COM 600 syllabus spring 2014 final #NewhouseSM6

COM 600 M002
Social Media Theory and Practice
Spring 2014
Thursday 2 PM - 4:45 PM
Newhouse 2 Rm. 355
Professor:
Email:
Twitter
Office:
Phone:
Office Hours:

Dr. William Ward
dr4ward@syr.edu
@dr4ward
NH 2, 339
315-443-9245
Mon. & Thurs. Noon – 2 PM or by appointment (Also via G+ Hangouts)
Twitter Class Hash tag #NewhouseSM6

_______________________________________________________
Class Description: This course examines the strategic use of digital and social media
platforms and tools for public communications and the application of Communication
Theory applied to social media research. There is an emphasis on hands-on experience
and skill. Students will analyze Communication Theory and how it is applied to new
social communications. Students will also analyze various digital and social media
platforms and tools for developing professional profiles, creating professional learning
networks, creating professional content, engaging and collaborating. Students will learn
how to use social media to conduct research, improve job performance, increase
communication effectiveness and efficiency, and develop strategies for integrating,
evaluating and planning social media to achieve positive results. Students will critically
assess social media and research future developments of social media in public
communications.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this class students going into public
communications should, among other things:
Apply traditional Communication Theory to new digital and social
Communications research
• Understand the culture of professional social engagement and sociallyenabled organizations and professions in public communications
• Learn digital literacy and social media etiquette for writing and social
media engagement with a variety of social media platforms and tools
• Develop team building and collaborations skills through the professional use and
integration of multiple social networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and
Google+…and many more.
• Gain insight through hands-on technical experience with professional social
sharing, listening, monitoring, and analytics using Hootsuite Pro and other digital
tools. Students will also receive Hootsuite Certification, an industry-leading
standard.
• Evaluate internal and external social media strategy and integration from an
interdisciplinary perspective across multiple departments and industries in public
communications
•

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•

Text: Course readings and content will be delivered entirely digital and online
and mostly available for free. You will be able to access course readings and
content daily/weekly. Case studies, readings, videos, industry guest speakers,
and other course content will be delivered using numerous Digital and Social
Media platforms and tools.

You will be accessing the course content with many Social Media and Digital platforms
and tools and will be learning how to use them professionally.
Social Media and Digital Platforms including RSS feeds, blogs, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google / G+,
Facebook, Pinterest … and many more.
Grade Determination: Your final grade will be based upon the following:

In-class Social Media Participation
Outside Class Social Media Participation & Klout Score
Two Outside Events
(NewhouseGLDSM or alternative proposals)
Weekly Assignments
Final Research & Teaching Presentations
Total
Grading Scale:
93 – 100%
90 – 92
87 – 89
83 – 86
80 – 82
77 – 79
73 – 76
70 – 72
67 - 69
63 - 66
60 – 62
59 or less

Percent of
Grade
10%
10%
10%
30%
40%
100%

Points
60
60
60
180
240
600

A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DEpic Fail

Skills: Students will learn by doing. Students will gain hands on experience with new
digital tools and social media platforms to understand and evaluate best practices and
strategy being used by professionals in public communications today.
Classroom Expectations: I enjoy an open and informal classroom atmosphere. You
are encouraged to share information and personal experiences, and ask questions
during lectures and discussions. The most effective learning takes place during twoway communication. Your classroom participation is encouraged inside and out of the
classroom and your grade will reflect your contributions. Digital and Social Media
participation is mandatory.

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Requirements: You will be required to bring your laptop and/or tablet devices to
every class. Mobile Smartphone use is also encouraged during class but you will still
need to bring your laptop and/or tablet every time. Smartphones do not allow enough
editing and viewing capabilities to be sufficient for class purposes.
Reminder: Laptop, tablet and mobile devices are to be used for class and professional
purposes only during class, not for personal social interactions.
In-Class Social Media Participation 60 points (10%): Being present in class and
contributing to class discussions face-to-face and online will result in a higher grade.
Failure to participate in class activities and repeatedly arriving late or being absent will
lower your participation grade. Digital and Social Media participation is mandatory.
Attendance at all class meetings is expected in order to assure an even flow of
information and a minimum of disruption for both me and the other members of your
class. An absence will lower your grade, plus participation points for assignments done
in class. Special accommodation will not be made for you if you miss an assignment or
a deadline. Late assignments will not be accepted, nor made up without my prior
approval.
Outside of Class Social Media Engagement - Klout Score 60 points (10%): Klout
measures influence based on your ability to drive action on social networks, and how
you drive more engaging and relevant professional content for everyone. It is one way
that communication industry employers are evaluating your social media experience
and potential. You will learn how to use social media like a pro and your influence score
will improve on professional topics of interest throughout the semester.
Two Outside Events (NewhouseGLDSM or alternative proposals) 60 points (10%):
The Newhouse Global Leaders In Digital and Social Media Speaker series explores
innovative digital and social media engagement from around the world. Speakers
represent leadership in thought and innovation in their fields. Attending live events and
participating with social media back channels in real-time is required. Social
communication before and after an event is also required.
Note: If students are not able to attend these two events due to schedule conflicts they
are welcome to propose attending alternative outside events that emphasize social
media leadership and innovation.

