CommunityData:Fall 2024: I 320S / I 320U: Topics in Social Informatics and User Experience Design: Online Communities

I 320S Fall Semester

Class Meets: 3:30pm-5:00pm Tuesday and Thursdays in PAR 306

Instructor: Dr. Nathan TeBlunthuis. Call me “Professor TeBlunthuis”, “Professor T”, or just “Professor”	Pronouns: he/him
Office: TBD	Office hours: TBD and by apointment
Email:nathante@ischool.utexas.edu	Phone:TBD

course description

university catalog course description

Online communities are important to our cultural, social, and economic lives and especially to how we find and share information. Yet they also threaten our well-being and may undermine critical social institutions as well as the integrity of public discourse. This course is an interdisciplinary inquiry that seeks to understand online communities. It covers the history of online communities from their origins in the pre-Internet to the rise of social media platforms and contemporary challenges and also the social, psychological, and human-computer interaction research that both explains the practical barriers to building an online community and motivates technical and organizational designs that aim to overcome them.

pre-requisites for the course

I 310S Introduction to Social Informatics

learning outcomes

This course is designed to enable students to achieve the following goals:

1. Understand and critically engage central theories, historical examples, and contemporary problems important to the growth and success of online communities.
2. Write and speak fluently about the rules and norms of the Wikipedia community and demonstrate this fluency through successful contributions to Wikipedia.
3. Acquire fluency in the Wikipedia community’s rules and norms and demonstrate this by making successful contributions to Wikipedia.
4. Generate original insights by extending the course material to analysis of a real online community of your choice.
5. Communicate the above through in-class discussion, compelling writing, and oral presentation.

history of this course

I have developed this syllabus for the programs in social informatics and user experience design at the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin. In doing so, I built upon a course I previously taught at the University of Washington department of Communication under the supervision of Dr. Benjamin Mako Hill. I have imported some improvements to this material created by Professor Hill and Kaylea Champion at the UW. I have also drawn on a similar course in Communication Studies at Northwestern University taught by Professor Aaron Shaw.

how will you learn?

teaching modality information

The course will be conducted in-person. There is no substitute for in-person attendance. See the policy on absences below.

The format for the course is a flipped classroom. Students are expected to prepare for each class by viewing video lectures and reading the required material. In-person sessions will support learning goals through discussion, analysis of cases, in-class assignments and activities, as well as workshop time for projects. Video lectures will be posted in canvas at least 48 hours before each class session. Near the end of the semester, lovely guests with expertise in researching, participating in, or building online communities will present during class sessions.

communication

The course Canvas site can be found at utexas.instructure.com. email me through Canvas. You are responsible for ensuring that the primary email address you have recorded with the university is the one you will check for course communications because that is the email address that Canvas uses.

I will send out weekly announcements via Canvas that will summarize our plans for the week, including assigned readings and deliverables and any changes to the course schedule. This syllabus is published as a wiki page at communitydata.science, where updates to the schedule will be reflected. This online syllabus is the canonical and official version to which students and instructors are accountable. Any changes will be announced via Canvas and reflected in the online syllabus at least 1 week in advance.

asking for help

The best way to ask for help about non-urgent questions is via Canvas messages. The TA and I will check canvas regularly throughout the week. You can also email me directly at nathante@utexas.edu or the TA at TKTKTK. If you email me outside of canvas please include “I 320S” in your email’s subject line.

There will also opportunities in each class session for questions about the syllabus and assignments. Students will have ample access to the instructor and TA for advice and feedback on the midterm and final projects.

My office hour weekly is on TKTK at TKTK and students are most welcome and encouraged to drop by for any reason. If this time does not work for you send me a message via Canvas or email and we can arrange a meeting.

The TA’s office hour is on TKTK at TKTK.

university policies and resources

For a list of important university policies and helpful resources that you may need as you engage with and navigate your courses and the university, see the University Policies and Resources Students Canvas page. The page includes the language of the University Honor Code, Title IX legal requirements for Texas employees, and information about how to receive support through the office of Disability & Access.

course requirements and grading

required materials

You do not need to purchase any materials for this class. All required readings for this course are available electronically via UT libraries or will be shared via Canvas.

