SOC 270: Digital and

Professor: Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom

Course Description

Digital media, platforms and connections continue to shape our social world. This course will cover the sociological underpinnings of our apps, likes, shares, profiles and swipes. Many of the digital tools we use have become critical points of access for education, healthcare, government and work. And, not all groups have the same access to, experience of, and returns to using these tools. Given that, digital sociology is emerging from classic social theory and methods to consider these new technologies and how we interact with them. This course will put new/digital/ in its broader social context. That means we will study institutions, people and groups through these tools rather than studying tools as an ends unto themselves. We will primarily take a critical perspective to 1) labor and 2) surveillance and privacy on social media networks and 3) contemporary issues of digital technologies and stratification by race, class, gender, and citizenship.

Required Texts

Lupton, Deborah. 2014. Digital Sociology. Routledge. ISBN: 978-1138022775

Online Resources

SociologyConcepts is an online resource that explains sociological concepts.

SocCinema is an online resource that explores sociological concepts through popular media and film.

SocImages is another online resource that explores sociological concepts through images and pictures, many from pop culture.

Assignments

Writing assignments are a sociological practice. Given the nature and content of this course we will define both writing and assignments broadly. The three reflection papers and one final project are designed to prompt critical reflection of how new media and social media are reshaping critical social processes. The reflection papers will analyze an assigned reading for 1) theory 2) evidence and 3) respond to the argument using concepts from readings and class discussions.

For the final paper/project, you will select a social networking site (preferably one you use) and read its Terms of Service. You should analyze who owns the content you produce and the process of deleting your profile/removing your content. Finally, you should use the concepts discussed in class (e.g. labor, race/class/gender, access, surveillance, and resistance) and apply them to how you use that social media platform. You can choose to explore those ideas in a traditional paper format. The guidelines for that are attached and available on Blackboard. You can also choose to do a multi-media project using digital tools. I have collected examples of student work for similar projects for your to view. But, broadly, you can , create video, animation, or graphic novels. If you choose this option for your final assignment, you will still do the three reflection papers during the semester. But, we can work together to have those papers relate to your final project in ways that honor both the assignment and the on-going reflexivity involved in planning a multi- media project.

Date Topic Readings Section I Social Formation of the Chapter 1 p. 7-18 Digital Social Media: Then and * “History and Evolution Now of Social Media” Structural Divides * “The trend of class, race and ethnicity in social media inequality” Utopias and Realities Chapter 2 p. 20-41 Digital Labor *Scholtz Intro “Digital Labor” Producing Content, *Terranova “Free Labor: Connections and Capital Producing Culture for the Digital Economy” Reflection Paper 1 * “The Invisible Labor that Keeps Clean”

Section II Shifting Social Norms Chapter 6 p. 117-130 Mating and Dating Online * “The Formation of Social Rules for Digital Interactions” Hardey Gendered Expectations in * “The price of sexy: a Selfie World Viewers’ perceptions of a sexualized versus non- sexualized Facebook profile photo” Daniels The Politics of * “The Sociology of “Unfollowing” Unfollowing on ” Attention Economies: * “The Attention Economy Market Morality and and the Net” Goldhaber Becoming a Brand

Reflection Paper 2 “Auctioning Your Virginity Online”

Section III Intersectionality Online *“Women of the Valley” Sydell Race, Class, Gender and * “Intersecting Online Risk oppressions and online communities: examining the experiences of women of color in Xbox live” Gray Race and Racism * “Race and Racism in Studies” Daniels Data and Civil Rights Chapter 5 Algorithmic Stratification * “When Becomes a Civil Rights Problem” Robinson & Yu * “Classification Situations” Fourcade and Healy Institutions & Inequalities * “Healthcare and Digital Selves” Lupton Reflection Paper 3 “Hate the Player, Hate the Game? Gender, Ethics and ‘Gamer Gate’”

Surveillance and Policing * “Threat Rating: Police Scanning Your Social Media” Skorup Race, Surveillance and (video) State Institutions & Inequalities * “Imagined HigherEd Futures and Colorblind Ideologies” Cottom and Watters Resistance and Organizing * “The Black Women Behind Black Lives Matter” *”Arab Spring” Tufecki Social Movements Chapter 7 Final Project: The Terms of Service for Your Favorite Social Media Platform