Publish, Filter, Collaborate!

Ok, so for this week we discussed Shirky chapters 4-7. By just looking at the titles, you can guess at what is being discussed in the chapters. The great thing about this book is the ease at which the information can be understood. However, one never knows who understands and who does not. So, we are going to do an experiment and put into action what Shirky describes. This will accomplish three goals:

1) Shirky exemplifies collective action and online collaboration as a tool of our current era. Thus, we should practice this as much as possible in this class.

2) You can help your fellow classmates understand topics that are not fully understand, Publish then Filter.

3) By posting and contributing to the online dialogue you can build your digital portfolio for the class.

This is a trial run. The format can change and be improved. Feel free to offer suggestions that will help you and your classmates learn more effectively and help us all communicate the ideas of Sociology more effectively.

The following is an outline of the class discussion today. I would like you to read through it and make additions to it. You then can fill in sections of the outline, ask or answer questions, and write ideas that come to you from class and/or readings.

Outline:

Review Conflict Theory

Assumptions

Implications

Examples:

Sports Dynasties: Yankees

The Commons

Shirky

Chapter 4: Publish then Filter

Social tools are only interesting once they get boring

What if our class knew what our class knows?

Chapter 5: Motivation and Collaborative Production

Unmanaged division of labor

Power law distribution

Chapter 6: Collective Action and Institutional Challenges

Ordinary online tools become useful for challenging institutions

2002 example of priest pedophiles

Chapter 7: Faster and Faster

Flash Mobs - ability to coordinate through online means

Groups can organize in a matter of hours, days and weeks

Organization is happening faster and faster

Key Terms

Conflict Theory

Unmanaged division of labor

Power law distribution

Collective action

Flash mobs

Example Questions

How has collective action changed with the implentation of online social tools?

What are the impacts of collective action on large institutions?

Why does publishing then filtering lend itself to collaborative production much more in online environments?

Mid-Term Review Session Information

We have our second review session:

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

in CSC 121B

from 7:10-9:00 pm

The entrance for lecture hall CSC 121 B is located in the connector building between CSC and Copeland Hall (directly across the street from Bentley Hall and Bentley Annex).

Also, please feel free to post topics or questions that you would like to be covered during the review session in the comments section of this blog post. This will help us structure the review session in a way that addresses any questions you may have.

Notes for January 28, 2010

In class today we talked about the principal-agent model aka "the principal-agent problem" where a principal owns the resources but needs something done. The principal must then trust the expertise of the agent to get the job done. However, granting authority to the agent to do the work for the principal puts him at risk.

This model mirrors the relationship between citizens of United States and the government. The people of the United States are shareholders in this "organization" where they ultimately put their trust in the government. Subsequently, by putting our trust in the expertise of the government we, as a nation, put ourselves at risk. To combat these risks, the government creates institutions designed to prevent any significant threats.

POLL!

Here are the videos you can vote on this week. We had a lot of really good suggestions this time! Please vote for the video you would like to see in the poll in the right task bar. The poll will be open until Thursday at midnight.

Video 1



Video 2



Video 3



Video 4



Video 5

Notes for Tuesday January 26, 2010

Today we discussed the idea of the state. There are three characteristics that are necessary in the formation of the state.
1. Organization of political processes within a society.
2. Provide direction and regulation of social life.
3. Monopoly over the use of coercion and force.
This monopoly on force is the most important aspect of the state.

Notes for January 25, 2009

Today in class we discussed conflict theory. At the core of this is the idea of the 3 basic assumptions presented in class.

1. Society consists of groups
2. The groups have competing interests.
3. These groups have different types and amounts of resources

When groups both desire some resource, the group can use the resources they currently possess to aid in acquiring more resources. Subsequently, the more resources available to the group when pursuing some interest increases the likelihood of acquiring more resources.

Clip of the Day Suggestions!

You know the drill at this point.

Please provide links to possibilities for the Clips of the Day for this week. As soon as we have enough suggestions, I will create another post with 5 possibilities, and a new poll.

If you have suggested a video before (either after the 5 video choices were selected or the video simply wasn't selected that time), feel free to post it again.

TouchGraph Questions

Use the comments of this thread to suggest questions for writing assignment related to touchgraph.

Friendship networks on Facebook can reveal how our social relationships have been structured. There are many potentially interesting things that we can observe about those networks. Lets consider the number of clusters that we find. Clusters identified by the application are the sets of colored nodes that tend to have more connections to each other than to other nodes in the graph. Where do these clusters come from? Often they appear because we have been involved in organizations that build overlapping ties within the group but fewer ties outside of it.