That said, you may wish to obtain either via purchase or the library the following books which contain the bulk of the required readings. In the course schedule below, which lists the assigned readings and thier deadlines, I will refer to these books using the abbreviations “BSOC”, “SYBW”, “TMW”, and “WTR”.

	Citation	Photo	Abbreviation
1.	Kraut, Robert E, Paul Resnick. Building Successful Online Communities : Evidence-Based Social Design / Robert E. Kraut and Paul Resnick ; with Sara Kiesler [and Others]. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2011. Print	File:Images/bsoc cover.jpg	BSOC
2.	Bruckman AS. Should You Believe Wikipedia?: Online Communities and the Construction of Knowledge. Cambridge University Press; 2022.	File:Images/sybw cover.jpg	SYBW
3.	Driscoll, Kevin. The Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022.	File:Images/tmw cover.jpg	TMW
4.	Ford, Heather. Writing the Revolution: Wikipedia and the Survival of Facts in the Digial Age, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2022	File:Images/wtr cover.jpg	WTR

sharing of course material is prohibited

No materials used in this class, including, but not limited to, lecture hand-outs, videos, assessments (quizzes, exams, papers, projects, homework assignments), in-class materials, review sheets, and additional problem sets, may be shared online or with anyone outside of the class without my explicit, my written permission. Unauthorized sharing of materials may facilitate cheating. The University is aware of the sites used for sharing materials, and any materials found online that are associated with you, or any suspected unauthorized sharing of materials, will be reported to Student Conduct and Academic Integrity in the Office of the Dean of Students. These reports can result in initiation of the student conduct process and include charge(s) for academic misconduct, potentially resulting in sanctions, including a grade impact.

required devices

Access to a computer with an Internet connection is required for success in the course. A phone is not enough due to the complexity of Wikipedia’s user interfaces for editing. If you need help accessing a computer research, see getting help with technology below.

confidentiality of class recordings

I will not record in-person classes, but you may do so for your personal use. Class recordings are reserved only for students in this class for educational purposes and are protected under FERPA. The recordings should not be shared outside the class in any form. Violation of this restriction by a student could lead to Student Misconduct proceedings.

getting help with technology

Students needing help with technology in this course should contact the ITS Service Desk or [insert contact information for your local support unit(s) and for course materials, software, hardware, or other technology used in your course].

classroom expectations

Class attendence: Students are expected to attend every class in order to participate in discussions, case analyses, complete in-class assignments, and other activities that will advance our learning goals and class projects. That said, there will not be direct consequences for absences beyond lost points from case discussions and reading quizzes. See the policy under “absences” below.

Class participation is encouraged and is likely to increase your learning and ability to create excellent work in the interest of your grade, but is not formally graded outside of the reading quizzes and case analyses.

Behavior expectations: Students are accountable to the institutional rules governing student conduct and academic integrity. In addition to these policies, I expect you to adhere to the Wikimedia foundation’s univesal code of conduct in the context of your participation in Wikipedia as well as the codes of conduct that apply to any other online communities you may participate in as part of your course activities. In addition, we will collectively develop a code of conduct to which we will hold ourselves throughout the term.

content warning

Our classroom provides an open space for the critical and orderly exchange of ideas through discussion. Some readings and other content in this course will include topics and comments that some students may find offensive and/or traumatizing. I’ll aim to forewarn students about potentially disturbing content and I ask all students to help to create an atmosphere of mutual respect and sensitivity.

artificial intelligence

The creation of artificial intelligence tools for widespread use is an exciting innovation. These tools have both appropriate and inappropriate uses in classwork. The use of artificial intelligence tools (such as ChatGPT) in this class is permitted for students who wish to use them, provided the content generated by AI is properly cited. This means that if you use GPT to generate text as a part of drafting an assignment, and you include that text unedited, you should quote the text and cite GPT (include the model you used and the date you used it). If you substantially edit or paraphrase the generated text, you do not need to quote it, but you should still cite it. Also keep in mind that written material generated by AI may not achieve top marks according to the writing rubric (below) without considerable revision. This policy applied to any computer-generated content including images.

