W7.0 Don't Hold Your Breath: Managing the Information Cascade

Don't Hold Your Breath: Managing the Information Cascade   April 8 - 14, 2013

Intro to Don't Hold Your Breath

Task List

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7.0 Social Media Fast

• Read the ground rules and schedule your Social Media Fast this week. 

7.1 Blogging Strategy and Tools

• Read tips on creating more successful blogs on Blogging: Purpose and Strategy
• Find blog posts on the Internet or ask a blogger about why they blog. Then contribute to the Discussion: Why Do We Blog.
• Even if you won't be creating a blog, you should read about Getting Started with Wordpress and Getting Started with Blogger.
• If you're planning to start a blog, you should watch the appropriate tutorials too.
• Contribute a blog to the Discussion: Blogging Purpose and Strategy.

7.2 Too Much Information

• Journalism has really been hit hard by the abundance of information. Read about The State of Journalism and watch the associated videos.
• Read about the Deluge of Information and watch the two videos. 
• Watch the video on The Filter Bubble.
• Watch the two videos on Is the Internet Making Us Stupid or Smarter? (warning: this is a 2-hour task) Then share your thoughts in the Discussion: Stupid, Smart, or Something Else?

7.3 Learning to Filter

• Have some fun visiting the sites on Don't Believe Everything You Read On The Internet and reading the associated articles.
• If you have a favorite fake website or story of someone believing a parody story, share it in Discussion: Look before you Leap.
• Watch the videos on Getting Ahead of Information Overload.
• Read the news articles and try out the RSS apps on RSS: Dead, Dying, or Thriving?
• Try out one of the tools on Reading Management Tools.
• If you have questions or tips you'd like to share do so in Tips and Questions: RSS and Reading Management Tools.

7.4 Report on Your Social Media Fast

• Take the short survey to report on Activity: Social Media Fast.
• Share your thoughts on the Discussion: Social Media Fast.

Supplemental Books

• The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr [under $15]
• Cognitive Surplus Links to an external site., by Clay Shirky [under $15]
• The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption, by Clay A. Johnson [under $15]  

Learning Objectives 

• Gain a better understanding for the role that social media plays in our lives by participating in a Social Media Fast.
• Explain some of the reasons why individuals and organizations blog.
• Give tips for best practices in blogging.
• Explain the benefits and drawbacks of Wordpress vs. Blogger.
• Outline how social media has affected journalism.
• Explain the effects of the Filter Bubble on the average Internet user.
• Share arguments from both sides of the argument about whether the Internet is making us stupid or smarter.
• Give examples (or tell cautionary tales) for why you should not believe everything you read on the Internet.
• Explain how to create better information filters online for social media and news.
• Explain why some people say RSS is dead.
• Use reading management tools to view RSS feeds and other social media content.