Find the current version of the syllabus here.
Social media have become a seemingly naturalized part of living in the twenty-first century. Perhaps it is where we start our days; for instance, scrolling through Instagram to keep up with the happenings of our friends and favorite celebrities. Or maybe it is where we check the news, routinely scanning Twitter for the latest updates of publicized trials and global conflicts. Despite their ubiquity, we often fail to think critically about social media, preferring instead to rest easy in the immediate comfort they can bring us. This course will challenge you take seriously your own personal experiences with social media, while also pushing you to think beyond them. By focusing on YouTube, we will ask questions such as, What are the different approaches to studying social media? How are these platforms built and maintained, and by who? and, How do social media figure into broader narratives about digital technologies? Each week, we will apply a different methodology to our study of YouTube, with the ultimate goal of being able to integrate a variety of approaches. We will draw upon new media scholarship as well as YouTube content itself in order to nuance our understanding of the intersection of media, technology and society.