Beardsley

Much of the writing we encounter daily is found on social media platforms. When we write for social media, we work to understand appeals to specific discourse communities and consider our motivation and purpose. Additionally, if we think of social media platforms as networks, we begin to understand how these platforms encourage collaboration between human and non-human actors. In this course, you will conduct research on the history of social networking and explore how cultural, social, political, and ethical values are incorporated into writing for social media. You’ll choose social media communities to engage with, reflect on your interactions, conduct research using digital ethnography, and read social media scholars' work.

Each week, we'll explore how to analyze various social networking platforms (Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, etc.). You’ll analyze, discuss, and reflect, on the ways digital contact impacts how writers communicate and build collaborative digital spaces.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand the ways digital writing has been studied in the field of rhetoric, composition, and literacy
• Identify situated digital literacy practices
• Explain theories for analyzing and writing digital content
• Analyze the audience, purpose, genre conventions, and situational constraints of digital writing
• Apply coding as a qualitative research method
• Develop advanced writing and research skills

Required Materials

• Buck, A. M. (2023). Writing on the social network: Digital literacy practices in social media’s first decade. Utah State University Press.
• Other readings posted on course LMS
• Microsoft Word [[WIU MS Word Access]
• Discord
• Various social media platforms

Assignment Descriptions

Assignment sheets and rubrics will be available on WO, but here are some short descriptions to give you a course overview:

Discussion Leader (DL) (15%)

You will choose to lead one discussion about a specific text. The Discussion Leader’s (DL) job is to summarize the text, add terms to our class Glossary, and pose questions for the class via a discussion board. DL dates are selected on a first-come-first-serve basis and cannot be changed once the schedule is set.

Your discussion questions should tie into course themes and activities. Summaries and discussion questions are due on Tuesday, and your colleagues must respond to one DL’s questions by Thursday.

There are multiple texts for each day. You are only responsible for performing the duties of DL for the text you choose. Your colleagues will then reply to one DL's post. You may not receive any replies to your post; however, your work as DL is significant whether your colleagues choose to answer your specific discussion questions.

Participation (10%)

Participating in our online course is essential to understanding theories about and practical applications for writing on social networks. Overall, this course is designed to help you understand and engage the collaborative, social environment of online communities. Each week, you can expect to have conversations with classmates via discussion boards and start working toward larger assignments in each activity. All discussions and assignments are designed to reinforce concepts and build toward final projects—they aren’t just busy work.

Unit 1: Social Media Platform Study (15%)

Social Media Study (750–1250 words, excluding references)

The first unit requires you to research and analyze how individuals and communities use social media platforms. You will complete three Social Media Explorations—low-stakes assignments meant to generate research on social media—and write a final report that presents your findings. The Social Media Platform Study explicates one platform’s design, policies, or user practices to begin exploring the everyday situated digital literacy practices employed on social media platforms.

Unit 2: Autoethnography (30%)

Autoethnography (1250–1750 words, excluding the time-use diary and references)

After understanding social media platforms through a historical and user-driven lens, you’ll turn your research inward to explore how you use social media. The two Social Media Explorations in this unit task you with identifying your social networks and examining how algorithms influence what you see and how you engage or disengage from content, and the Time-Use Diary is a way to track your social media engagement. The final Autoethnography takes a narrative structure to capture your user practices.

Unit 3: Social Media Research or Application (30%)

3.1: Project Proposal (5%; 500–750 words)

3.2: Social Media Research (25%; 1750–2500 words, excluding references) or Social Media Application (25%; enough content to establish active participation in a discourse community + application reflection: 850–1250 words, excluding references)

The final unit is your opportunity to hone your skills as a social media researcher or content creator. You’ll begin with a Project Proposal that states whether you’ll build on the research you conducted throughout Unit 1 to study user practices on social media (Social Media Research) or if you’ll use your skills to join a discourse community, actively participate, and reflect on the community’s practices as an insider (Social Media Application).