Course description New Media Practices

Course: New Media Practices
Instructor: Geert Lovink
Period: Semester 1, Block 1
Course catalogue: New Media Practices

Aim
The aim is to learn about Web 2.0 applications by participating. Students make a contribution to an online digital environment by posting on new media issues and, write reviews and reactions. Students also collect links, twitter, write wikipedia entries, make delicious tags and use social networking sites.

Content
In the beginning of the seminar we will examine research approaches to contemporary issues surrounding blogs and social software. Since this is a class on new media practices, it is not enough to perform an ideology critique, and unmask Web 2.0 for the hype that it is. Rather, we will install and probe recent Internet applications, and reflect upon their “sociality” – what kind of social is built into social software? We also may look into a variety of applications from wiki’s to second life. Reading contemporary literature, we also will critique the software. Depending on the collective decision of the students, we may well continue the Masters of Media blog, or may experiment with other forms of digital publishing.