of theoretical knowledge necessary to critically understand on-line interaction and sociability issues
• Familiarization with and use of best practices related to building strong, highly interactive on-line environments

The class is designed for PhD or MA students with interests both in the practical application and theoretical implications of on-line interaction and facilitation. The course is also a good opportunity for identifying a dissertation/conference paper topic and/or for starting a research project.

Activities

Class activities include lectures, group discussions of theoretical literature, analysis/critique of facilitation style and interactional success of various on-line groups, participation in on-line groups, and writing papers and reviews.

Evaluation

There are several main assignments for this class: a review essay, book review, a summary paper, and contributions to the Online Interaction Manual. Details about these four assignments are available through these links.

NOTE: In keeping with the goal of this class, which is to provide with you practical skills for the future, some of the activities require deep collaboration and publication of the results of this collaboration on publicly viewable websites. In case you prefer not to participate in the public version of the activities, please contact the instructor to discuss appropriate arrangements.

• Review Essay: Theoretical underpinnings of on-line sociability
• Final Paper
• Reading Review
• Book Review

Each assignment is weighted as follows:

1. Review Essay ........................................300 p
2. Final Paper..........................................300 p
3. Reading review.......................................200 p
4. Book Review..........................................200 p

Total............................................. 1000 p

Grading is on a straight scale: 890-1000=A; 790-890=B; 690-790=C; 590-690=D; 590 and below=F.

All materials presented to me for grading should:

1. Be your own work
2. Should be created by you alone with no outside help
3. Should not include copyrighted materials that do not belong to you or for which you do not have written permission to use
4. Should have not been used in any other class or created for any other purpose than the specific assignment you are presenting it for.
   

In addition, please carefully review and make sure that your are in full compliance with the University academic integrity policies. http://www.purdue.edu/odos/aboutodos/academicintegrity.php

Attendance

All students are expected to attend all class activities. I will not take attendance, since I count on your maturity.

Emergency situations

In the event of a fire alarm, everyone must immediately evacuate the building until given the all clear by the fire department. In the event of an all hazards siren, everyone should immediately seek shelter in a safe location. In both cases, you should solicit additional clarifying information by all possible means: Purdue Homepage, TV, radio, email, etc. Additional information about campus preparedness is available at http://www.purdue.edu/emergency_preparedness/index.htm. The Beering emergency plan, as well as evacuation maps of each floor of the building, can be found at http://www.cla.purdue.edu/facstaff/resources/.

In case of emergency also follow these University adopted guidelines. http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/faculty/ClassroomEP.pdf

In the event of a major campus emergency, course requirements, deadlines and grading percentages are subject to changes that may be necessitated by a revised semester calendar or other circumstances beyond the instructor’s control. Check this webpage and your email for updates.

Students with disabilities

Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. Please contact the Disability Resource Center in room 830 Young Hall to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.

Weekly reading schedule

There are several required texts for this class:

• Davies and Gangadharan Online deliberation
• Wenger, E., McDermott, R., Snyder, W., (2002). Cultivating communities of practice. Harvard Business School Press.
• Rheingold, H. 2001. Virtual Community - Kindle, available immediately
• Seabrook, J. 1997. Deeper
• Weinberger, D. 2002. Small pieces loosely joined. Kindle, available immediately

I did not order the books through the bookstore system. Instead, I have linked them to the Amazon.com website, where you will be able to get a better deal. Three of the books are available as ebooks, downloadable immediately. Please avail yourselves of this opportunity. I will demonstrate how Kindle books can be read on laptops or desktops. If you would like to buy the books from other sources, please make sure you get the correct editions and the you have the readings available by the dues dates. In addition to these texts, we will also discuss the following readings. Each weekly batch is provided with a number of orientative questions, which should facilitate your reading process and the class discussion.

NOTE: MOST LINKS BELOW ARE PASSWORD PROTECTED. CHECK YOUR CLASS NOTES FOR USERNAME AND PASSWORD OR EMAIL ME TO GET THEM. DO NOT SHARE THE PASSWORD, THE CLASS URL OR THE FILES WITH ANYONE OUTSIDE THIS CLASS.

