NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF CONTINUING AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
DESIGN, DIGITAL ARTS, AND FILM

Instructor: Heath Row                           email: kalel@well.com

Enter the Blogosphere: The Politics, Profits, and Perils of Blogs
X34.9157001

http://blogospherism.blogspot.com

TERMS: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

This work is subject to change.

REQUIRED BOOKS
1.    "Blog!: How the Newest Media Revolution Is Changing Politics, Business, and Culture," David Kline and Dan Burstein, CDS Books, ISBN: 1-59315-141-1
2.    "We've Got Blog: How Weblogs Are Changing Our Culture," ed. John Rodzvilla and the Editors of Perseus Publishing, Perseus Publishing, ISBN: 0-7382-0741-1

These books should be available for purchase at local bookstores or via Amazon.com. The core readings for each week will largely come from these texts. Additional readings will largely be freely available on the Web.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Blogs have literally changed the face of news, delivering on the promise of the democratized media that emerged in the 1990s dotcom boom. Blogs provide an excellent opportunity for young writers and journalists to express themselves independently, but the blogosphere can be an insular and sometimes mystifying universe. This course offers an insider's look at the world of blogs -- including their history, how to start your own, and how to make money from it -- and students examine critical journalistic ethics issues unique to the world of blogs. Receive extensive instruction in how to create and market your own blog, which will be critiqued by the instructor and class. Students will create their own blogs (if they don't already have one) and begin writing for them. Blogs will be critiqued by the instructor and class.

•    An overview of the history of blogs
•    Guest lectures from leading bloggers
•    Hands on instructions and tips about how start, market and make money your own blog
•    Create your own blog
•    Extensive instruction on blog style and format
•    Blogging ethics and standards
•    Blogs go mainstream. How the mainstream news media's embrace of blogs is changing the way news is disseminated

COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the completion of the course, the student will have a fully functioning personal or professional blog. The student will also have a detailed understanding of the history of blogging and how the practice fits into Web publishing and journalism in general. Additionally, the student will have a better sense of some of the key topics and themes that resonate and impact with bloggers and blog readers, including but not limited to blogs' overlap with social networking, what elements and events helped catapult blogs into the mainstream, the ins and outs of blogging professionally (for work and at work),  related online tools, and how blogs fit into the broader popular culture.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS
  1. "The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog," Rebecca Blood, Perseus Publishing, ISBN: 0-7382-0756-X
  2. "Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World," Hugh Hewitt, Nelson Books, ISBN: 0-7852-1187-X
  3. "No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog," Margaret Mason, Peachpit, ISBN: 0-321-44972-X
  4. "We Blog: Publishing Online with Weblogs," Paul Bausch, Matthew Haughey, and Meg Hourihan, Wiley, ISBN: 0-7645-4962-6
  5. "Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them," Bob Walsh, Apress, ISBN: 1-59059-691-9
  6. "Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers," Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, Wiley, ISBN: 0-471-74719-X
  7. "Publish & Prosper: Blogging for Your Business," DL Byron and Steve Broback, New Riders, ISBN: 0-321-39538-7

These books, while not required reading, might be referred to over the course of the class. They should be available for purchase at local bookstores or via Amazon.com. I especially recommend the first five texts, with special dispensation granted to the first book.

ASSIGNMENTS
•    Homework will be provided during class
•    Readings
•    Blog analyses
•    Blog writing exercises
•    Quizzes will be administered in class
•    Not every class
•    Details below
•    Midterm will be a take-home essay assignment
•    Details below
•    Final will be a group critique of the student's blog
•    Details below

GRADING POLICY
  1. Quizzes -            20%
  2. Midterm -            30%
  3. Final -                35%
  4. In-class participation -    15%

•    Students will be given a series of T/F and multiple choice quizzes based on class reading and current events related to blogs.
•    Students will be given a 10-page midterm essay assignment on a blog-related topic of the student's choosing. Essays will be read and commented on by the other students, and the midterm will be assessed by the instructor. The topic should be identified and approved by week 4 of the course. The essay should submitted by week 6 of the course. Final revisions based on feedback can be submitted as late as week 9.
•    Students will be given a final exam in the form of a group critique of a blog developed and maintained over the course of the class. The blog can be on a topic -- or topics -- of the student's choosing. Any topic is fair game. Blogs will be read and commented on by other students, and the final will be assessed by the instructor.