Weekly Assignments – “To Do” List 180 points (30%): Students learn by doing.
Learning does not take place once a week during class but on a frequent and regular
basis. The weekly “To Do” list includes 20 daily/weekly tasks related to the topic for that
week that require class reflection outside of class to demonstrate conceptual
understanding and insight. Digital and Social Media participation require application and
use of digital and mobile tools and social media platforms for professional purposes.

3

Final Teaching Presentations 240 points (40%): Student will design, implement, and
present a multi-media ‘deep dive’ presentation to teach the class on some aspect of the
course subject matter. Team teaching will include 20 minute multi-media presentations
followed by discussion. Examples of presentation subjects include but are not limited
to: Media and Communication Theory applied to social media research question(s),
case study of a media organization’s social media best practice, an in-depth analysis of
a particular digital tool or social media platform, a look at social media in public
communications, etc. Instructor approval is required.

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Class Schedule: The following schedule is for reference only. The dates, other than
the final exam date, are approximates. We will make every attempt to stay as close to
these target dates as possible. Topics are subject to change.
The weekly “To Do” list includes daily/weekly tasks related to the topic for that
week that require class reflection outside of class to demonstrate conceptual
understanding and insight.
Go to http://www.dr4ward.com to find more in depth information on our class
assignments and projects.
DATE
TOPIC/ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1 – January 16: Course Overview
Syllabus - COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice #NewhouseSM6
Readings:
UT’s Overview of 90 Communication Theories
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice #NewhouseSM6 Spring 2014 "To Do" & Reading
List - Due Wed. Jan. 22 (Online)

Week 2 - January 23: Communication Theory Applied To New Social Media
Research
Readings: Intro to Communication Theory & Social Media
VALSTM, (2009), 2008 Technology ownership and use of survey of college students:
highlights, SRI Consulting Business Intelligence, vls@sric-bi.com
CIBER, (2010), Social media and research flow: A social media report, University College
of London, Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, December 14.
http://www.ciber-research.eu/download/20101111-social -media-report.pdf.
Cann, A., Dimitriou, K., and Hooley, T. (2011), Social media: A guide for researchers,
Research Information Network, 89, February.
http://www.mendeley.com/research/social-media-guide-researchers/#page-1
Precourt, G. et. al. (2012). Journal of Advertising Research special issue: What we know about
Social Media, 52(4), New York: The Advertising Research Foundation.
List - Due Wed., Jan. 29 (Online)

Week 3 - January 30: Introduction to Social Media Strategy & Social Dashboard
Readings: Social Media Marketing

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Chi, H., (2011), Interactive digital advertising vs. Virtual brand community: Exploratory
study of user motivation and social media marketing responses in Taiwan,
Journal of Interactive Advertising, 12, (1), 2-22.
Colliander, J., (2012), Socially acceptable?: Exploring consumer responses to marketing in
social media, Stockholm School of Economics, Ineko Publishing, Goteberg, 202 pgs.
Nielsen Vizu (2012), Social media advertising: industry update and best practices 2013, The
Nielsen Company Publishing 10 pgs.
Kelly, L., Kerr, G., & Drennan, J., (2010), Avoidance of advertising in social networking
sites: The teenage perspective, Journal of Interactive Advertising, 10, (2), 16-27.
List - Due Wed., Feb. 5 (Online)

Week 4 – February 6: Social Listening, Collaboration and Engagement
Readings: User Uses and Gratifications
Gangadharbatla, H., (2008), Facebook me: Collective self-esteem, need to belong, and
internet self-efficacy as predictors of the igeneration’s attitudes toward social networking
sites, Journal of Interactive Advertising, 8, (2), 1-28.
Dunne, Á., Lawlor, M. A., & Rowley, J. (2010). Young people's use of online social networking
sites–a uses and gratifications perspective. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing,
4(1), 46-58.
Chen, G. M. (2011). Tweet this: A uses and gratifications perspective on how active Twitter use
gratifies a need to connect with others. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 755-762.
Williams, L. (2013). "Facbook Ruined My Marriage: Digital Intimacy Interference On Social
Networking Sites". SU Master’s Thesis. (Recommended)
List - Due Feb. 12 (Online)