January 07 -- Introduction

Topic, objectives, methodology, class technologies

January 14 -- The big picture: Origins

• What is the WELL? What are its ideals?
• What seems to motivate on-line participation on the WELL?
• What is the difference between Seabrook’s and Rheingold’s vision about the benefits (costs) of on-line communities?

1. Rheingold, H. (2001). The Virtual Community: homesteading on the electronic frontier (1st HarperPerennial ed.). New York, NY: HarperPerennial. Introduction, chapter 1 and 2
2. Seabrook, J. (1997). Deeper. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Selected chapters. Pp. 145 – 183 mandatory, but also try to cover the ground up to 213
3. Hafner, K. (1997, May). The epic saga of the Well. Wired, 5, n. pag.

USEFUL:Those curious to see with their own eyes where it all started can visit www.well.com. Also informative: Hauben, M. (1995, September 4, 1999). Netizens. On the history and the impact of the net [Webpage]. Retrieved August 8, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/

Discussion Page for week 1

January 21, MLK day, no classes

January 28, The big picture: The virtual community ideal and its sociological context

• What is the sociological context in which the WELL and the online community vision took shape?
• What is the relationship between individualism and community driven ideals in the virtual community project?
• Is community possible without propinquity? What is Calhoun's larger conclusion about the possibility of online community?
• Calhoun believes that the lack of face-to-face interaction prohibits virtual communities from existing with the same intimacy as more traditional communities
• One of the key differences is that virtual communities are much more difficult to mediate
• Community is not possible as a standalone entity without propinquity, socio-geographic closeness is an inherent feature of a community that virtual communities can not achieve

1. Matei, S. (2001). From counterculture to cyberculture. Virtual community discourse and the dilemma of modernity.
2. Rheingold, H. (2000). The virtual community: homesteading on the electronic frontier (Rev. ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Last chapter
3. Agre, P. (1999). Life after cyberspace. European Association for the Study of Science and Technology Review, 18(3), 3-5. [On-line]. Available: http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/life.html
4. Calhoun, C. (1998). Community Without Propinquity.. Sociological Inquiry, 68.

Discussion Page for week 2

Feb 4. Virtual community or Virtual Society? Or, maybe, virtual "communitas"?

• What is the distinction between Society and community?
• What is communitas ?
• Are virtual communities "communitas"-like environments? In what way?
• What rituals characterize online communities, at least as these are described by Rheingold or Seabrook?
• What is the relationship between equality and communitas?

1. Tonnies, Community and Society. Fragments (You can also buy the book from Amazon.com. It is worth every penny).
2. The Routledge Encyclopaedia of Religious Rites, Rituals and Festivals. Rites of Communitas
3. Waskul, D. (2005). Ekstasis and the Internet: liminality and computer-mediated communication New Media and Society, v. 7, issue 1, p. 47-63.
4. Victor Turner, The Ritual Process (fragments)
5. M. Deflem -- Ritual, Anti-structure and Religion

Optional: Liminality and electronic communication

1. Selected chapters from Virtual Sociability http://matei.org/url/virtsmash - TBA
2. Lawless, E. (1998) Ars Rhetorica en Communitas. Rhetoric Review, vol 16, 2. p. 310-326.

Discussion Page for Week 3

Feb 11. Individuality, subjectivity and community. Is there a connection?

• Why does Wienberger say that "the web is for togetherness"?
• Is the web a space for personal realization? Only for personal self-realization?
• Is Weinberger closer to Rheingold or to Seabrook? Or to neither?

1. Weinberger, D. (2002). Small pieces loosely joined. Perseus. Chapter 5 and 6

Discussion Page for Week 4

Feb 18 - What is the social structure of cyberspace how does it facilitate communication processes?

• Does cyberspace have a social structure? Of what kind?
• What kinds of roles do we have in cyberspace?
• How do hierarchies and organizations work in cyberspace?
• What is the extent to which social networks overlap with social organizations?
• How do social networks form order in cyberspace?