If you are considering the use of AI writing tools but are unsure if you are allowed or the extent to which they may be utilized appropriately, please ask me or the TA.

For more information about AI in education, see the Center for Teaching and Learning’s “5 Things to Know about ChatGPT” webpage that includes additional suggested syllabi statements for your consideration.]

assignments

The following table represents how you will demonstrate your learning and how we will assess the degree to which you have done so.

Assignments	Points Possible	Percent of Total Grade
Weekly reading quiz	120	%12
Weekly case discussion	120	%12
Wikipedia assignments	160	%16
Wikipedia project reflection essay	200	%20
Final project assignments	150	%15
Final project presentation	50	%5
Final project essay	250	%25

The course is designed around two major projects following a project-based learning approach. In the first project, the “Wikipedia project” students will embark on an adventure into perhaps the most complex, fascinating, and inspiring online community that exists. By making original contributions to Wikipedia on an article of their choice, students will gain hands-on, real-world experience navigating a complex digitally mediated organization. In a reflection essay, students will critically analyze Wikipedia in light of this experience and course material. A total of 36% of points available in the course are earned through the Wikipedia assignment.

The second project is an original investigation into a student’s chosen online community. Students will select an online community related to their personal interests or career goals, collect qualitative or quantitative data, and analyze this data in light of concepts and themes drawn from course material. The final product is a short essay that discusses the purpose of this community, analyzes how its design and organization service of this purpose as well as any problems it faces, makes design recommendations to improve the community, and reflects on how course material was (or was not) helpful in understanding or proposing improvements for the community. A total of 45% of available points are earned throught the final project.

The remaining 24% of points are earned through participation in weekly case analyses and reading quizzes. These points should easy to earn for students who keep up with the readings and video lectures and also attend class.

Additional details on these assignments are below.

late work and making up missed work

Late work will be accepted and penalized as follows: - All late work will immediately lose 10% of available points for that assignment. - Each day work is late beyond the first will incur an additional 5% penalty. - Work not submitted by December 15th will not be graded. - Deadline extensions are possible in exceptional circumstances (e.g., hospitalization, a death in the family). - Makeup assignments for missed work are not possible.

absences

Attendance in class is essential to achieving our learning goals. You are therefore expected to attend all class sessions. Class sessions will be participatory, discussion-based, and will support you in developing excellent class projects. That said, I will not award points directly for attendance nor will I take attendance. Instead, most class session will create opportunities for you to earn points for participation via case analysis discussions and reading quizzes.

equitable accommodation

I recognize that this class is not students’ only priority and that we all need flexibility sometimes. Therefore, I will drop each student’s worst reading quiz and the bottom 10% of case analyses questions. In addition, you may recover up to 16 points for reading quizzes or case analyses by completing up to two take-home make-up assignments in which you will write short answers to an additional case analysis.

religious holy days

By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence for a religious holy day as far in advance as possible of the date of observance. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

extra credit

There are no opportunities for extra credit in this class.

+/- grading policy

Final class grades will use +/- grades.

grade breaks

This couse uses the default UT Austin grade scale. The chart below shows the number of points required to earn each letter grade.

Grade cutoffs

Grade	Cutoff	Points Required
A	94%	940
A-	90%	900
B+	87%	870
B	84%	840
B-	80%	800
C+	77%	770
C	74%	740
C-	70%	700
D+	67%	670
D	64%	640
D-	60%	600
F	<60%	—

academic integrity expectations

Students who violate University rules on academic misconduct are subject to the student conduct process. A student found responsible for academic misconduct may be assigned both a status sanction and a grade impact for the course. The grade impact could range from a zero on the assignment in question up to a failing grade in the course. A status sanction can include a written warning, probation, deferred suspension or dismissal from the University. To learn more about academic integrity standards, tips for avoiding a potential academic misconduct violation, and the overall conduct process, please visit the Student Conduct and Academic Integrity website.

diversity and inclusion

I am committed to advancing diversity and inclusion, in the broadest sense, through my teaching and other professional activities because I believe this leads to better knowledge and stronger educations. In my teaching, I therefore strive to welcome diverse intellectual perspectives and include learners from a wide range of personal backgrounds and social identities. This means that I have intended to select content that is respectful of diversity long lines of gender, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, religion, and culture. This also means acknowledging and accounting for differences in the sorts of experiences and advantage that learners bring into the course. One way I aim to accomodate such differences is through creating ample opportunities for students to obtain support in readings and assignments during class, office hours, and email.

