Editing Interpersonal Media (Winter 2019) (section)

=== Component 1: The Theory and Practice of Online Communities ===

[[Image:Kraut_and_resnick-bsoc.jpg|right]]

In the first half of the class (Weeks 1-6), the readings will look to theories of interpersonal media by focusing on how and why online communities succeed and fail and how and why they grow or shrink. In each of the weeks in this period, we will read from the book we'll be using as a textbook: Kraut et al.'s '''Building Successful Online Communities''' (BSOC). Here is the citation:

:''Kraut, Robert E., and Paul Resnick. Building Successful Online Communities: Evidence-Based Social Design. The MIT Press, 2012.''

[https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/building-successful-online-communities MIT Press] sells the book for $31 as a paperback. [http://www.amazon.com/Building-Successful-Online-Communities-Evidence-Based/dp/0262016575/ Amazon] has a limited number of hardcover copies available, starting at $36 as of December 3rd 2018. They also have paperbacks starting at $24 and the Kindle version is $17. Wikipedia has [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780262016575 this long list of possible book sources].

More or less following the organizations of BSOC, we will focus on these key drivers of participation in online communities:

* ''Motivation'': How do online communities incentivize participation?
* ''Commitment'': How do online communities build relationships to keep individuals involved?
* ''Rules and Governance'': How do online communities create norms, rules, and governance?
* ''Newcomers'': How do online communities attract — or fail to attract — newcomers?
* ''Creation'': How should one start a new online community?

In order to ground the theoretical readings during the first half of the quarter, there will be weekly assignments that provide a structured opportunity to learn about and become involved in [https://en.wikipedia.org/ Wikipedia].

You should keep in mind that the bulk of the reading in the course — and most of the most difficult material — will be front-loaded in this first five week period. The goal is to make sure that you have all the tools you'll need by Week 7 so that you can use this material to focus on your projects.