1. The Role of Social Networks in Information Diffusion, Eytan Bakshy, Itamar Rosenn, Cameron Marlow, Lada Adamic - http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.4145
2. Rethinking information diversity in networks - Bakshy Eytan - https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-data-team/rethinking-information-diversity-in-networks/10150503499618859
3. Marc Smith and Peter Kollock. Communities in Cyberspace. http://www.connectedaction.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/2001-kollock-and-smith-introduction-to-communities-in-cyberspace.htm
4. Welser, Howard T., Eric Gleave, Danyel Fisher, and Marc Smith. 2007. Visualizing the Signatures of Social Roles in Online Discussion Groups. The Journal of Social Structure. 8(2).

Discussion Page for Week 5

OPTIONAL - BACKGROUND

• Granovetter's theory of "weak ties" http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/stable/202051

Feb 25. Individuality, subjectivity, community applied -- social media

• What is the social impulse behind social media participation?
• Can it be explained in terms of networked individualism (Wellman), subjective appropriation of knowledge (Weinberber) or as a tension between individualism and communitarianism (Matei)?
• What is the vision for online participation described by the Cluetrain manifesto?
• What are the core future trends for understanding online participation?

1. Wellman, B. (2002). Little boxes, glocalization, and the rise of networked individualism. Lecture notes in computer science. Digital cities II : computational and sociological approaches : (Kyoto, 18-20 october 2001, revised papers ) Kyoto workshop on digital cities No2, Kyoto , JAPON (18/10/2001) 2002 , vol. 2362, pp. 10-25 ISBN 3-540-43963-3
2. Everyone is an influencer, Eytan Bakshy - http://misc.si.umich.edu/media/papers/wsdm333w-bakshy.pdf
3. boyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11.
4. Dan Gillmor, We the media
5. Levine, Locke, Searls, and Weinberger. The Cluetrain manifesto chapters:

• Four Markets are Conversations
• Five Hyperlinked Organization
• The rest of the book can be found online at cluetrain.com
• Shneiderman, B. Technology-Mediated Social Participation. The Next 25 Years of HCI Challenges . Online publication on author's site.

Discussion Page for Week 6

March 4. Individuality, subjectivity, community applied - Wikis

• What is a "wiki"? What is mass collaboration?
• How can we best describe Wikipedia?
• What are its main strengths?
• Weaknesses?
• How does Wikipedia fit in our discussion so far?

1. The Wikinomics "Revolution"
2. Wikipedia Neutral Point of View.
3. McHenry, The Faith Based Encyclopedia
4. Schiff, S. Know it all, New Yorker
5. What is Wikipedia?
6. Kittur - Empirical Study of Wikipedia Structure of Collaboration
7. - Sorin Matei, Ambiguity and Wikipedia | PDF of 2011 Paper
8. To Browse: 
   1. Wikipedia Statistics
   2. Wikipedia Watch
   3. Top Wikipedia Pages
   4. The Wiki Principle, from The Economist
   5. A false Wikipedia biography - Seigenthaler
   6. The Seigenthaler incident wrap up
   7. How to use Wikipedia in the classroom
   8. History Flow and Wikipedia interaction
   9. Who writes Wikipedia
   10. Wikipedia's list of admins

Optional

Wired magazine. Open source everywhere.

Swastikpedia

Wired magazine. The book stops here.

Sanger. The early history of Nupedia and Wikipedia.

Discussion Page for Week 7

March 11. Spring Break

March 18. The social psychological foundations of virtual communities and online behavior (part I)

Midterm Due March 20

• What are the main groups of social psychological theories that explain online interaction?
• What roles do social cues play in shaping it?
• What roles does technology play in shaping these cues?

1. Walther, J. B., & Parks, M. R. (2011). Cues filtered out, cues filtered in: Computer-mediated communication and relationships. In M. L. Knapp & J. A. Daly (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication(11 ed., pp. 443-479). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
2. Kiesler, S., Siegel, J., & McGuire. (1984). Social psychological aspects of computer mediated communication. American Psyschologist, 39(10), 1123-1134. - Updated the link, no password needed.
3. S Kiesler, JN Cummings. 2002. What do we know about proximity and distance in work groups? A legacy of research. chapter from Distributed Work (see Google Books Version for citation) - New - updated research by Kiesler, please read as well...