In addition, in the interest of creating an inclusive space, I encourage you to:

• Please inform me if you prefer that I refer to you using different names or pronouns than those that appear in your official records.
• If I or others use the wrong names or pronouns, please correct us or let me know.
• If experiences outside of class are negatively impacting your performance in the class. Please communicate this to me and/or your academic advisor. The university’s Counseling and Mental Health Center is available to assist students in “coping effectively with aspects of personal, socioal, and psychological well-being and growth, so they may realize their full academic potential.”
• Respect the dignitiy of others and of their cultures.
• Discuss concerns related to injustice, inequity, and inclusivity that may pertain to this class, institution, or the broader society with openness and honesty. Listen generously to the same.

Please contact me or the TA right away if you feel that the class has undermines these values or compromises the dignity of a member of the class in any way.

course outline

All instructions, assignments, readings, rubrics and essential information will be on the Canvas website. Check Canvas regularly. Changes to the schedule may be made at my discretion if circumstances require. I will announce any such changes in class and will also communicate them via announcements. I will send a weekly “reading note” to you via canvas to introduce the week’s content and any syllabus changes. It is your responsibility to note these changes when announced, and I will do my best to ensure that you are notified of changes with as much advance notice as possible. The following table summarizes the planned course schedule, and details on the readings and assignments follow in the schedule below. Note that all assignments are due by 11:59 PM Central Time on Fridays unless specified otherwise.

Week	Date	Day	Class Topic	Out of Class Activities	Assignments Due
1.	8/27	Tue	Introduction to the course and online communities	Video lecture 1 (link tk)
1.	8/29	Thur	Motivation I	Complete setup checklist, video lecture 2, and week 1 readings	Wikipedia assignent 1 Case: Yelp
2.	9/3	Tue	Motivation II	Video lecture 3; readings for case	Reading Quiz
2.	9/5	Thur	Commitment I	Video lecture 4; week 2 assigned reading	Wikipedia assignent 2 Case: Facebook & Reddit
3.	9/10	Tue	Commitment II	Video lecture 5; prepare for case	Reading Quiz
3.	9/12	Thur	Norms and Regulation I, Codes of Conduct and Toxicity	Video lecture 6; week 3 assigned reading	Wikipedia assignent 3
4.	9/17	Tue	Norms and Regulation II, Spammers, Trolls, and Newcomers	Video lecture 7; prepare for case	Reading Quiz
4.	9/19	Thur	Creating information goods I, Wikipedia	Video lecture 8; week 4 assigned reading	Wikipedia assignent 4 Case: Codes of conduct
5.	9/24	Tue	Creating information goods II, Open source software	Video lecture 9; prepare for case	Reading Quiz
5.	9/26	Thur	Creating information goods III, Quality	Video lecture 10; week 5 assigned reading	Wikipedia assignent 5 Case:TKTKTK
6.	10/1	Tue	Newcomers I	Video lecture 11; week 6 assigned reading	Reading Quiz
6.	10/3	Thur	Newcomers II	Video lecture 12; prepare for case	Case:Explosive growth and going viral
7.	10/8	Tue	Wikipedia Assignment Debrief I	Complete wikipedia assignments and reflection essay	Wikipedia contributions and reflection essay
7.	10/10	Thur	Wikipedia Assignment Debrief II	Prepare for case case	Case:Designing for Wikipedia newcomers
8.	10/15	Tue	Creating New Communities I	Video lecture 13; week 8 assigned reading;	Reading Quiz
8.	10/17	Thur	Creating New Communities II	Video lecture 14; prepare for case; Community identification	Case:StackExchange and Reddit
9.	10/22	Tue	Identity and Anonymity I	Video lecture 15; week 9 assigned reading	Reading Quiz
9.	10/24	Thur	Identity and Anonymity II	Video lecture 16; prepare for case	Case:TKTKTK
10.	10/29	Tue	Fall break. No class.	Enjoy your break!
10.	10/31	Thurs	Fall break. No class.	Enjoy your break!
11.	11/5	Tue	Origins and history of online communities I	Video lecture 17; week 11 assigned reading; Final project proposal	Reading Quiz
11.	11/7	Thur	Origins and history of online communities II	Video lecture 18; prepare for case	Case: TKTKTK
12.	11/12	Tue	Artificial Intelligence I	Video lecture 19; week 12 assigned reading	Reading Quiz
12.	11/14	Thur	Artificial Intelligence II	Video lecture 20; prepare for case	Case: Wikipedia and AI
13.	11/19	Tue	Ecosystems of online communities	Week 13 assigned reading	Reading Quiz
13.	11/21	Thur	Guest lecture TBD	Prepare for case	Case: TKTKTK
14.	11/26	Tue	Thanksgiving. No class.	Enjoy the Holiday!
14.	11/28	Thur	Thanksgiving. No class.	Enjoy the Holiday!
15.	12/3	Tue	Guest lecture TBD
15.	12/5	Thur	Guest lecture TBD
16.	12/10	Tue	Study day, No class
16	12/12	Thur	Finals week. No class
16.	12/13	Fri	Final project presentations	CST	Final paper due at 11:59pm

