Internet Studies is an interdisciplinary research sector that studies the social, psychological, pedagogical, political, technical, cultural, artistic and not only aspects of the internet and related digital technologies. More specifically, this year's course introduces some key concepts useful for understanding the dynamics of information typical of contemporary society.

The course is divided into four parts:

Four key concepts of Internet Studies to understand contemporary information - Affordance and dynamics of Networked Publics; - Participatory Culture; - Attention Economy; - Collective Actions

Media manipulation - Internet Subcultures; - Influencer; - Strategic Amplification.

Research methods - Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter as data access sources for social research; - API, scraping and data reseller; - Principles of Data and Content Analysis.

Project work: Misinformation and media manipulation in electoral processes.

1. Knowledge and understanding: of the essential concepts of Internet Studies: Properties and affordances of Networked Publics; Participatory Culture; Attention Economy; Collective Actions. the concept of media manipulation and strategic amplification with specific reference to internet subcultures and the role of influencers. of the opportunities and challenges that social media pose to social research, learn about the Twitter and Facebook APIs, learn about platforms and techniques for acquiring data from Twitter and Facebook, learn about data and content analysis techniques 1.1. Students achieve this knowledge through individual and group hands-on exercises in the classroom.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

3 x 2 hours classes per week

Attendance

Attend at least 3/4 of the lessons and take part in the project work activity.

Course books

• Boyd, D. (2018). It's complicated: La vita sociale degli adolescenti sul web. Roma: Castelvecchi (pp. 29-43).
• Jenkins, H. (2008). Fan, blogger e videogamers: L'emergere delle culture partecipative nell'era digitale. Milano: FrancoAngeli. (pp. 7-22; 160-180; 219-229)
• Shirky, C. (2009). Uno per uno, tutti per tutti: Il potere di organizzare senza organizzazione. Torino: Codice. (pp. 3-119)
• Marwick, A., & Lewis, R. (2017). Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online. Data & Society Research Institute. Retrieved from https://datasociety.net/output/media-manipulation-and-disinfo-online/.
• Lewis, R. (2018). Alternative Influence. Data & Society Research Institute. Retrieved from https://datasociety.net/output/alternative-influence/.

Assessment

Verification of learning will take place through an individual oral interview based on the discussion of the paper delivered by the groups at the end of the course, aimed at assessing both the learning of the contents by the student and his / her ability to elaborate and argue. They will give rise to evaluations of excellence: the possession by the student of good critical and in-depth skills; knowing how to connect the main issues addressed in the course; the use of an appropriate language with respect to the specificity of the discipline. They will give rise to discrete evaluations: the possession by the student of a mnemonic knowledge of the contents; a relative critical and connecting capacity between the topics covered: the use of appropriate language. Sufficient evaluations will result in: the achievement of a minimal amount of knowledge on the topics covered by the student, even in the presence of some training gaps; the use of inappropriate language. They will give rise to negative evaluations: difficulty in orientation of the student with respect to the topics addressed in the exam texts; training gaps; the use of inappropriate language ". Specifically, the final assessment is structured as follows: Project work (70%), oral interview (20%) and class participation (10%). The group work will be subject to verification with the anti-plagiarism system used by the university. Cases of plagiarism will lead to a negative evaluation. The number of lessons attended out of the total, the participation in the classroom and in the blended space, the contribution to group activities and the originality of the proposed contributions will contribute to the evaluation of class participation.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Course books

• Boyd, D. (2018). It's complicated: La vita sociale degli adolescenti sul web. Roma: Castelvecchi (pp. 29-43).
• Jenkins, H. (2008). Fan, blogger e videogamers: L'emergere delle culture partecipative nell'era digitale. Milano: FrancoAngeli. (pp. 7-22; 160-180; 219-229)
• Shirky, C. (2009). Uno per uno, tutti per tutti: Il potere di organizzare senza organizzazione. Torino: Codice. (pp. 3-119)
• Marwick, A., & Lewis, R. (2017). Media Manipulation and Disinformation Online. Data & Society Research Institute. Retrieved from https://datasociety.net/output/media-manipulation-and-disinfo-online/.
• Lewis, R. (2018). Alternative Influence. Data & Society Research Institute. Retrieved from https://datasociety.net/output/alternative-influence/.