Given all the ideas raised in class and in the books, what sorts of questions should we ask about what is happening in these networks? Differences between different peoples graphs or even in your own graph at different times might raise interesting issues.

Shirky, Chapter 3

Today, the class discussed their individual networks by looking at Facebook representations of networks with one another. The creation of their network came from Touchgraph Photos, an application for Facebook discussed in a previous post.

The Shirky chapter for this week covers the effect of social events on society. For example: Shirky notes that the creation of the printing press created a social event that affected the lives of all people. The Printing Press removed the importance of the scribe and created a society of amateur readers and writers. The profession of the scribe and reading and writing became unnecessary. The same is true of this current era. Online media and tools have created an event that had an effect on all of society. Journalists are becoming obsolete as blogging becomes more and more prevalent. News is no longer defined and owned by corporations and their representative journalists.

Of course, there are many more examples of the spread of "amateur" use of things that once were professionalized. Used car salesman and pawnshops are becoming less important as well with the increased use of online selling sites like eBay and Craig's List. What are some other ways that Shirky's social events can be seen taking place online? Or, how online society is affecting offline society?

Notes for Thursday, January 21, 2010

Today in class we talked about groups and why we join them, why we leave them, and why we choose to stay. However, an individual's joining behavior is also shaped by their pre-existing relationships with group members. Individual's are more likely to join group and remain active in the group if they already have relationships with other members in the group.

We also discussed the commitment on has to a group depends on their commitment to identity. Strong ties make identity important. An example would be the members associated with Freedom Summer.


Assignment



If you won't be here tomorrow, e-mail it to me, Eric - elockmer@gmail.com

Notes for Tuesday January 19, 2010

A population is a set of units defined by time, space, and membership. We measure populations for three reasons: to generate new questions, to answer existing questions, and to address social policy.

Sociologists conduct research by studying samples of a population. A sample is a selection of a subset of units from a population.

A sample is selected via a sampling frame. There are many different strategies for collecting samples including: arbitrary, convenience, self selected, random sample, and stratified random sample.

Selections for the Clips of the Day Poll

Please vote for the videos you would like to see as the Clips of the Day next Thursday and Friday at the poll to the right. The top two videos will be selected to be shown next week.

Video 1



Video 2



Video 3



Video 4



Video 5

Shirky, Chapter 2

"More is different." is a topic we discussed in class today and is mentioned in the Shirky chapter for this week. The basic principle is that the more people that are together the more variety that will come out of it and the more difficult decisions and actions will become.

Shirky illustrates this idea with several examples about the development of organizational structure and group processes at an institutional level. Organizational costs have dropped dramatically with the development of Flickr, Facebook, and other sharing and collaborative tools. "The collapse of transaction costs (meaning costs to do business such as overhead and management) makes it easier for people to get together--so much easier, in fact, that it is changing the world. The lowering of these costs is the driving force underneath the current revolution and the common element to everything in this book" (Shirky 2008, pp. 48) This would be a good chapter to read. :)

Notes for Thursday, January 14, 2010

In class today, we talked about micro-sociological theories and the four modes of individual action.

The socialization approach argues contends that individuals learn how to behave by interacting with others and individual behavior is determined by social rules.

The rational action approach argues that individuals act instrumentally or act towards different ends. They select the best option, according to their own values, to benefit their self interests.

The symbolic interactionist approach argues that individuals are oriented towards meaning which arises through interaction. Individuals care about the capacity to do well with regard to a societal based standard.

Finally, the exchange theory approach argues that social action results from the negotiated exchange between interested parties.

Notes for Tuesday January 12, 2009

Symbol: a representation, a meaningful thing, action or relation; social importance and meanings arise through interpretation. Some examples of symbols are letters, words, images, signs, and people.

Norms are socially determined rules that govern behavior of particular types of people in particular situations. For instance, at a fancy formal diner, children should be seen, and should speak when spoken to, but should not interrupt the conversation among the adults. Norms can be divided into two categories: pro-scriptive norms and pre-scriptive norms.

Pro-scriptive: actions that you should not perform.

Pre-scriptive: actions that are not just acceptable, but are things you 'ought' to do.

Roles: coherent set of norms associated with a particular social position.

Clips of the Day for Next Thursday & Friday!

In the comments section, please leave suggestions--new videos or videos that were not selected last time--for the Clips of the Day. Once there are enough videos posted, there will be another voting poll.

