Social Networking as Communication Tool

Web-based social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, Xing, LinkedIn, and no doubt the new Google +, are re-shaping the ways (young) people communicate with each other, as well as with communities of every imaginable type, potential employers, and even celebrities. Future teachers, business professionals, and scholars will have to take the increasingly sophisticated forms of networking into account in their later work. In this course we will scrutinize the current social networking scene, including its -viral communication” features; analyze the functions (for instance, real-time streaming or live-feed) and applications (e.g. companies enhance their brand image, educators communicate with their students via internet platforms, international science teams conduct research via networking); trace the ongoing transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0; consider issues such as identity and privacy; point out the potential for misuse, especially with regard to young users (trolling, cyberbullying, increasing isolation despite apparently exponential contact). A recently published study maintains that 50% of British companies have forbidden the use of social network sites during business hours – why? The reasons for this ban reveal the power of these fascinating sites. The Oscar-winning film Social Network (2010) presents a -historical” dimension of the development of social networks. I have reserved a computer room, so that we can undertake some activities onlne. Students will present networking communication strategies and case studies, and we will create an annotated glossary of relevant terms. By the way, do you know that Uni Siegen has Facebook presence?! Anglistik - Sprachpraxis Universität Siegen WiSe 2011/12 Ph.D. Waegner Cathy Ph.D