Proposed Course Syllabus

Social Media: Theory and Practice

University of Memphis
Fall 2011
**Please note: Syllabus is subject to change**

Required Texts:

Shirky, Clay. (2008). Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without
Organizations.

Solis, Brian & Breakenridge, Deirdre. (2009). Putting the Public Back in Public
Relations: How Social Media is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR.

Briggs, Mark. (2009). Journalism Next.

Hay, Deltina. (2009). A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization:
Strategies, Tactics, and Tools for Succeeding in the Social Web.

Additional Readings:

(Insert relevant blogs/sites that students should incorporate into their blogroll to discuss
various topics throughout the semester. Some suggestions are...)

http://www.chrisbrogan.com http://www.briansolis.com
http://www.problogger.net http://www.pr-squared.com
http://mashable.com

Course Objectives:

This course will help journalism and public relations students to gain an understanding of
the available tools and resources within the realm of social media. By using these tools
actively to learn and engage in the course, students will be able to gain valuable insight
into how the two professions use social media tools.

Combining theory and practice will help you develop your understanding of the many
changes rocking the media landscape and build the skills you will need to join the fray.

Social media is altering how journalists and public relations professionals do their jobs
and how we communicate in a Web 2.0 world. You will read research and theory by
some of the most formative thinkers in the communications field examining the impact of
social and new media and applying these core concepts to your real-world use of digital
tools. We will be actively using blogs, RSS feeds, Twitter, widgets, social bookmarking,
mapping, and other Web 2.0 tools to produce and curate content and interact with other
professionals in our field and reflect critically on this experience.

It’s important to note that particular sites like Twitter or Foursquare may come and go in
this fast-changing environment in which it seems every month brings with it a new must-
have app, toy, or social network. Ultimately, this course hopes to foster the meta-skill of
applying the core values of journalistic and PR practice to new media forms in
productive, creative, and intelligent ways. Flexibility and the ability to experiment and
think critically will perhaps be among the most vital abilities of the new era.
Course Schedule:

Week 1 – Meet the Social Web

 Class Introductions: Who are you and what are you interests? What do you expect
and want out of this course?
 A Vision of Students Today (Video)
 Course introduction: What has changed online? How did we get here and why is it
relevant?
 Brief history of social media: What makes it social?
 Social Media Rockstar Blog- A Brief History in Social Media
 Is your work “able”? Clickable, linkable, sharable, embeddable?
 Overview of social media and Web 2.0
 Applicable theory involved in social media
 Explanation of course objectives, assignments, and expectations.

Assignment: What’s in a name? How do you/will you present yourself online?

Part 1: Determine the username that you will use throughout the semester. Go to
Check User Names or NameChk to determine how many/which sites your
name is available. From that list, visit the following sites and register your
username:

 Twitter  Technorati
 Flickr  Wordpress
 Digg  YouTube
 Friendfeed  Gmail
 LinkedIn  Posterous

Feel free to register with other sites as you see fit and take some time to explore
each.
 Part 2: Make notes regarding your experience and be prepared to write a little bit
about the registration process. Was your name already registered? Why did you
choose the username that you did (actual name or pseudonym)? Where there any
other observations that caught your attention and you would like to share?

Part 3: Create your first post in the class blog. Tell the class about yourself – your
major, professional goals, favorite things, etc. In a second post to the class blog,
explain what you learned in the registration process of various social media using
the notes you made during the process.

Week 2 – Disruptive Forces Affecting Journalism, Advertising, and Public Relations

 Everyone is a media outlet
 Publish, then filter
 Two-way communication with audiences/customers
 Changes to the business models and best practices

Assigned Readings:
 Shirky Chapters 1-3 and “Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable”
http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/03/newspapers-and-thinking-the-
unthinkable/
 Johnson “Old Growth Media and the Future of News”
http://www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/2009/03/the-following-is-a-speech-
i-gave-yesterday-at-the-south-by-southwest-interactive-festival-in-
austiniif-you-happened-to-being.html
 Selected chapter from “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuk

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

 Part 1: Post to the class blog a summary of what you learned from the assigned
reading. Be sure to use bullets and paragraphs for ease of reading, links to other
relevant information, or videos that you find discussing the topic further.*
* Each student will be assigned a reading to reflect on each week. Do not assume that
since you are not posting the discussion on that reading that you don’t have to read it.
Comments to reading reactions posted in the class blog are a good way to drive
conversation both during and after class. Didn’t get assigned a reading this week? Don’t
worry. Everyone will get a turn!