The class is roughly divided into 3 phases. The first phase, comprised of weeks 1-7 of the semester will have the greatest workload in terms of reading material and assignments. In this part we will ask fundamental questions about how online communities work: What motivates sustained participation in an online space? How are can online spaces be made orderly and safe for participants? How do online communities create value to their participants and the public through high-quality information goods as exemplified by open source software and encyclopedias such as Wikipedia?

In this initial period students will embark on their adventures into Wikipedia with help from the Wikieducation foundation. The first main project is to complete the Wikieducation training, make substantive contributions to Wikipedia, and to write a short essay reflecting on the experience and critically analyzing Wikipedia in terms of the course material covered through this point.

The second phase of the course roughly corresponds to weeks 8-11. The workload will lighten during this period as we conclude studing ideas about how to build successful online communities in weeks 8-9. Week 10 is fall break. In week 11 we will take a deep dive into the early history of online communities and then in week 12 we will explore how online communities use technologies under the “artificial intelligence” and anticipate how advances in such technologies may shape online communities in the near future. In this phase students will plan and begin work on final projects.

In the final phase of the course we will no longer follow a “flipped classroom format”. Students are expected to put considerable effort into their final projects during this phase, and so the work required to prepare for class will correspondingly decrease. Class sessions during this phase will cover special topics by myself or guest speakers.

Reading Quizzes

In about half of our class sections, as indicated in the schedule, students will receive a reading quiz via Canvas at the beginning of class. The reading quiz will consist of a small number of multiple-choice questions, which will be graded out of 15 points. The quiz will start when class starts and end 5 minutes later. The quizzes are designed to check that students have grasped the most important ideas from the last week’s reading, not to trick, puzzle, or stump with trivia. Students who pay reasonable attention to the reading and come to class should easily earn these points.

Case analysis discussions

In the other have of class sessions where we do not have a quiz, we will have a discussion to analyze a case. Analyzing these cases develops our skills in applying the course material to practical real-world decisions that actors in real-world situations face. This style of case-based assessement is common in business schools, but less common in other fields.

In a case analysis discussion, students prepare by studying readings on an examle—perhaps up to 35 pages—about a community or organization and a challenging decision it faces. Pay close attention to readings marked as “[Case]” in the syllabus in order to prepare for the case. I will not cover case material in class or lecture. We will dive right into the case discussion at the beginning of class and I expect you to be prepared to participate in a critical discusion.

Cold calling

During the case analysis portion of class, I will lead a structured discussion in which we will systematically break down the problem situation and construct recommendations for the actors using the socratic method. Some students are always more open and confident in speaking during open-ended class discussions than others. Therefore, in the interest of fairness, I will use a randomized system for choosing which student to call on when I ask these questions. This system is designed to ensure that every student is called on about the same number of times over the semester, and to avoid calling on the same student too frequently.