OVERVIEW OF SESSIONS

1.    INTRODUCTION TO BLOGS AND BLOGGING (Feb. 13, 2008)
•    What are blogs?
•    Why do people blog? Who are they?
•    The history of blogging and notable precedents
•    Anatomy of a blog
•    Starting your own blog

CORE READINGS
•    "Blog!" -- Introduction (pp. xi-xxvi); "I Blog, Therefore I Am" (pp. 237-252)
•    "We've Got Blog" -- Part One (pp. 1-40)

ADDITIONAL READINGS
•    "Minifesto for a New Age," http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/snackminifesto.html
•    "The Pro-Am Revolution," http://www.demos.co.uk/files/proamrevolutionfinal.pdf
•    Wikipedia: Blog, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
•    "The Early Years," http://nymag.com/news/media/15971/
•    "Blogging for Beginners," http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/14/blogging-for-beginners-2/
•    "Understanding and Reading a Blog," http://www.dvorak.org/blog/primer/blogprimer1.htm
•    "Why We Blog," http://www.darrouzet-nardi.net/bonnie/pdf/Nardi_why_we_blog.pdf
•    "Blogging Beyond the Men's Club," http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7160264/site/newsweek
•    "History of the Internet," http://www.netvalley.com/archives/mirrors/davemarsh-timeline-1.htm

2.    BLOG-READING TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES (Feb. 20, 2008)
•    How do I find the best blogs?
•    Who links to whom?
•    How popular are blogs?
•    Reading across multiple channels
•    Keeping track of your favorites
•    Information anxiety and the need for filters

CORE READINGS
•    "We’ve Got Blog" -- Part Three (pp. 112-115, pp. 119-132)

ADDITIONAL READINGS
•    "The Long Tail," http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html
•    "Linkology," http://nymag.com/news/media/15972/
•    "Simple Guide to the A List Bloggers," http://scoble.weblogs.com/blogparody.htm
•    Blogebrity, http://blogebrity.com/
•    "Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality," http://www.shirky.com/writings/powerlaw_weblog.html
•    "Is There an Echo in Here?" http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2004/02/20/echo_chamber/index.html?pn=1
•    "The Biases of Links," http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2005/08/07/the_biases_of_links.html
•    Wikipedia: RSS, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format)
•    "A Culture of Feeds: Syndication and Youth Culture," http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2004/10/10/a_culture_of_feeds_syndication_and_youth_culture.html
•    (Recommended) "Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut," David Shenk, HarperEdge, ISBN: 0-06-251551-9
•    (Recommended) "Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-Mail Overload," Mark Hurst, Good Experience, ISBN: 0979368103

3.    THE SOCIETAL IMPACT OF BLOGS (Feb. 27, 2008)
•    How blogs affect journalism
•    How blogs affect business
•    How blogs affect politics
•    The mainstream adoption of blogs

CORE READINGS
•    "We've Got Blog" -- Part Five (pp. 161-197)
•    "Blog!" -- Part Three (pp. 279-285, pp. 303-307, pp. 315-333)

ADDITIONAL READINGS
•    "American Media vs. the Blogs," http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4279229.stm
•    "Blogs Will Change Your Business," http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_18/b3931001_mz001.htm
•    "Time's Person of the Year: You," http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1569514,00.html
•    "Microcontent: How to Write Headlines, Page Titles, and Subject Lines," http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980906.html
•    (Recommended) "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More," Chris Anderson, Hyperion, ISBN: 1401302378
•    (Recommended) "Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World," Hugh Hewitt, Nelson Books, ISBN: 0-7852-1187-X

4.    THE POLITICS OF ONLINE PUBLISHING (March 5, 2008)
•    Conservative and liberal bloggers
•    Global issues
•    The role of blogging in political campaigns
•    Best practices in 2004
•    The state of the race toward 2008

CORE READINGS
•    "Blog!" -- Part One (pp. 3-97)

ADDITIONAL READINGS
•    Wikipedia: Political Blog, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_blog
•    "The Internet and Campaign 2004," http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/150/report_display.asp
•    "Buzz, Blogs, and Beyond: The Internet and the National Discourse in the Fall of 2004," http://www.pewinternet.org/ppt/BUZZ_BLOGS__BEYOND_Final05-16-05.pdf
•    Beltway Blogroll, http://beltwayblogroll.nationaljournal.com/
•    "Political Blogging Growing Like a Vine," http://www.suntimes.com/news/hunter/371066,CST-NWS-hunter04.article
•    (Recommended) "Republic.com," Cass Sunstein, Princeton, ISBN: 0-691-09589-2
•    (Recommended) "Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution," Howard Rheingold, Basic, ISBN: 0-7382-0861-2
•    (Recommended) "Extreme Democracy," ed. Mitch Ratcliffe and Jon Lebkowsky, Lulu, ISBN: 1-4116-3139-0 -- pp. 13-47

