Readings and assignments are subject to change. Please always check the online syllabus.

CS 4472/6470: Design of Online Communities

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Date Topic Readings & Online Sites
1/7 Introduction  
1/9 Community: Face to Face and Online Reading: Online Site:  
1/14 Third Places Reading:
  • The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg, chapters one and two. (in book store)
  • Video: How to Live in a City - 1964 by William Whyte (18 minutes)
Online Site: Due:
1/16 Research Methods Reading: Online Site: Due:
  • Post an idea for an online site that you think is worth discussing in class on the discussion on Canvas. Pick one not already on the syllabus. Is there something interesting about the site's design? Describe why briefly (a sentence or a short paragraph).
1/21 Research Ethics Reading: For further reference: Online Site: Due:
  • Obtain ethics certification via the online basic course, if you do not already have certification. (Group 2 Social / Behavioral Research Investigators and Key Personnel - Basic Course)
Please do not miss this class. If you do miss this lecture, you must watch a video of class and meet with the TA.
1/23 Ethics Continued:
Disguising Subjects in Published Accounts		 Reading: Online site: Please do not miss this class. If you do miss this lecture, you must watch a video of class and meet with the TA.

1/28 Design Factors Reading:
  • Finding One's Own Space in Cyberspace, by Amy Bruckman
  • Communicative Subtlety in Multimedia Chat by John Suler
  • Nine Principles of Community Design by Amy Jo Kim

    • Online Site: Due:
    1/30 Theory of Identity Reading:
    • The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, by Erving Goffman. Pages 1-58, intro & most of chapter 1.
      Please select a quote from Goffman that you think is interesting and put it on the discussion thread on Canvas. Pick one that no one else has picked yet.
    Please bring your laptop to this class.
    2/4 Identity Online Reading: Online Sites: Due:
    2/6 Gender Online Reading: Online Sites:
    2/11 Anonymity Reading: Optional, for further reading: Online site (app for Android or iOS; please borrow a friend's phone if necessary):
    Warning: adult content. Due:
    2/13 Online Harassment Reading: Optional Online Site: Due:
    2/18 Social Roles Reading: Online Site:
    2/20 Theory of Online Collaboration Reading:
    • "What can online collaboration accomplish?" draft book chapter by Amy Bruckman (on Canvas)
    • The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric S. Raymond
    Optional further reading: Online Site:
    • Zooniverse
      Register for a project and do a few tasks.
    • NewGrounds Collabs
      Watcha a few and see if you can figure out how they were made.
      Warning: some are NSFW
    2/25 The Social, the Technical, the Political Reading:
    • Do Artifacts Have Politics? by Langdon Winner. (in The Whale and The Reactor)
    • Code v2.0 by Lawrence Lessig. Chapters 3 & 7. (Available free online, but you may wish to buy it anyway.)
    Online Site: Due:
    2/27 Knowledge Building Reading:
    3/3 Participation and Lurking Reading: Due:
    3/5 Motivation Reading:
    3/10 Online Public Shaming Reading: Online site: Optional, for further reading: Due:
    3/12 Wikipedia and the nature of "truth" Reading: Optional further reading: Online Sites:
    • Everything2 (Pick an article and compare it to Wikipedia on the same topic.)
    3/17 & 3/19 Spring break--no class  
    3/24 Optional class: New Approaches to Managing Bad Behavior Optional class to try out bluejeans. (Link available on Canvas.)
    Optional reflection--will replace your lowest grade, if better.

    Reading: I'll give my short talk on how to give a short talk.

    Optional online site:
    • SquadBox
      (You don't need to install it unless you want to.)
    3/26 Optional class chat/project updates Optional class chat/project updates.
    3/31 Community Study Papers Due (no class) Due:
    4/2 Misinformation and the Coronavirus Post a link to anarticle to the Canvas thread for this class, making sure no one else has already posted the same one. The article can be about coronavirus and misinformation, or just misinformation more generally.
    Come to class prepared to tell the class about your article and what you found interesting about it.
    No reflection due this class.

    Online site:
    4/7 Online Privacy Reading: Optional, for further reading: Online Site:
    • Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Privacy (browse)
    • Read the privacy policy of one online site you use. List your site on the thread on Canvas, making sure no one else in the class has picked your site. Come to class prepared to discuss the policy.
    4/9 Innovative Approaches to Online Conversation Online sites:
    4/14 Design Presentations Due:
    4/16 Design Presentations, continued  
    4/21 Looking Forwards No reading for today. As your "reading reflection," please submit one to two pages on how you think online communities, social media, and the internet, will be different ten years from now. Come to class prepared to discuss your predictions.

    Readings and assignments are subject to change.

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