Week 3 – Personal Branding & Your Online Reputation

 What does your digital footprint say about you?
 Employers and job searches in today’s online community
 Consistency, authority and trust are important
 Owning what Google, Twitter & other social media say about your brand

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Assignment: Building your brand through social media?

Part 1: Do a Google search of your name. What did you find? Were the search
results clearly you? Where they positive or negative? Were they was you
expected, or did you see search results that you didn’t expect?

Part 2: Explain what you found in a post to the class blog. Explain what you
found. What do you think the search tells employers about you as a brand? Are
there things such as social network profiles that did not show up on the first two
pages of the Google results? What types of links would you like to see when you
search your name in the future?

Week 4 – Blogging
  Blogging culture: authenticity, transparency, authority, influence, ethics, and
credibility
 Why do journalists and PR people blog?
 Bloggers vs. Journalists…the debate continues.
 Writing for the web: how do people read and browse online
 Newspaper text vs. online text: similarities and contrasts
 Creation of a web site using Wordpress content management system
 Trackbacks, links, tags, sidebars, blogrolls, widgets, and feeds
 Search engines for blogs

Assigned Readings:
 Chapters 1 & 2 in Journalism Next by Briggs
 “Why beatblog?” by Patrick Thornton, Beatblogging.org
http://beatblogging.org/2009/04/25/bcni-philly-why-beatblog-and-why-news-
should-be-social/
 Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-
1-who-are-the-bloggers1/
 Rosen, Jay. Bloggers vs. Journalists is Over
http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2005/01/21/berk_essy.htm
l

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Assignment: Create your canvas – Setting up your personal blog.

Part 1: Launch you own blog (via Wordpress or another blogging manager) to
post thoughts, videos, links, and other information that you deem relevant
to share with the world. Since we all have different backgrounds and
interests, everyone’s blog will be unique to the individual user. You may
choose one of the following options for your blog:
 A. Pick a company or brand to monitor online. Throughout the semester,
follow that brand online and in social media. Do they reply to customers
on Twitter? Do they blog on the company website or elsewhere? What do
you think their online reputation says about the brand? Your blog will
cover interesting topics regarding this company’s use of social media.
B. Determine a beat for your blog. Pick something that you are interested in
exploring over the course of the semester. This blog should showcase your
understanding and exploration of the topic and provide a niche for you as
an “expert” in the field. Like to run? Maybe a running blog. Like sports?
Come up with a way to develop a beat specifically toward the sport of
your choice.

Part 2: Within your blog, create an About Me page to tell readers a little bit about
yourself and your blog. You may create a separate section called About
This Blog if you like, or it can all be in one area. Remember this is your
opportunity to “sell” yourself to your readers. Why should they read the
blog? What type of stories will you develop? Do you have a niche? If so,
what is it?

Assignment: Blog or brand analysis

Part 1: For beat bloggers - Search online for blogs that related to your beat. In a
post to the class blog, list five (5) blogs that are similar to your topic.
What do you like about them? What do you not like? Are there things that
the blogger could be doing better? Did you get any interesting ideas from
any of them? Make sure that you link to the website in the blog post.

For brand bloggers – Do a Google search for the brand that you are going
to follow. Similar to the assessment of your own Google search, post to
the class blog what you found in searching the brand. What social
networks are they using? Do they have a powerful presence in Google
 search results, or do you have to dig around to find them? What sort of
news stories (if any) come up in your search? Are they positive or
negative? List and link to at least five (5) websites that come up in your
search, and explain why they are good, bad, important, etc.

Part 2: Set up a blogroll on your blog using the above list. Set up a Google Reader
feed, and select at least ten (10) feeds to monitor that are related to you
beat, brand or industry. Set up Google Alerts for your beat topic or brand
you are covering.