Case analysis assement

When a student is called upon, I will note the quality of their answer in terms of engagement, preparedness, and fluency each on a 4 point scale, for a total of 12 points each time a student is called upon. An engaged answer shows that the student has been attentive to the current discussion. Preparedness demonstrates that a student has done the reading to prepare for the case discussion. Fluency reflects command over the concepts and language from the course material overall.

Each student will be called on approximately, but not exactly the same number of times. Therefore, to make grading fair, I will follow the following procedure to award 120 points for case discussions: I will drop the bottom 10% of the questions, average the remaining scores, and then multiply by 100. I will be quite generous in these assessments. Students who keep up with the course material, prepare for the cases, and are present in class when they are called on should have little difficulty earning near-perfect scores for the case analyses.

Schedule

Tuesday, August 27th

Welcome to class

Goals for the day: - Introduce ourselves - Orientation to the course, learning goals, plan for the quarter - Q&A - Work through the tech setup checklist

Lectures: (watch before class)

• Video lecture 1
• Slides

Required Reading - [SYBW] Introduction and Chapter 1, pp. 1-31

Optional Readings

• BSOC Chapter 1, pp. 1-20
• Bruckman, Amy. 2006. A new perspective on ‘community’ and its implications for computer-mediated communication systems. In Extended Abstracts of the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 616-621.

Thursday, August 29th

Motivation I

Required Task: Complete the class setup checklist. This will likely take most of you 30-90 minutes so please plan in advance.

As with most other assignments, you must complete this task by 11:59pm Seattle time.

Goals for the day

• Understand the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and its significance to designign and building online communities.

Assigned Reading

• BSOC, Chapter 2, pg 21-69 [Available free online]
• [Case] Parikh, Anish A., Carl Behnke, Doug Nelson, Mihaela Vorvoreanu, and Barbara Almanza. 2015. “A Qualitative Assessment of Yelp.Com Users’ Motivations to Submit and Read Restaurant Reviews.” Journal of Culinary Science & Technology 13 (1): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/15428052.2014.952474. [Available in Canvas]
• [Case] Stone, Madeline. 2014. “Elite Yelpers Hold Immense Power, and They Get Treated like Kings by Bars and Restaurants Trying to Curry Favor.” Business Insider. August 22, 2014. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-become-yelp-elite-2014-8. [Available free online]
• [Case] Ha, Anthony. 2017. “Yelp Launches New Feature for Asking and Answering Questions about Any Business.” TechCrunch (blog). February 14, 2017. http://social.techcrunch.com/2017/02/14/yelp-q-and-a/. [Available free online]

Optional Reading - [SYBW], Chapter 2, pg 32-36

Lectures: (watch before class)

Friday, August 30th

Assignment Due Wikipedia assignment 1

Week 2

Tuesday, September 3rd

Motivation II

Required Reading

• Nathan TeBlunthuis, Charles Kiene, Isabella Brown, Laura (Alia) Levi, Nicole McGinnis, and Benjamin Mako Hill. 2022. No Community Can Do Everything: Why People Participate in Similar Online Communities. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 6, CSCW1, Article 61 (April 2022), 25 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3512908
• Aaron Shaw, Eszter Hargittai, The Pipeline of Online Participation Inequalities: The Case of Wikipedia Editing, Journal of Communication, Volume 68, Issue 1, February 2018, Pages 143–168, https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqx003

Optional Reading

important safety information

carrying of handguns on campus

Students in this class should be aware of the following university policies related to Texas’ Open Carry Law:

• Students in this class who hold a license to carry are asked to review the university policy regarding campus carry.
• Individuals who hold a license to carry are eligible to carry a concealed handgun on campus, including in most outdoor areas, buildings and spaces that are accessible to the public, and in classrooms.
• It is the responsibility of concealed-carry license holders to carry their handguns on or about their person at all times while on campus. Open carry is NOT permitted, meaning that a license holder may not carry a partially or wholly visible handgun on campus premises or on any university driveway, street, sidewalk or walkway, parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area.