Monday, January 11th Notes

Today, we discussed social and cultural concepts.

Culture represents the meaning of "stuff"- including music, language, humor

Structure represents the distribution of "stuff" - including money/income, skills, education

The social structure is a persistent pattern in the distribution of relationships, attributes, or holdings in a population. Within any given society, there are networks, and the ties affiliated with these networks- strong or weak ties-have the ability to influence our decisions. For example, in class we discussed students' decisions to attend OU. The more strong, positive ties an individual has to OhioU, the more likely that student is to enroll here.

Shirky, Chapter 1

Shirky describes how the story of a lost cell phone in a taxi can be used to explain the changing scope of how society and collective action are changing. Ivanna lost her phone on a taxi and Sasha ended up getting it. Ivanna attempted to get the phone back, but she was unable to convince Sasha to return her phone. The pattern of events in which the phone was returned is a very interesting story. You'll have to read the chapter to know exactly what they are. However, the use of online community and the ease of group formation over the past several years has created an environment highly conducive to forming groups and acheiving desired social outcomes. Ivanna was able to use the help of friends and millions of online supporters to get the phone back from Sasha. The lost phone was a rather small thing, but it demonstrates the power of online culture and the power groups have when they are acting collectively together.

We also spent time in class discussing a review for the quiz:

Sociological imagination Descriptive research Research process Operationalization Primary group Group Secondary group Ethnography

Reminders:

1. Don't forget to do the quiz this weekend, it's on blackboard.

2. Vote for the clip of the day for Tuesday.

Vote for Tuesday's Clip of the Day

Please vote for which video selection you would like to see as the Clip of the Day on Tuesday in the poll in the right toolbar. Voting will end Sunday night at midnight.


Video 1
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Video 2
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Video 3
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Video 4
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Video 5
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Clay Shirky Resources

Clay Shirky is a prolific public speaker, and his book "Here Comes Everybody" has received a great deal of attention. Here are some resources to help you prepare for class.

1. Amazon lets you preview the first 6 pages of the book. Just click look inside.
2. Wikipedia has a pretty good summary of the book.
3. He has a talk at TED.
4. And a talk on the book on YouTube.
5. And a talk from Web 2.0 Expo SF 2008.

Types of Research

Today, we talked about the different types of research. In explanatory research, we connect our hypotheses and expectations to what we actually observed. In descriptive research, we our simply observing patterns. Finally, in exploratory research, we observe then inquire about what we observed.

Similarly, the data for your research can be collected through a variety of methods, including:

Ethnographic: participant observation, interviewing
Survey: asking questions to a sample of a population
Experiment: intervening and changing variables
Archival: examining patterns left behind

Sociology Notes for January 5th, 2010

Sociology is a scientific study of patterns and processes of human social relationship. In order for something to be scientific the researcher must be systematic and show the steps they made. The patterns that sociologists are interested in come from how people.

Groups and Social Networks
Social networks: patterns of social relationships between social units.
Solidarity: density and emotional intensity of attachment in a group.
Conflict: unfriendly interaction between groups.

Primary Groups: Groups that you are born into, example: family.
Secondary Groups: Groups that individuals choose to join, example: sports team.

This is an image of the scientific process. A researcher must go through this process for any given study that they wish to conduct. Repeating this process over and over again is what makes it scientific.

Thursday's Clip of the Day

Please post a link for any videos you would like to be considered for this Thursday's (January 7th) Clip of the Day in the comments section of this post.

Remember to use your Gmail account name anytime you post comments.

Baby Name Wizard In-Class Example

In class today, we used the baby name wizard as an in-class example of social outcomes. We were able to compare the popularity of a particular name at specific moments in time to illustrate collective trends over time periods.

The Baby Name Wizard can be found here.

Sociological Imagination Diagram

This diagram is a representation of the Sociological Imagination. This concept allows us to see how the interactions between social context, actors within a social context, and social action lead to social outcomes.

Welcome to Soc 101 Notes, Comments, etc.

Keep up to date with content from the Soc Intro course via posts and comments here. For instance, here is a link to an Etherpad discussion from Day 1.

http://etherpad.com/js3y8yQGkG

Note that we have included the link to the Day1 etherpad here just to make sure we get folks started. However, the place to find the daily Etherpad links is the syllabus. Here is a link to Day 1 of the Syllabus. Check the syllabus in the future for the etherpad links.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Htw3/Intro_to_Sociology#Week_1_January_4th_-_January_7th

Best,

The Soc 101 Posse