UW COM 481 For Writing Credit

COM 481 is not normally offered for writing credit. However, for students who receive permission to take writing credit for the course, the general approach I take is to keep assignments as much in line with the regular pace of the class, enhanced with more writing work and feedback. The objectives of the course are much the same, with an enhancement for writing skill building:

I will consider the course with a writing enhancement as a complete success if every writing credit student is able to do all of these things at the end of the quarter:


 * Write and speak fluently about the rules and norms of the Wikipedia community and demonstrate this fluency through successful contributions to Wikipedia.
 * Articulate, recall, compare, and give examples of key theories that seek to explain why some online communities grow and attract participants while others do not.
 * Demonstrate an ability to critically apply the theories from the course to the evaluation of a real online community of your choice.
 * Engage with the course material and compellingly present your own ideas and reflections in substantive writing and orally.
 * Develop your written ideas iteratively in response to feedback, refining your professional writing style in order to present evidence coherently and offer proposed courses of action persuasively.

Low-Stakes Writing

 * Weekly case-based writing
 * Short assignments

High-Stakes Writing

 * Advance draft / outline
 * Revise and resubmit final paper

March 28 (Thursday): Motivation (Part I), Yelp
Before class, turn in a written version of your responses to the questions in the reading note. Single sentence responses are okay (ungraded).

Apr 2 (Tuesday): Motivation (Part II), Twitch
Before class, turn in a written version of your responses to the questions in the reading note. Single sentence responses are okay (ungraded).

Apr 4 (Thursday): Commitment (Part I), Reddit
Before class, turn in a written version of your responses to the questions in the reading note. Single sentence responses are okay (ungraded).

Apr 9 (Tuesday): Commitment (Part II), Twitter/X, Mastodon, Bluesky
Before class, turn in a written version of your responses to the questions in the reading note. Single sentence responses are okay (ungraded).

Apr 11 (Thursday): Norms and Regulations (Part I), Reddit
For your next set of writing assignments, you'll be applying the theories we learn in class as well as the ones we've covered so far in a business setting (feedback).

Here's the scenario:

You are the newly hired online communities expert for the manufacturer of a new form of insulin pump, with a dual reporting line to end-user support and marketing. Your supervisory team wants you to get started with a series of preliminary reports to understand the current landscape, and they'd like you to start with Reddit. Get started by searching for insulin pump on Reddit and clicking into a few applicable communities. How do people in diabetes communities talk about insulin pumps? Do you notice any norms for medical device discussion groups? Include both descriptive and injunctive norms in your assessment.

I am thinking this will be on the order of 2-3 paragraphs; please send before class (feedback).

Apr 16 Norms and Regulations (Part II)
Here's the scenario:

You're doing so well as the online communities expert thinking about external communities, the insulin pump company wants your help with their internal customer forums as well. This sounds exciting, except they haven't set up much in the way of rules for the forums, and they're a mess! What kinds of problems do you think might happen in a 'no rules' customer forum for a medical device (i.e., what kind of a mess do you suppose you're walking into?)? What rules and processes would you recommend the manufacturer put in place (quickly!)?

I am thinking this will be on the order of 2-3 paragraphs; please send before class (feedback).

Apr 18: Break!
Your Wikipedia task 4 is due this week (peer review) -- no extra writing assignment is due.

I'll give you some personal/extended feedback on your article and your review work.

Apr 23-25 Newcomers and Explosive Growth, Anonymity and Identifiability
For this week, choose one of our two themes (newcomers / explosive growth, anonymity and identifiability) and then apply that set of theories to advice you'd give as an online communities expert to your employer -- how should you prepare for explosive growth in the number of forum participants, or what should their policies be about anonymity / identity on the forums, and why?

2-3 paragraphs, before class