Week 5 – Microblogging and Monitoring the Conversation

 Using Twitter for reporting, source finding, and brand monitoring
 Using Twitter to promote your blog and personal brand
 Twitter & conversation – getting to know people
 Engagement – Why conversation is important

Assigned Readings:
 Chapter 4 from Journalism Next by Briggs
 “How to Verify a Tweet” by Craig Kanalley in Twitter Journalism
http://www.twitterjournalism.com/2009/06/25/how-to-verify-a-tweet/
 Select Chapter from Chris Brogan’s Social Media 101
 Fort Hood Shooting Shows How Twitter, Lists Can be Used for Breaking News

Other noteworthy links (scan and bookmark these):

 “Basic Twitter Links for Journalists” by Patrick LaForge
http://palafo.com/2009/06/20/basic-twitter-links-for-journalists/
 Twitter Guide Book by Mashable http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Assignment: Twitter and your brand – You are what you Tweet!

Part 1: Set up a Twitter account (if you haven’t already). You can use your name
or the name of your blog as your Twitter handle.

Part 2: Identify ten (10) individuals who often tweet about things related to your
blog topic. If you’re following a specific brand – follow them. What about
their competitors? You might want to follow them to compare/contrast to
what your brand is doing with Twitter.

Part 3: Use a widget on your blog to show your Twitter feed on your blog.

Assignment: Twitter Challenge #1 – Scavenger Hunt

Part 1: Using the handout given to you in class, pick a partner and live tweet
about the things you find on the scavenger hunt list. Don’t forget to use
the hashtag! We’ll be doing this with some other universities, so make
sure that you reply and retweet your classmates and tweets from other
university students.

Week 6 – Telling Your Story with Photos

 Introductory basics to photos for the Web
 When to use photographs
 Creative Commons licensing and copyright
 Flickr, Picasa, Facebook and other photo sharing tools

Assigned Readings:
 None

Other noteworthy links (scan and bookmark these):

  “10 Great Photoshop Resources on YouTube” by Mashable
http://mashable.com/2010/04/11/youtube-photoshop-tutorials/

Assignment: Say Cheese – A picture is worth a thousand words.

Part 1: Using your smartphone or camera of your choice, produce 5 -10 GOOD
photographs on a subject or event related to your beat blog. Upload these
photos to Flickr or other photo sharing tool and share them using your
blog and Twitter. Don’t forget to tag them and add descriptions!

Part 2: On the class blog, describe your experiences taking and uploading
pictures. What were some of the advantages and disadvantages for the
sites that you used? How can you use photos to enhance your blog? Do
you have any tips or tricks that you use to produce amazing photos? Don’t
forget to provide link(s) to your pictures for others to see them.

Part 3: Comment on your classmate’s photos.

Week 7 – Telling Your Story with Videos

 Introduction to videos
 When to use videos
 YouTube, Vimeo, Blip.tv, Ustream, Livestream, and other social video sharing
tools
 Editing basics

Assigned Readings:
 Chapter 8 in Journalism Next by Briggs

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Assignment: YourTube – Journalism Students Got Talent!

 Part 1: Create a video relating to your blog topic using department Flip cameras or
your own recording device. Upload this video to YouTube and share it
using Twitter and your blog.

Part 2: On the class blog, describe your experiences filming and uploading videos.
What were some of the advantages and disadvantages for the sites that you
used? How can you use videos to enhance your blog? Do you have any
tips or tricks that you use to produce amazing videos? Don’t forget to
provide link(s) to your pictures for others to see them.

Part 3: Comment on your classmate’s videos.

Week 8 – Online Conversations and Engagement

 Communication theories in social media
 Becoming part of a community
 Blog comments – how they connect us

Assigned Readings:
 Chapter 10 from Journalism Next by Briggs
 Why Comments Suck (And Some Ideas on Unsucking Them), Xark
http://xark.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/why-comments-suck-ideas-on-
unsucking-them.html
 If you can’t manage comments well, don’t offer them
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201003/1836/

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Assignment: Thirsty? – Step up to the online water cooler!