Discussion Page for Week 8

March 25. The social-psychological fundations of online communities (part II)

• Can we summarize the main findings of the literature listed below.
• Can one overarching conclusion be drawn?
• What tools can we use for building strong online communities?
• What individual and group factors can be used to shape online groups?

1. Start with this one: Ridings, C. & Gefen, D. (2004). Virtual Community Attraction: Why People Hang Out Online. JCMC 10(1), article 4.
2. Kittur, A and Kraut, R. Beyond Wikipedia: Coordination and Conflict in Online Production Groups. CSCW 2010, February 6–10, 2010, Savannah, Georgia, USA.
3. Lampe, C & Resnik, P. (2004). Slash(dot) and burn: distributed moderation in a large online conversation space. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.543-550, April 24-29, 2004, Vienna, Austria.(semi)-optional
4. Ling, K., Beenen, G., Ludford, P., Wang, X., Chang, K., Li, X., Cosley, D., Frankowski, D., Terveen, L., Rashid, A. M., Resnick, P., and Kraut, R. (2005). Using social psychology to motivate contributions to online communities. Using Social Psychology to Motivate Contributions to Online Communities. JCMC, 10(4), article 10.
5. Dan Cosley, Dan Frankowski, Sara Kiesler, Loren Terveen, John Riedl (2005). How oversight improves member-maintained communities. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems table of contents. Portland, Oregon, USA.
6. Ludford, P., Cosely, D., Frankowski, D., Terveen, L. (2004). Think different: increasing online community participation using uniqueness and group dissimilarity. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems.

Backgrounder

1. Are Web 2.0 applications chaperoned? The Wisdom of Chaperones. Slate Magazine, February 2008.

Discussion Page for Week 9

April 1st. Online communities in action: from theory to practice.

• What is the difference between a "community of practice" and an online interaction group?
• What are the typical phases in the lifecycle of a community of practice?

1. Wegener, E. Cultivating communities of practice.

Discussion Page for Week 10

April 10 - Book Review Due

April 8. Roles, Reputation, Trust, Social Networks: Readings associated with the Kredible Net Workshop

• Each student should prepare two questions for one of the speakers, derived either from the reading or from a Google Scholar Search for each of them

BOOK REVIEW APRIL 10

Class starts in BRNG 2118, with Spencer talk. The expert panel will meet in BRNG B268 (Basement) from 1 to 2:30. Feel free to share the announcement for the KredibleNet Expert panel among other graduate students. The next day, on April 9th, the KredibleNet workshop will be held at DLRC - see map, rooms 143a and b.

1. Preece and Shneiderman, The Reader to Leader Framework
2. Bernie Hogan, AGENCY IN SOCIAL ACTIVITY INTERACTIONS: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS IN TIME AND SPACE
3. Keegan, B., Gergle, D., Contractor, N. (2013) “Hot off the Wiki: Structure and Dynamics of Wikipedia’s Coverage of Breaking News Events.” American Behavioral Scientist, forthcoming
4. Marc Smith - Analyzing Social Networks with NodeXL
5. Zhu et al. Motivations for Self-Assembling into Project Teams

April 15. Social Media Tricks and tips

What are the emerging trends in social media/media research?

1. Trends in New Media Research (with an emphasis on News Media) - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/doi/10.1111/soc4.12004/abstract
2. Kietzmann, J. H., Silvestre, B. S., McCarthy, I. P., & Pitt, L. F. (2012). Unpacking the social media phenomenon: Towards a research agenda. Journal of Public Affairs, 12(2), 109-119.
3. Pérez-Latre, F. J., Portilla, I., & Sánchez-Blanco, C. (2011). Social networks, media and audiences: A literature review. Comunicación y Sociedad, 24(1), 63-74.

Use [1] ACM portal to find new sources

Optional

1. Secrets on Social Media Marketing by Paul gillin.
2. The Seinfeld Gates PC campaign
3. Marketing Matters talk by Paul Gillin
4. A blog review by Measurement Standard
5. Podcast of the talk given to QRCA
6. Peruse Gillin's site

Discussion Page for Week 11

April 22 Last Day of classes - Wrap up and final assignment discussion

TBA - This is backup material Online deliberation and facilitation -- selected articles from Online Deliberation

Online Interaction Manual Work