|
Class Admin |
Main / HomePage
Election 2008: Social Software and User Generated Media H79.2740.1 The fall US presidential election offers an unprecedented opportunity to understand the ways networks, both electronic and social, are changing the political landscape. The electoral process has been transformed by the amount of information citizens now have, the ability of those citizens to create and distribute media, and the ease of fund-raising and vote drives. All of these changes are accompanied by a socialization of media generally, where citizens are operating not just as individual consumers of news and producers of votes, but are talking and working in formal and informal groups as well. Election 2008 will examine the ongoing presidential election, focusing on the way new tools from YouTube and Facebook to GovTrack and Iowa Prediction Markets are altering the way this election is proceeding. After a brief introduction to the oddities of American presidential politics, we will concentrate on three areas: new sources of politically relevant information, and especially open source databases; new environments for citizen-to-citizen political discussion and involvement; and user-generated content. The class will use a new format, a mix of large group lectures and small group work, both observing existing tools and media outlets and either participating in existing communities or creating new tools or media. Each group will present to the class three times during the semester. We will have several invited guests who are examining or working on the campaigns during the semester. Because the election takes place on November 4, the course will end with a post-mortem of the election, and predictions of future directions in electoral tools. Note: This course will meet at 19 West 4th Street, room 101. |