 Part 1: Using your RSS feeds, Google Alerts, and blogroll that you set up earlier
in the semester, find at least ten (10) blog posts or online communities to
engage with. Make comments or contribute to the discussion, providing
insights, links to back up your point of view or videos that support your
understanding of the topic. Be sure to use an avatar to increase your
personal brand! No one wants comments from an egg!

Part 2: On the class blog, provide links to those comments and explain what you
learned from this exercise. Where you able to find new people to engage
with? Did some of the comments change your opinion on the topic? Did
you explore these newfound people on Twitter and follow them? How will
you use this to promote your blog or personal brand?

Week 9 – Building an Audience, Monitoring & Measurement

 Introduction to the basics of SEO
 Understanding metrics
 How to get picked up by Google
 How are brands monitoring and measuring social media?

Assigned Readings:
 Chapter 11 from Journalism Next by Briggs
 Selected chapter from Social Media 101 by Chris Brogan
 Selected chapter from Engage by Brian Solis
 The Missing Google Analytics Manual by Brian Eisenberg
http://www.grokdotcom.com/2009/02/16/the-missing-google-analytics-manual/
 What Web Analytics Can – And Can’t – Tell You about Your Site’s Traffic and
Audience by Dorian Benk http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?
id=31&aid=188162
 The Web’s New Gold Mine: Your Secrets by Jeff Jarvis, The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487039409045753950735129894
 04.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories -
project=COOKIESLIDE1007&articleTabs=article

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Assignment: Social Media Analysis – What do analytics say about your brand?

Part 1: Use the analytical tools discussed in class to examine your reach on the
social web. Set up metrics to determine how successful your social
endeavors have been. What goals do you have for the future of your social
brand? How will you measure these?

Part 2: On the class blog, discuss you analytical experience. Write a few
paragraphs outlining goals for the future. Increase in Twitter followers?
Number of blog posts? Number of comments and links to others in the
industry?

Week 10 – Location, Location, Location

 Introduction to Foursquare, Gowalls, Loopt, Yelp and other location-based social
networks
 How do journalists use these networks?
 How marketing & PR can capitalize on location-based tools
 The future of mobile
 Privacy and location data

Assigned Readings:
 Chapter 5 from Journalism Next by Briggs
 21 Unique Location Examples from Foursquare, Gowalla, Whrrl, and MyTown
by Jason Keith http://socialfresh.com/foursquare-case-studies/
  7 Ways Journalists Can Use Foursquare http://mashable.com/2010/05/14/journalists-
foursquare/ by Shane Snow
 Mobile Internet Access is Now Mainstream
http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/news_blog/comments/20100707_mobil
e_internet_access_is_now_mainstream_pew_research_shows/

Other noteworthy links (scan and bookmark these):

 http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/archive/mobile-journalism/ Mobile Journalism
from SPJ Journalism Toolbox

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Assignment: Foursquare – It’s not just a playground game anymore

Part 1: Play around with Foursquare and Yelp. Leave a tip, upload some photos,
and write a review for Yelp.

Part 2: On the class blog, Link to your social profile and start adding friends in the
network. Explain what you like or don’t like about location-based tools,
and how they might be relevant to your beat or brand. If you refuse to use
these tools for fear of some privacy issues, write two to three paragraphs
on the class blog explaining your reservations to the tools. Include links to
other websites that support or further explain your fears.

Week 11 – Data and Mapping

 Google Map creation
 How and why journalists and public relations use Google Maps
 Social maps – searchable databases, document clouds, etc.
 How these maps can work from your blog

Assigned Readings:
  “The ‘Lack of Vision’ thing? Well, Here’s a Hopeful Vision for You” by Dan
Conover, Xark http://xark.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/05/the-lack-of-vision-
thing-well-heres-a-vision-for-you.html
 5 ways to find, mix and mash your data http://www.10000words.net/2009/11/5-
ways-to-find-mix-and-mash-your-data/
 “Government Online” Pew Internet
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Government-Online.aspx

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Assignment: Mapping your Road to Success – Your Time to Shine

Part 1: Create a Google Map that relates to your beat or brand. Are you foodie?
Map out different places that you like to frequent. Focusing on a specific
neighborhood? Create a scenic walk, pub-crawl or other map that would
help visitors to the area.

