W2.0 Birth: The Rise of Social Media on the Web

Birth: The Rise of Social Media March 4 - 10, 2013

Intro to Birth Links to an external site.

Task List

Print the task list for Birth: The Rise of Social Media Download Print the task list for Birth: The Rise of Social Media

2.1 Step Up Your Twitter Game

• Collect your First 50 Twitter Followers (or gain a new 100 followers)
• Read about the Four Components To Managing A Social Media Presence
• Share in the Discussion: SoMe Goals and Objectives
• Report when you have completed the Activity: First 50 Followers (you'll probably have to come back and finish this one in a week or two)

2.2 Precursors to Modern Social Media

• Read the articles and watch the videos about The Early Days: The Well and BBS
• Read the articles and watch the videos about CompuServe, Prodigy, and AOL
• Watch the documentary, We Live in Public
• Share a reflection or join the conversation in Discussions: Consistent Human Behaviors we see across social networks and use of social media.

2.3 Modern Social Media

• Read the articles and watch the videos about Buzz and Wave
• Read the articles and watch the videos on the page Why Do Social Networks Fail?
• Participate in Tweetchat: What Happened to MySpace?
• Read the articles on the page, Facebook Rising
• Share your experiences or ask a question in Discussion: Social Media Outside the U.S.

2.4 Image and Video Platforms

• Watch the video on YouTube: More than Meets the Eye
• Participate in the Tweetchat: YouTube Memes. Include the hashtag #youtube and the class hashtag, #CNSoMe.
• Read the articles and watch the videos on the page, Pinterest Sneak-Attack!
• Participate in the debate Discussion: Is Flickr a Social Media platform?

Supplemental Books

• On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its Founders, by Michael A. Banks [under $5]
• YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture, by Jean Burgess, Joshua Green, Henry Jenkins, and John Hartley [under $15]

Learning Objectives

• Dive into Twitter by engaging your followers and participating in the tweetstream.
• Give examples of past computer-based social networks and social media and compare them with modern-day sites and services.
• Explain the kinds of human behaviors and needs served by social media across times and technologies.
• Consider how the technology, infrastructure, and culture of the time influence the success or failure of a platform.
• Learn lessons from some of the recent social media failures.
• Explain how YouTube is an example of social media and give examples of influencial memes and movements on the real world culture.
• Compare and contrast the three largest social media platforms in use today.