Social Media and Society
Course code
BFM7384.FK
old course code
Course title in Estonian
Sotsiaalmeedia ja ühiskond
Course title in English
Social Media and Society
ECTS credits
4.0
Assessment form
Examination
lecturer of 2023/2024 Spring semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
lecturer of 2024/2025 Autumn semester
Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.
Course aims
This is a theoretically oriented course, focusing on an overview of current relevant theories and scholarly debates on social media and society. The goal is to allow the student to think through and conceptualize the social, political, economical and ideological aspects of living with social media and smart technologies.
Brief description of the course
Detailed course description is available in the syllabus that can be accessed on Moodle (course “Social Media and Society, BFM7384.FK, https://moodle.hitsa.ee/course/view.php?id=22603)
‘Social Media and Society’ considers the role of networked communication technologies, social media, and specific platforms and applications in personal and societal life. It takes a sociological perspective on society (conceptualized via structure, agency, social institutions, inequality, social change and knowledges) and makes sense of social media via the concepts of affordances, platforms, connectivity, (in)visibility and user practices. Relying on relevant academic work that conceptualizes the social dynamics and implications of social media, we will explore the personal, social, economical, political and ideological aspects of living in networked, digitally saturated societies.
Topics:
- Introduction. What are the main concepts we use to study networked society? What are the social implications of social media?
- Truths, knowledges and discourse (attention, facts, polarization)
- Structure and agency (governance, infrastructures, maintenance, breakdown)
- Visibility, power, and social inequalities
- Social institutions and networked capitalism (labor, work, consumer economy)
- Future making (civic engagement, participation, networked publics, literacy, net neutrality)
‘Social Media and Society’ considers the role of networked communication technologies, social media, and specific platforms and applications in personal and societal life. It takes a sociological perspective on society (conceptualized via structure, agency, social institutions, inequality, social change and knowledges) and makes sense of social media via the concepts of affordances, platforms, connectivity, (in)visibility and user practices. Relying on relevant academic work that conceptualizes the social dynamics and implications of social media, we will explore the personal, social, economical, political and ideological aspects of living in networked, digitally saturated societies.
Topics:
- Introduction. What are the main concepts we use to study networked society? What are the social implications of social media?
- Truths, knowledges and discourse (attention, facts, polarization)
- Structure and agency (governance, infrastructures, maintenance, breakdown)
- Visibility, power, and social inequalities
- Social institutions and networked capitalism (labor, work, consumer economy)
- Future making (civic engagement, participation, networked publics, literacy, net neutrality)
Learning outcomes in the course
Upon completing the course the student:
- knows what are some of the more pertinent personal, social, economical, cultural and political aspects of living in a networked society;
- knows how can social media shape and constrain social processes, social structures and people’s agency;
- knows what kinds of affordances do various social media platforms and applications have and what are the connections between these affordances and people’s behavior;
- knows how does power operate in the digitally saturated world;
- knows what are the important connections between consumerism, labor and social media.
- knows what are some of the more pertinent personal, social, economical, cultural and political aspects of living in a networked society;
- knows how can social media shape and constrain social processes, social structures and people’s agency;
- knows what kinds of affordances do various social media platforms and applications have and what are the connections between these affordances and people’s behavior;
- knows how does power operate in the digitally saturated world;
- knows what are the important connections between consumerism, labor and social media.
Teacher
Katrin Tiidenberg, PhD
Study programmes containing that course
Sociology (RASLM/22.YK)
Sociology (RASLM/21.YK)
Communication Management (KOKJM/21.FK)
Sociology (RASLM/20.YK)
Communication Management (KOKJM/20.FK)
Sociology (RASLM/19.YK)
Communication Management (KOKJM/19.FK)
Contemporary Media (BFNMM/19.FK)
Contemporary Media (BFNMM/18.FK)
Communication (KOKOM/18.FK)
Sociology (RASLM/18.YK)
Communication Management (KOKJM/18.FK)
Contemporary Media (BFNMM/17.FK)
Sociology (RASLM/17.YK)
Sociology (RASLM/21.YK)
Communication Management (KOKJM/21.FK)
Sociology (RASLM/20.YK)
Communication Management (KOKJM/20.FK)
Sociology (RASLM/19.YK)
Communication Management (KOKJM/19.FK)
Contemporary Media (BFNMM/19.FK)
Contemporary Media (BFNMM/18.FK)
Communication (KOKOM/18.FK)
Sociology (RASLM/18.YK)
Communication Management (KOKJM/18.FK)
Contemporary Media (BFNMM/17.FK)
Sociology (RASLM/17.YK)