Part 2: Post your map to your beat or brand blog. Provide links to the places that
you mapped with a little bit of explanation about why they were important
to include. Share this information on Twitter.

Part 3: On the class blog, explain what you learned by creating a Google Map. Is
it a tools that you think businesses and journalists can/should/would use?
What are some features that you might like to see Google add to this? Are
there other examples of journalists or public relations folks using Google
Maps (or another similar tool) that you would like to share with your
classmates?

Week 12 – Web Curating & Linking

 What is curation and why is it important?
  How does linking help your blog and your brand?
 Why links help you build trust, reputation, and a community

Assigned Readings:
 Curation and Journalists As Curators by Mindy McAdams
http://mindymcadams.com/tojou/2008/curation-and-journalists-as-curators/
 “The Ethic of the Link” (VIDEO) by Jay Rosen http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=RIMB9Kx18hw
 “The Link Economy vs. the Content Econopmy” by Jeff Jarvis
http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/06/18/the-link-economy-v-the-content-
economy/
 Related Video:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/video/2008/jun/24/jarvis.future2
 “What is Link Journalism?” by Publish2 http://blog.publish2.com/what-is-link-
journalism/
 “Why Does the BBC Want to Send it’s Readers Away? The Value of Linking”
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/05/why-does-the-bbc-want-to-send-its-readers-
away-the-value-of-linking/
 The Case Against Linking
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/links_in_text.php

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Week 13 – The Networking Possibilities are Endless!

 Using LinkedIn in connect with industry leaders
 How Twitter chats enhance your voice

Assignment: Link In & Look Out!

 Part 1: Create a LinkedIn account. Upload resume, picture and bio information.
Begin searching for colleagues, classmates, and other people that you want
to connect with. Join LinkedIn groups and look at some of the discussions
being had by industry leaders.

Part 2: Participate in a Twitter chat. There is a list of chats that you may find
interesting located here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?
key=ruaz3GZveOsoXUOOt86B3AQ - gid=0

Part 3: On the class blog, post what you learned from the Twitter Chat that you
participated in. Were you able to make new connections? Did you find it
hard to participate? Is this something you will continue to take part in?

Week 14 – Your Personal Brand: A Look Back over the Semester

 How have the past few weeks changed your digital footprint?
 How your social media reputation enhances your professional desirability
 Weebly, About.Me, Wordpress, and other online profile tools

Assignment: Here I Am! – Developing an online portfolio

Part 1: Create an online professional profile using one of the sites we discussed in
class. Post your resume, a picture of yourself, professional goals, and other
things that you would like to show potential employers. Don’t forget to
include any articles you’ve written, campaigns you’ve worked on,
publications that you contribute to, or other relevant content. Provide links
to your social networks (Twitter feed, Foursquare, and blogs) so that
people can connect with you.

Part 2: Promote your portfolio using Twitter and your blog.

Week 15 – Privacy: The Big Bugaboo
  The privacy debate: Just how concerned should we be? How do we evaluate the
advantages of privacy vs. openness?
 How do social media shape our society in terms of what we share and what we
keep private?
 How should journalists and public relations practitioners respond
to/anticipate/handle public concerns about privacy?
 Are the social norms surrounding privacy changing? If so, how?
 Who is responsible for protecting privacy?

Assigned Readings:

 Facebook’s Move Ain’t About Changes in Privacy Norms, by danah boyd:

http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2010/01/16/facebooks_move.html
 Oversharing on Oversharing by Jeff Jarvis
http://www.buzzmachine.com/2010/06/21/oversharing-on-oversharing/?
utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:
+buzzmachine+(BuzzMachine)
 The Web Means the End of Forgetting, Jeffrey Rosen, NYT magazine
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/magazine/25privacy-t2.html
 Facebook’s Gone Rouge, by Ryan Singel
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/05/facebook-rogue

Assignment: Reflections post to class blog – Your reactions to the readings.

Week 15 – Bringing It All Home – A Review and Presentations

 Review of main course themes
 Each student will present a 5-8 minute presentation of what they have done
throughout the semester (See Presentation section of syllabus)
 Exit survey of students: What ideas and projects do you think will enhance future
courses like this one?