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Social Media and Society

Module description

This module will assess and explore social and political implications of the proliferation of social and mobile media. You will consider how people from different backgrounds engage with social and mobile media in different contexts as well as the structure of social media. There are no pre-requisites or co-requisites for this module, and no specialist knowledge, skills, or experience are required to take it.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to provide you with a critical understanding of and the ability to critically analyse and research social and political consequences of social media. The module will introduce key theories, concepts and approaches in the field and discuss them in relation to specific contexts, including conflict, democracy, nationalism, migration, and social change. You will be asked to analyse and assess current pressing issues in the world associated with the proliferation of social media by drawing on existing evidence / empirical studies and theories. The module will also go beyond Western-centric contexts.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge and critical understanding of key approaches, theories, concepts and relevant scholarly literature in the field of social media and society
• 2. Develop a basic understanding of user experience (UX) research

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Apply theories and concepts in the field to assess and analyse “real world” issues – social phenomena and current affairs in media industries, communications, and politics
• 4. Exercise sound judgement in researching, collecting, and interpreting information from a range of appropriate primary and secondary sources

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Conduct an independent literature search (beyond the reading list)
• 6. Effectively develop and structure an argument backed up with evidence

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content of the module may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following themes: 

• Social media affordances
• Social media and nationalism
• Social media and migration
• Social media and conflict
• Social media for social change

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Castells, M. (2009). Communication Power. New York, NY: Oxford University Press
• Madianou, M. and Miller, D. (2012). Migration and New Media: Transnational Families and Polymedia. London: Routledge.
• Miller, D. and Slater, D. (2000). The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach. London: Routledge.
• Miller, D., Costa, E., Haynes, N., McDonald, T., Nicolescu, R., Sinanan, J., Spyer, J., Venkatraman, S., and Wang, Z. (2016). How the World Changed Social Media. London: UCL Press.
• Papacharissi, Z. (2011). A Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites. New York, NY and London, UK: Routledge.
• Papacharissi, Z. (2021). After Democracy Imagining Our Political Future. Yale University Press.

Key words search

Social media, society, politics, culture, communication