Guest Speaker: Lynessa Williams, Account Coordinator, @SocialRadius, Digital and
Social Media Entrepreneur, Newhouse Alumni
Week 5 - February 13: Social Analytics & Measurement
Readings: Social Media & ‘Big Data’
Murdough, C., (2009), Social media measurement: It’s not impossible, Journal of
Interactive Advertising, 10, (1), 94-00.
Manovich, L. (2011). Trending: The promises and the challenges of big social data. Debates in
the digital humanities, 460-75.

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Brown, B., Chui, M., & Manyika, J. (2011). Are you ready for the era of ‘big data’?. McKinsey
Quarterly, 4, 24-35.
Crawford, K. & boyd, d. (2012). Critical questions for big data: Provocations for a cultural,
technological and scholarly phenomenon. Information, Communication & Society, 15(5), 662679.
Janna Anderson, J & Rainie, L. (2012, July). The future of big data. Pew Internet & American
Life Project.

In-class: COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice #NewhouseSM6 Spring 2014
Research & Teaching Presentation
Week 6 – February 20: Advanced Social Media Tactics
Readings: Social Network Theory
Borgatti, S. P., & Halgin, D. S. (2011). On network theory. Organization Science, 22(5), 11681181.
Merchant, G. (2012). Unravelling the social network: theory and research. Learning, Media and
Technology, 37(1), 4-19.
Ganley, D., & Lampe, C. (2009). The ties that bind: Social network principles in online
communities. Decision Support Systems, 47(3), 266-274.

Week 7 – February 27: Social Influence
Readings: Social Influence & Comparison
Crandall, D., Cosley, D., Huttenlocher, D., Kleinberg, J., & Suri, S. (2008, August). Feedback
effects between similarity and social influence in online communities. In Proceedings of
the 14th ACM SIGKDD international conference on Knowledge discovery and data
mining, 160-168.
Aral, S., & Walker, D. (2012). Identifying influential and susceptible members of social networks.
Science, 337(6092), 337-341.
Hanna, R., Rohm, A., & Crittenden, V. L. (2011). We’re all connected: The power of the social
media ecosystem. Business Horizons, 54(3), 265-273.
Dolan, E. (2013). "Thank you for being a friend: women's self-disclosures and social support on
Facebook". SU Master’s Thesis. (Recommended)

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List - Due Wed., Mar. 5 (Online)

Guest Speaker: Emily Dolan, Ph.D. Student at University of Buffalo, NewhouseSU
Alumni
Week 8 – March 6: Content Creation and Curation
Readings: Creating Content: Gatekeeping & Citizen Journalism
Goode, L. (2009). Social news, citizen journalism and democracy. New Media & Society, 11(8),
1287-1305.
Kang, M. (2010). Measuring social media credibility: A study on a Measure of Blog Credibility.
Institute for Public Relations.
Waters, R. D., Tindall, N. T., & Morton, T. S. (2010). Media catching and the journalist–public
relations practitioner relationship: How social media are changing the practice of media
relations. Journal of Public Relations Research, 22(3), 241-264.
TRUSTe Whitepaper, (2010), The pros and cons of social media marketing: Surviving and
thriving in the era of user generated content, TRUSTe Whitepaper, www.truste.com.
COM 600 Social Media Theory and Practice #NewhouseSM6 Spring 2014 "To Do" List - Due
Wed., Mar. 19 (Online)

Week 9 – March 10-16 Spring Break
Week 10 – March 20: Social Curation
Readings: Creating a Social Identity
Ellis, K. (2010). Be who you want to be: The philosophy of Facebook and the construction of
identity. Screen Education, (58), 36-41.
Zeng, F., Huang, L., & Dou, W., (2009), Social factors in user perceptions of responses to
advertising in online social networking communities, Journal of Interactive
Advertising, 10, (1), 1-13.
Relatedness need satisfaction during social media goal pursuit: The Influence of Online Social
Identity and Motivations. (2012). Conference Papers -- International Communication
Association, 1-31.
Social Media Theory and Practice #NewhouseSM6 Spring 2014 "To Do" & Reading List - Due
Wed., Mar. 26 (Online)

Week 11 – March 27: New Theories in Social Media
Readings: Social Presence, Social Capital & Online Self-presentation