5.    CHALLENGES OF CONSUMER-GENERATED MEDIA (March 12, 2008)
•    Getting "dooced"
•    Privacy issues
•    Stalking and death threats
•    Benefits and risks of anonymity
•    Copyright and plagiarism
•    Pay to post

READINGS
•    "Why Blogs Aren't a Safe Space," http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2004/01/19/why_blogs_arent_a_safe_space.html
•    "How Not to Get Dooced," http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/2005/05/chapter_12_how_.html
•    "You Are Your References," http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/78/sgodin.html
•    "The Blog Is the New Resume," http://www.darowski.com/tracesofinspiration/2007/03/06/the-blog-is-the-new-resume/
•    "The Blog Is the New Resume," http://bokardo.com/archives/the-blog-is-the-new-resume/
•    "The Attack on Kathy Sierra," http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=14783
•    "Say Everything," http://nymag.com/news/features/27341/
•    "MySpace Photo Costs Teacher Education Degree," http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2007/05/myspace_photo_costs_teacher_ed.html
•    "We Stole This Headline," http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/30/plagiarism-software-iparadigms-tech-media_cx_rs_books06_1201plagiarism.html?partner=technology_newsletter

6.    THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF BLOGGING (March 26, 2008)
•    Blogs' relationship with online communities and social networking services
•    The social elements of blogs
o    Links
o    Comments
o    Blogrolls
o    Tags
•    How people interact with blogs
•    The larger blogging community

CORE READINGS
•    "We've Got Blog" -- pp. 116-118, Part Six (pp. 199-214)

ADDITIONAL READINGS
•    The Social Software Weblog, http://socialsoftware.weblogsinc.com/
•    Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, http://www.smartmobs.com/
•    "Social History of Blogs," http://prstudies.typepad.com/weblog/2003/10/social_history_.html
•    "Blogging as Social Activity, or, Would You Let 900 Million People Read Your Diary?" http://www.darrouzet-nardi.net/bonnie/pdf/Nardi_blog_social_activity.pdf
•    (Recommended) "The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier," Howard Rheingold, MIT Press, ISBN: 0-262-68121-8

7.    IMPLEMENTING MULTIPLE MEDIA (April 2, 2008)
•    Photography online
•    Moblogging
•    Podcasting
•    Video blogging

READINGS
•    "Weblogs Get Upwardly Mobile," http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/webwatch/story/0,12455,858719,00.html
•    "What Is Podcasting," http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/digitalmedia/2005/07/20/WhatIsPodcasting.html
•    "Blogging + Video = Vlogging," http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2005/07/68171
•    "The Vulnerable Video Blogger: Promoting Social Change Through Intimacy," http://www.barnard.edu/sfonline/blogs/lange_01.htm

8.    BLOGGING AS A BUSINESS (April 9, 2008)
•    Business blogging
•    Blog consulting
•    Making money off your blog
•    Freelance writing

CORE READINGS
•    "Blog!" -- Part Two (pp. 101-220)

ADDITIONAL READINGS
•    "It's a Blog World After All," http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/81/blog.html
•    "Post(er) Boy," http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/81/blog_scoble.html (really, all of the sidebars to the Fast Company piece are worthwhile)
•    "How Bloggers Make Money from Blogs," http://www.problogger.net/archives/2005/12/06/how-bloggers-make-money-from-blogs/
•    "Make Money off Your Blog," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43241-2005Jan27.html
•    "Blogging for Dollars: Giving Rise to the Professional Blogger," http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/javascript/2002/08/12/megnut.html
•    Pro-Bloggers Association, http://www.probloggers.org/

9.    PROFESSIONALISM, ETHICS, AND STANDARDS (April 16, 2008)
•    Should bloggers be held to the same standards as journalists?
•    Should they be held to the same standards as published authors?
•    The aftereffects of the Kathy Sierra controversy
•    The professionalism of blogging

READINGS
"Weblog Ethics," http://rebeccablood.net/handbook/excerpts/weblog_ethics.html
"Society of Professional Journalists: Ethics," http://www.spj.org/ethics.asp
"Call for a Blogger's Code of Conduct," http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/03/call_for_a_blog_1.html
"A Bloggers' Code of Ethics," http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000215.php
"Blogging: Professionalism and Passion," http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2006/12/14/blogging-professionalism-and-passion/

10.    WHAT'S NEXT? (April 23, 2008)
•    To be determined by the trajectory of the class. The students make the last class.

READINGS
•    To be determined by the trajectory of the class. The students make the last class.