Week06


 * Social networking**

What is a (social) network? How does it differ from other kinds of grouping (family, community etc.)?

//Ex: drawing your own social network//

Questions of scale: - Metcalfe's law n(n-1) / 2 - Dunbar number

Strong vs weak ties (Granovetter)

'Wisdom of the crowd' (Surowiecki)

Collective intelligence (Pierre Levy - see [|Henry Jenkins' piece]): organic vs organized vs self-organized groups

Followers vs leaders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

Social network research - see [|Danah Boyd's bibliography]. What does this tell us about the field?

Group work themes: A B C D E


 * In part 2 of class this week you will generate a preliminary digital project proposal in your groups using the following criteria:**

1. Brief description (write for an intelligent outsider) 2. Rationale (What are the objectives? What is/are the key concept(s) and how does this relate to themes in Digital Media?) 3. What is the target audience / community? 4. What are the major action steps involved? 5. What are the technical requirements? 6. How will the group coordinate its activity and collaborate effectively? (NB these questions can be used as a guide for the presentation in Week 8, though they need not be interpreted as a formula or 'strait jacket').