COMS 320: Communication on the Internet

Term Paper and Presentation Assignment

COMM 3383: New Media and Society

Dr. Holly Kruse

Presentation: Due Wednesday, April 12thin MyRSU drop box

Paper:Due Wednesday, May 3rdin MyRSU drop box

Choose one approach or theory covered in class and apply it to an online site or other digital application (for instance, a social media site or an online game or a blog). You will need to explain the approach, apply it to your object of study, and critique the theory in terms of what transpires in this digital space. You need to choose a place in which people are actively participating. In your paper you will:

1) Identify a specific theoretical framework through which to analyze the site or

app. A theoretical framework is an abstract way of describing and explaining phenomena (rather than specific descriptions of a phenomenon). Appropriate frameworks might be:

Communicative behavior. For example: what forms of interpersonal and/or in-group communication exist and how do they serve to bind participants to one another?

Identity. For example: how is identity constructed in your digital place? What makes an identity appealing or unappealing and how is that displayed through communicative behavior?

Relational development. For example: what kinds of relationships develop through this site or app? How is it used to maintain relationships?

Privacy and/or surveillance. For example: what privacy implications are raised? How do participants manage privacy?

Gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, generation, dis/ability. For example: what are the gender dynamics and how do they replicate or challenge what happens offline? To what extent are race and ethnicity made visible and with what consequences? What stereotypes are in play or how is stereotyping transcended?)

Community: For example: to what extent does your site resemble a community’? How is this sense of community built and maintained?

Social movements, religion, politics, health, the workplace: How does religion play out in this space, how is this site or app used to change social structures, how is work is accomplished, or how health information is presented, made credible, or understood through the site?

If you want to use another theoretical or conceptual framework, please check with me first.

2)Identify sources that explain this theoretical framework.

The textbook and assigned readings are good starting points, but you should also find other credible scholarly sources that can be used to define concepts and to provide examples against which you can compare your case.

Sources can be found in the bibliographies and reference pages of the assigned readings, as well as through scholarly databases such as those accessible through the Stratton Taylor Library webpage. You can also try scholar.google.com.

You need to have at least five credible scholarly sources for your paper. Assigned class readings don’t count toward this number, although you may use them. The exception is the textbook: the textbook is a secondary source and shouldn’t be used in your term paper. You can use it to track down primary sources, however, by looking at the sources that the textbook cites.

3)Use the theory to describe and explain what you see in your case.

4)Use the example of the site or app you are studying to critique the theoretical framework that you have chosen.

So, the specific components of the paper need to be:

Explanation of the approach. Imagine that your reader has never heard of the theory you are discussing. You want to start by explaining the concept and defining the basic ideas or categories that comprise it. Draw on authoritative scholarly sources to do this. Grading criteria: Is the theory explained clearly, accurately, and completely given what is relevant to the example? Are key terms defined? Are relevant and credible sources cited?

Application of the approach. Part of understanding the material we are covering is being able to see how it works (or doesn’t work) in digital communication. Show how this site, app, or use can (or can’t) be understood in terms of the ideas you have presented in describing the theory above. Grading criteria: Is the theory being clearly applied to demonstrate what happened in your case? If the argument is that the theory does not apply well, is there a clear effort to show how what you observed is not what the theory suggests should happen? Is the application accurate and complete?

Critique of the approach. A good theory is able to describe and explain what happens. To what extent does the theory you are writing about succeed in explaining this interaction? If it does not do a good job, why not? What was there in your example that the theory couldn’t explain or that contradicted the theory? How might the theory be strengthened to accommodate examples such as yours, or does the approach need to be rejected? Grading criteria: are you offering insight into what works well or poorly about the theory? If you are challenging the theory are you able to articulate its shortcomings and are they supported by the example you offer? If you are supporting the theory, is the support justified by the example you offer?

Mistakes To Avoid

Lack of focus: Focus on just one aspect of your site or application and just one framework for understanding it. There will be many interesting things going on that you will simply not be able to discuss, so narrow your focus and be thorough.

Describing the theory and the site/app/use but leaving it to the reader to figure out how you think your analysis of the site demonstrates this theory. YOU need to draw the connections between theoretical concepts and elements of your example. Explain which parts of the example demonstrate which parts of the theory.

Not offering a critique of the theory. If it works well, explain what is good about the theory – how did it help your understanding of the case? If it doesn’t work well, explain what the problems are. Don’t ignore this component or try to wrap it up in two or three sentences at the end.

Taking exact wording from readings without using quotation marks and citing the authors and (this is plagiarism), even if it is just a string of words and not a complete sentence.

Writing problems as discussed below

Writing Quality

In addition to the criteria outlined above, you will be evaluated on the quality of your writing. Your introduction should raise the topic and provide a thesis statement summarizing the paper’s central argument, and it should provide a preview for the paper’s structure. Similarly, your conclusion should recap the main points and offer at least one or two summarizing thoughts. In between, the paper should be organized so that each paragraph has its own purpose and the paragraphs and their purposes are clearly sequenced and connected in order to build a compelling argument (in this case, you are making an argument about the usefulness of a scholarly approach).

Avoid:

Grammatical errors, run-on and comma-spliced sentences, sentence fragments, unnecessary wordiness, misspellings, vague words like “stuff,” “things ,” and “etc.”

Empty clichéd phrases such as “In today’s society” (it’s given that you are not writing about cave people in the Stone Age), “as human beings” (you are unlikely to be writing about squirrels), and other space-filling statements of the overly obvious.

This is not a complete list of things that will lessen the quality of your writing, so proofread – don’t merely depend on spell check! – edit, and rewrite until it is the best you can make it. Writing problems will result in minor significant deductions from your score, depending on the severity of the problems.

You are encouraged to visit the Writing Center. I also encourage you to turn in a draft of your paper to me. I will not correct your grammatical errors, but I will give you feedback on the structure and content of your paper.

Format

Papers should be approximately 10-15 pages, typed and double-spaced. Use a basic 10 or 12-point font (Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, Times, or similar) and reasonably-sized margins.

Use APA style for citations. This is the style used by the course textbook.

You must upload a final version of your paper to the drop box by the due date and time.

Presentation

You will give a brief (10-minute) slide presentation to the class that will introduce the topic of your paper to the class, and your preliminary thoughts on how to approach analyzing the topic. Your presentation must follow basic rules of effective visual design. You will need to upload your PowerPoint slides (or link to your Prezi) to the presentation drop box by the presentation due date and time.