Social Media and Network Science | COMP6250

Module overview

The second generation of web sites that came along in the mid 2000's included many of the social media sites that are now household names (YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, etc.) These sites (known at the time as Web 2.0) focused on content that was generated by users, rather than the site's owners, and thus shifted the balance of power on the Web from a technical few to the masses.

We now live in a world where social media is a powerful influence. In this course we will look at the science that is attempting to analyse its use, see how conceptualising social media as networks allows us to use techniques from network science as part of that analysis, and explore some of the personal and social issues that have arisen and the technologies that might address them.

This is a course that empowers you to meaningfully engage with the many issues that we see everyday in the news and media, and we hope that it will capture the excitement and concern that exists around Social Media. This is our Guttenberg, let's make it work for us.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Reflect on the broader social and personal implications of a technology
Critique existing software systems and infrastructures

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

Ways in which social network can influence developments in domains such as e-learning, enterprise and media
Critical consideration of the social and personal consequences of social media
Methodologies for social network analysis

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Identify and analyse social network characteristics

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Establish the potential of social networking technologies in specific contexts and domains
Communicate current societal challenges and anticipate emerging challenges
Articulate appropriate frameworks for the analysis of particular social networks

Syllabus

The topics covered will reflect the latest research and development activities in social networking.

Including:

History of Social Networking Technologies and the Web
Digital Literacy
Online social networks and business
Graph theory and social networks
Game theory and social networks
Network dynamics
Linked Data and the Social Semantic Web (FOAF, SKOS, etc.)
Privacy and identity in online social networks
Power and trust in online social networks

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures

Study time
Type	Hours
Wider reading or practice	10
Preparation for scheduled sessions	18
Lecture	36
Completion of assessment task	44
Revision	24
Follow-up work	18
Total study time	150

Assessment

Assessment strategy

This module will be assessed 60% by exam and 40% by coursework.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Continuous Assessment	40%
Final Assessment	60%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Set Task	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Set Task	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External