Upon completion of this course you will:
- be able to explain trends and situations that appear in the context of new media, language, imagery and communication (role of tone of voice, personalization, identity, language corruption, changes in social interaction);
- have a repertoire available of theories and jargon that enable you to discuss them with your fellow generation media scientists about matters of new media, language, imagery and communication;
- be able to reflect on the usability of existing (genre) models to analyze language use in functional applications of new media and social media in their societal, communicative and institutional contexts;
- be able to verbalize and balance ethical aspects of new media in functional contexts;
- be able to report the results of your insights in a written report and present your reflections in an oral/visual presentation. |
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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 conversations, 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.
To demonstrate their success in understanding these issues, students will make a group analysis of the suitability of the tone of voice chosen by an organization of their choice in a new media channel.
The focus of this course is on theoretical reflection, analysis and grounding of verbal and visual phenomena in online genres. This course is not about writing a strategic plan for online communication in organisations (although the results of the analysis may be the foundation for such a plan). |
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