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Carr, C. T., Vitak, J., & McLaughlin, C. (2013). Strength of social cues in online impression
formation: Expanding SIDE research. Communication Research, 40(2), 261-281. d
Park, K., Han, S., & Kaid, L. (2013). Does social networking service usage mediate the
association between smartphone usage and social capital?. New Media & Society,
15(7), 1077-1093. doi:10.1177/1461444812465927
Rui, J., & Stefanone, M. A. (2013). Strategic image management online. Information,
Communication & Society, 16(8), 1286-1305. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2013.763834
Lowenthal, P. R. (2009). Social presence. Encyclopedia of distance and online learning, 2.
List - Due Wed., April 2 (Online)

Week 12 – April 3: The Future of Social Media
Readings: New Technology & Social Future
Kilgour, M., & Sasser, S. (2012), The underlying drivers of social media behaviour: An
exploratory study into the future of social media, the Global Advances in Business
Communication Conference Best Paper Award, June 6-9, Ypsilanti, MI.
Chang, H. C. (2010). A new perspective on twitter hashtag use: diffusion of innovation theory.
Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 47(1), 14.
Leaning, B. (2013, March). The Future of Social Media Marketing According to HubSpot's CMO.
Hubspot.

In-class: Research & Teaching Presentation Meetings
Week 13 – April 10: Final Research & Teaching Presentations

Week 14 – April 17: Final Research Teaching Presentations

Week 15 – April 24: Review Research & Teaching Presentations
Week 16 – Final Exam Week

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Religious Observances
SU’s religious observances policy can be found at
http://supolicies.syr.edu/emp_ben/religious_observance.htm. SU recognizes the
diversity of faiths represented among the campus community and protects the rights of
students, faculty and staff to observe religious holy days according to their tradition.
Students will be provided an opportunity to make up any examination, study or work
requirements that may be missed due to a religious observance provided they notify the
instructor before the end of the second week of classes. Students who plan to observe a
religious holiday this term must use the online notification process on myslice. This is
only available the first two weeks of classes.
Academic Integrity
“Syracuse University sets high standards for academic integrity. Those standards are
supported and enforced by students, including those who serve as academic integrity
hearing panel members and hearing officers. The presumptive sanction for a first
offense is course failure, accompanied by the transcript notation “Violation of the
Academic Integrity Policy.” The standard sanction for a first offense by graduate
students is suspension or expulsion. Students should review the Office of Academic
Integrity online resource “Twenty Questions and Answers About the Syracuse University
Academic Integrity Policy” and confer with instructors about course-specific citation
methods, permitted collaboration (if any), and rules for examinations. The Policy also
governs the veracity of signatures on attendance sheets and other verification of
participation in class activities. Additional guidance for students can be found in the
Office of Academic Integrity resource: ‘What does academic integrity mean?’”
Related Links:
The Academic Integrity Policy: http://academicintegrity.syr.edu/academic-integritypolicy/
Twenty Questions and Answers about the Academic Integrity
Policy: http://academicintegrity.syr.edu/faculty-resources/
What does academic integrity mean?: http://academicintegrity.syr.edu/what-doesacademic-integrity-mean/

Persons With Disabilities
If you believe that you need accommodations for a disability, please contact the Office
of Disability Services (ODS), disabilityservices.syr.edu, located at 804 University
Avenue, room 309 or call 315 443 4498 for an appointment to discuss your needs and
the process for requesting accommodations. ODS is responsible for coordinating
disability-related accommodations and will issue students with documented disabilities
“Accommodation Authorization Letters,” as appropriate. Since accommodations may
require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact ODS
as soon as possible.
Our community values diversity and seeks to promote meaningful access to educational
opportunities for all students. Syracuse University and the Newhouse faculty are

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committed to your success and to supporting Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 as amended and the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990). This means that in
general no individual who is otherwise qualified shall be excluded from participation in,
be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity,
solely by reason of having a disability.
You are also welcome to contact your professor privately to discuss your academic
needs although faculty cannot arrange for disability-related accommodations.

Use of Student Work (FERPA)
The professor will use academic work that you complete this semester for educational
purposes in this course during this semester. Your registration and continued enrollment
constitute your permission. The professor will use academic work that you complete this
semester in subsequent semesters for educational purposes. Before using your work for
that purpose, your professor is required to either get your written permission or render
the work anonymous by removing all your personal identification. Use of Social Media
constitutes your permission as search engines archive all content created for this class.

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COM 600 syllabus spring 2014 final #NewhouseSM6

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