Outline

Overview

This unit explores social media as an important communication process for a broad and diverse range of industries and organisations. It aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills to become competent social media communicators and to critically analyse social media cultures. Students will explore the logics of platforms for interacting with audiences, publics and online communities, including professional networks. This OLE offers a unique interdisciplinary approach to provide theoretically informed and relevant training in social media communication.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Media and Communications
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Jonathon Hutchinson, jonathon.hutchinson@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s)	Jonathon Hutchinson, jonathon.hutchinson@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Online task	Weekly Online Skills Application Weekly content creation tasks.	30%	Ongoing	2000 words equivalent
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Analysis of a Social Media Campaign Analyse an existing social media campaign	20%	Week 05 Due date: 02 Sep 2022 at 23:59 Closing date: 16 Sep 2022	1000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Social Media Project Create a social media campaign based on the research of assignment 1.	40%	Week 12 Due date: 28 Oct 2022 at 23:59 Closing date: 12 Nov 2022	2000 words equivalent
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Student Reflection Journal Critical self-reflection exercise.	10%	Week 13 Due date: 04 Nov 2022 at 23:59 Closing date: 18 Nov 2022	500 words
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

Analysis of a Social Media Campaign Week 5, 1000 words 20%
Social Media Project Week 12, Equivalent 2000 words, 40%
Weekly Online Skills Application 10 submissions, 30% 2000 word
Student Reflection Journal Week 12, 500 words 10%

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	High distinction assessments demonstrate outstanding levels of thematic alignment, creativity, technical competency and student ability. These assessments have a sophisticated approach towards theoretical comprehension, alongside a creativly expressed execution of the task. High distinction assessments have few blemishes and represent an outstanding capacity to integrate the resources from the unit for the required task.
Distinction	75 - 84	Distinction assessments demonstrate excellent levels of thematic alignment, creativity, technical competency and student ability. These assessments have a sophisticated approach towards theoretical comprehension, alongside a creativly expressed execution of the task. Distinction assessments have few blemishes and represent an excellent capacity to integrate the resources from the unit for the required task.
Credit	65 - 74	Credit assessments demonstrate good levels of thematic alignment, creativity, technical competency and student ability. These assessments have a somewhat sophisticated approach towards theoretical comprehension, alongside a creativly expressed execution of the task. Credit assessments may have some technical issues and represent a good capacity to integrate the resources from the unit for the required task.
Pass	50 - 64	Pass assessments demonstrate some level of thematic alignment, creativity, technical competency and student ability. These assessments have attempted to approach theoretical comprehension, but may have fallen short. Pass assessments demonstrate inconsistencies with the requirements of the task, yet have attempted to integrate the resources from the unit for the required task.
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

As per the FASS Late Penalty guide.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	Introduction to Social Media	Online class (3 hr)
Week 02	Social Media Users	Online class (3 hr)
Week 03	Participatory Culture: Hashtags, Memes & Social Media	Online class (3 hr)
Week 04	YouTube and Video Cultures of Social Media	Online class (3 hr)
Week 05	Ethics in Social Media	Online class (3 hr)
Week 06	Automation and Social Media	Online class (3 hr)
Week 07	Social Media Metrics	Online class (3 hr)
Week 08	Cultural Intermediation for Social Media	Online class (3 hr)
Week 09	Social Influencers	Online class (3 hr)
Week 10	Social Media in Industry	Online class (3 hr)
Week 11	Marketing and Communications for Social Media	Online class (3 hr)
Week 12	Social Media Futures	Online class (3 hr)
Week 13	Self Reflection	Online class (3 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.
Assessment: All assessment must be completed and submitted to pass this unit.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Week 1 – Introduction to Social Media Lipschultz, J. H. (2021). Introduction to Social Media Concepts. In Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics (pp. 1-38). New York: Routledge. Stevens, R., Gilliard-Matthews, S., Dunaev, J., Woods, M. K., & Brawner, B. M. (2017). The digital hood: Social media use among youth in disadvantaged neighborhoods. New Media & Society, 19(6), 950–967. Week 2 – Social Media Users

Steele, C. K. (2016). The Digital Barbershop: Blogs and Online Oral Culture Within the African American Community. Social Media + Society, October–December(2016), 1–10.

Kral, I. (2011). Youth media as cultural practice: Remote Indigenous youth speaking out loud. Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2011(1), 4–16.

Week 3 – Participatory Culture: Hashtags, Memes & Social Media

Bonilla, Y., & Rosa, J. (2015). #Ferguson: Digital protest, hashtag ethnography, and the racial politics of social media in the United States. American Ethnologist, 42(1), 4–17.

