APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

ELE 3766 Social Networks and Communities

Responsible for the course
Christian Fieseler

Department
Department of Communication and Culture

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
7,5

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
Understanding relationships is vital for organizations and is particularly critical to the success of marketing and/or public relations activities. However, new forms of communication and cooperation have made it more difficult for organizations to have an overview or control over their relationships. Analyzing and detecting social networks and communities allows organizations to make sense of the social and information networks arising from the pervasive availability of the Internet and new interactive applications whose use by consumers and other stakeholders can be a benefit for organizations but also can put their reputations at risk. The course introduces basic theoretical perspectives and research methods of social networks and their applications with a focus on communication networks.

Against this background the course will cover particular aspects of social networks and communities impacting corporate communication, marketing and other communicative aspects of product and service development, and reputation.

Target groups
Bachelor students with an interest in corporate communication (for example, public relations, customer relations, public affairs), marketing (especially advertising and branding), journalism, media and technology. The course is ideal for students who intend to pursue a career in marketing and communication, but also in communication related tasks in consulting or strategy-related corporate functions.

Learning outcome
Acquired Knowledge
After completing the course students should have gained a basic understanding of:

• What is changing in marketing and communications, but also why these changes are occurring.
• Major current economic, technological and social developments in the Internet, and the ensuing implications for enterprises in general and for marketing and communication in particular.
• Scientific and cultural backgrounds on the properties of social networks, the (sub-)culture of Internet communities, the characteristics of digital media to issues of transparency, attention and power
• Basic tools for researching and analyzing social networks

• Explain how organizations can reach their target audiences in an increasingly fragmented media environment
• Articulate social networks’ impact on the production, authorship and quality of messages and content
• Identify novel ways of creating and maintaining social capital to avoid reputational crises and activism
• Outline important innovations in addressing target groups
• Perform social network analysis

• Defining social networks
• Creating and Sustaining Social Capital in the Web 2.0
• Principles and Applications of the Social Internet
• Social Networks: Forms of Analysis and Applications
• Communities, Peer Production and Collaboration Processes
• Trust on the Internet
• Attention Economy - The Future of Content
• Communication implications of digital business models
• The (Counter-) culture of the Internet
• Engaging social networks online

Project paper
Students will write a paper in small groups in which they have to imagine that they are communication consultants, experts on one of the central modules covered in the lecture. Their analysis should be based on four key questions:

1. Be convincing: What is the relevance of the topic for today’s business world? Why is it necessary to address the topic? Why does it make good business sense?
   
2. Be informed: How well does today’s business world address the topic? Do you find any signs that it already systematically addresses your topic? Are there signs that businesses need to catch up on their efforts?
   
3. Be creative: What are opportunities for improvement? How can businesses become even better at addressing your topic? What new, exciting measures would you propose? How could they benefit from your suggestions?
   
4. Be rigorous: Why should business believe you? How can you ground your assumptions in theory, as it pertains to your particular topic, based on the literature handed out to you as well as additional (scholarly) material?