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In this course, students study new media, amongst which social media, and get acquainted with theoretical and practical instruments to do so in a practice of professional contexts. The theory is in part based on knowledge about “old” media, and partly the signaling and understanding of new trends that do not fit in old frameworks.
The concept of genre is central; genres are characterized by code (e.g., the typical style that is particular to a genre), text (the typical form of a text in a genre) and context (the people who typically deal with the genre and the situations in which this takes place). New media shake up genres and create new ones, such as Twitter conversatoins, a case of narrowcasting. In a Twitter conversation, the private domain is exchanged for the public domain; writing is done at a fast pace and it is the fruit of collaboration; the writing context on the computer, tablet or smartphone is adapted to the user..
Students study the use and effect of such new media genres, amongst which social media genres, in the ever more digitalizing society, and in the functional contexts of various organizations, and they reflect on that. As technical possibilities for online communication by social media are ever growing, communication through these media is subject to constant change. We discuss the main consequences of these media for society; we pay attention to the way users apply these media, and to the information these users produce and share; the functional use of these media within and by organizations; and the increase of experience and engagement via these media. We reflect on the consequences of communication through new media for important concepts such as privacy, transparency, professionalism, digital divide, identity, and social relations, paying attention to ethical aspects of these consequences.
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