Frazer, R., & Carlson, B. (2017). Indigenous Memes and the Invention of a People. Social Media + Society, October–December(2017), 1–12.

Week 4 – YouTube and Video Cultures of Social Media

Cabalquinto, E. C., & Soriano, C. R. R. (2020). ‘Hey, I like ur videos. Super relate!’ Locating sisterhood in a postcolonial intimate public on YouTube. Information Communication & Society, 23(6), 892–907.

Christian, A. J. (2016). Video stars: Marketing queer performance in networked television. In S. U. Noble & B. M. Tynes (Eds.), The intersection internet: Race, sex, class, and culture online (pp. 95–113). New York: Peter Lang.

Week 5 – Ethics in Social Media

Warfield K, Hoholuk J, Vincent B, et al. (2019) Pics, Dicks, Tits, and Tats: negotiating ethics working with images of bodies in social media research. New Media & Society Online First: 1–20.

Lipschultz, J. H. (2021). Law and Regulation. Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics (pp.223 –262 Week 6 – Automation and Social Media

Matamoros-Fernández, A. (2017). Platformed racism: the mediation and circulation of an Australian race-based controversy on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Information Communication & Society, 20(6), 930–946.

Cotter K. (2018) Playing the visibility game: How digital influencers and algorithms negotiate influence on Instagram. New Media & Society 21: 895–913.

Week 7 – Data Analytics

Lipschultz, J. H. (2018). Social Media Metrics and Analytics Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics (pp. 157-182). New York: Routledge.

McGlotten, S. (2016). Black Data. In E. P. Johnson (Ed.), No tea, no shade: New writings in black queer studies (pp. 262–286). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Week 8 – Cultural Intermediation for Social Media

Hutchinson, J. (2019). Digital First Personality: Automation and influence within evolving media ecologies. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Online First. doi:org/10.1177/1354856519858921

Duffy, B. E., & Pooley, J. (2019). Idols of Promotion: The Triumph of Self-Branding in an Age of Precarity. Journal of Communication, 69(2019), 26–48.

Week 9 - Social Influencers

Senft, T. M. (2013). Microcelebrity and the Branded Self. In J. B. John Hartley, Axel Bruns (Ed.), A Companion to New Media Dynamics (pp. 346-354). New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Abidin, C. (2016). “Aren’t These Just Young, Rich Women Doing Vain Things Online?”: Influencer Selfies as Subversive Frivolity. Social Media + Society, 2(23), 1-17.

Week 10 – Digital Agencies and Multichannel Networks

Lipschultz, J. H. (2021) Social Media in Journalism. Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics (pp. 67–94). New York: Routledge.

Lipschultz, J. H. (2021) Social Media in Public Relations. Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics (pp. 95–124). New York: Routledge.

Week 11 – Institutional Marketing and Communications for Social Media

Alhabash, S., & Ma, M. (2017). A Tale of Four Platforms: Motivations and Uses of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat Among College Students? Social Media + Society, Online First, 1-13.

Arli, D., & Dietrich, T. (2017). Can Social Media Campaigns Backfire? Exploring Consumers' Attitudes and Word-of-Mouth Toward Four Social Media Campaigns and Its Implications on Consumer-Campaign Identification. Journal of Promotion Management, Online First, 1-17.

Week 12 – Following Audiences: Social Media Futures

Lipschultz, J. H. (2021). Future of Social Media and Information Literacy. Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law and Ethics (pp. 307–336). New York: Routledge.

Noble, S. U. (2016). Traversing Technologies. The Scholar & Feminist Online, 13(3), n.p.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. demonstrate proficiency in the analysis, ideology and discourse of social media and its content strategies
LO2. demonstrate the basic skills in conceptual media design and production for social media
LO3. demonstrate a strong and interpersonal communication capacity by engaging in collegial and collaborative communication practice (group work)
LO4. design and produce a social media strategy
LO5. demonstrate a capacity to undertake project work through interdisciplinary study.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

We have significantly changed this unit since its last offering. The assessments have been aligned and weighted accordingly to assist students in the completion of their major Social Media Project, the readings have been updated to reflect the contemporary social media environment by drawing on Critical Digital Race Studies especially, and the weekly content has been updated from previous offerings. All assessment is individual and not as a project group.

Additional information

Participation Hours

1 hour online lecture content per week
2 hours of online seminar activity each week

Students will engage in 1 hour of online lecture content each week and will also participate in an additional two hours of online activities on Canvas and other social media platforms.

Students will have to provide responses to the weekly theory surrounding social media and communication by engaging with their peers through a discussion forum or practical task.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

OLES2107: Designing Influence Through Social Media

Semester 2, 2022 [Online] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect