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PAI 730
Social Media and the 2012 Election
Syllabus – Fall semester 2012 Instructor: Ines Mergel, D.B.A.
Assistant Professor of Public Administration Department of Public Administration Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Syracuse University Meeting time and place: Wednesdays, 3:45pm - 6:30pm Alternating Main location: 425 Crouse Hinds Hall locations: Guest speakers: Life Sciences 100 (meets with IST500) Contact: The best way to reach me is by email [email protected] Office hours: Mondays 10:00am-noon & by appointment. Online office hours: 8am-6pm on weekdays; Allow 24hrs response time Office: Crouse-Hinds Hall 436, Center for Technology & Information
Policy
PAI 730 2/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
1. Goal of the Course: Social media had first entered campaigns in 2004, when Democratic presidential
candidate Howard Dean used Meetup.com in the primary election to organize offline events. President Obama and Republican candidate John McCain further capitalized on social media in 2008. This special topic course – taught every four years – focuses on the social media innovations observed during the presidential campaign in 2012. The class will track social media use in real-time during major milestones, such as the candidates’ debates, while also ensuring that students become proficient using social media applications, such as Twitter. Major social science theories will be used to explain the underlying concepts, including social capital, network creation, community and identity management, social awareness, etc.
The class is relevant for students interested in nonprofit and corporate sectors as well as the public sector. To that end, students will work on a final project, in which they develop a social media strategy for an organization of their choice. Students will apply the insights they gain from the readings and the weekly class discussions.
2. Learning Objectives: The primary learning objective of this course is for you to arrive at informed responses
to each of the above listed topics and challenges using social media applications. This will be done through discussions of the assigned readings and how they relate to your experience within previous organizational settings. Discussing a wide range of practical problems that social media professionals have encounter in different types of organizations will increase your awareness of possible solutions and remedies.
3. Grading Method:
20% active participation in class: You are expected to actively prepare all readings
for the class discussions. You are expected to prepare at least one question based on the readings, record the questions on the class blog, and reflect on the readings in the blog. Email me in advance in case you were not able to prepare for class. You are expected to spend about six hours per week on your daily newspaper and media readings and the course preparations.
20% blogging and tweeting assignments:
• You are expected to actively provide insights about the readings and your own research progress on our joint class blog: http://gov20class.blogspot.com/. These reading reflections will help to turn the blog into a joint discussion platform for this course. In addition, for each guest speaker upload your questions for them, suggestions for discussions, news, etc. You are expected to provide a minimum of five blog posts à 250 words each throughout the semester. Instructions will be provided in class.
• Moreover, you are required to set up a Twitter account, following Twitter users that are related to our class and your personal policy interest areas. Instructions are provided in our first class meeting.
PAI 730 3/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
20% course assignments: You are expected to complete two assignments, which are due on September 19th and October 30th at the beginning of the class. You will receive the assignment instructions a week before the assignments are due and you will be asked to present your results in class. Please hand in a paper copy of your assignment.
• Assignment 1: Please attend (or watch online) the State of Democracy lecture by Michael Kranish, biographer of presidential candidate Mitt Romney on September 14 at 4pm. The lecture will be live-streamed and recorded. Based on the insights you gain from the lecture by the author, analyze the candidate’s social media use and online interactions. How is he interacting with his constituents? What are the main themes and issues he is communicating? Who are his followers? Details for this assignment will be discussed in class ahead of time. Due date for the first assignment is September 19th at the beginning of the class.
• Assignment 2: For the first 10 weeks of the class, you are asked to actively tweet every day. Start with simple retweets of newspaper articles or candidates’ statements. Use Twitter for real-time note taking during our class meetings and visits of our guest speakers. Search for interesting people you want to follow. These Twitter users should include politicians, news outlets, government agencies, etc., but you should also try to find communities of issues and topical networks you are passionate about in other walks of your life. Details for this assignment will be handed out in class. Due date for the second assignment is October 30th by the end of the day.
40% group project and final presentation: The class project consists of a social media implementation plan for a real-life case. Students are working in teams on four different topics.
• This class project focuses on how the lessons learned from the presidential social media campaigns can be used for:
o (Local) news organizations o Government organizations o Nonprofit organizations o Corporations
• Students are asked to build four teams based on their interest areas. The maximum number of students per team is six. Assign a team lead, note takers, and start early to lay out your plan.
• First draft proposals are due on October 10th. • An exposé of your social media plan is due on November 7th 2012 by 6pm via
email. • The social media plan has to be presented in class November 28th or December
3rd 2012. A 5-page written plan has to be handed in on presentation day. Detailed instructions will be discussed in class.
• Each student’s grade will be based on the team’s peer-to-peer evaluation, feedback from your classmates, and my own evaluation of the usefulness of your social media plan.
PAI 730 4/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
4. Grading scheme based on the MPA handbook A 93% - 100% of all possible points A- 90% - 92%
Superior range
B+ 87% - 89% B 82% - 86%
Good range
B- 80% - 81% C+ 76% - 79% C- 65% - 75%
Below expectations
F 0% failure I 0% incomplete
5. Late assignment policy The deadlines for assignment submissions are non-negotiable. I do not accept late submissions.
6. Academic freedom policy You are expected to respect the right of your peers to express their views on topics relevant to the course as others respect that right as well. If you feel the need to discuss topics beyond the scope of the class, please talk directly to me and I will try to accommodate your needs after class or incorporate additional material in following lectures.
7. Missing classes – general participation Treat our class meetings as if they were professional appointments. Please arrive on time and be prepared to discuss the readings. Email me in case you will have a severe conflict or a family emergency. Participation in each class meeting is mandatory. You are allowed to miss two class meetings, but won’t receive a grade in case you miss more than two class sessions – no exceptions.
8. Plagiarism Plagiarism, i.e., the presentation as one's own work the words, ideas, and opinions of someone else, is a serious concern in any academic setting. This University, like all academic institutions in the United States, assumes that the written work of a student is literally the student's own, and that any original idea or research contributions taken from the published works of others will be properly acknowledged. When any material is taken directly from a published source, it must be appropriately cited. If a statement is used verbatim, it must be enclosed in quotation marks, as well as otherwise acknowledged. Syracuse University, through its various colleges and departments, will readily refer students to writing and style manuals that are universally recognized as acceptable by scholars and that very adequately demonstrate how students should handle the issue of proper citation of material. Examples of such works include the student manual distributed by the English Department of Syracuse University, A Manual for Writers by K. Turabian, and the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Students must understand that, like cheating on examinations, plagiarism is a serious instance of academic dishonesty. In this University, it will be dealt with as such.
PAI 730 5/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
9. Required course materials
Our main readings for the class are outlined on the detailed class calendar (starting on p. 9) and available for download on Blackboard. One additional Harvard Business School case study has to be purchased from Syracuse University’ bookstore. Come prepared to class and be ready to give a short overview of the main topics and questions presented in the readings. The objective in this class is not to repeat what is written in the readings, but to understand the general underlying concepts and connect them with your experiences and current events. Bring material you find in newspapers, blogs or tell the class about your own experience. We will upload your own contributions to the course website or make them available by email to everyone.
• Recommended government technology related blogs, such as:
• GovernmentTechnology: http://www.govtech.com/gt
• FederalComputerWeek: http://www.fcw.com • Govloop, The Facebook for Government:
http://www.govloop.com • Twindex: https://election.twitter.com
• Election class related hashtags on Twitter:
• #electionclass (shared with IST 500) • #Twindex
Suggested news outlets:
The New York Times: 1. Technology section:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/technology/index.html 2. Politics section: http://www.nytimes.com/pages/politics/index.html 3. The Caucus blog: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/ 4. The Electoral Map: http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/electoral-map
Washington Post Campaign 2012: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/campaigns The Guardian Election 2012: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-elections-2012 USAToday Twindex: https://election.twitter.com http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/twitter-election-meter
PAI 730 6/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
10. Alternating course locations
The main location for our course meetings is in Crouse Hinds, Room 425:
On dates with guest speakers, we will be meeting with IST500 in the Life Sciences Building, Room 001. The building is located on College Place, across the street from the bus stops:
PAI 730 7/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
11. Calendar of events leading up to election day 2012
Source: Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-state-of-play-100-days-
out/2012/07/28/gJQAF5pwGX_graphic.html
PAI 730 8/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
12. Social media and the 2012 election Course outline – Fall semester 2012
Week Date Topics
1. 08/29/12 Course overview & Introduction to Social Media
2. 09/05/12 #SocialCongress: Social media use in Congress
Und
erlyi
ng co
ncep
ts 3. 09/12/12 Imagining online identity and community
09/14/12 State of Democracy lecture: Michael Kranish, Biographer of Mitt Romney, 4pm, Maxwell School
4. 09/19/12 Assignment 1 due at beginning of class 4
Designing a social media strategy
5. 09/26/12 Social media tactics
6. 10/03/12 Online campaigning
Stra
tegies
, Tac
tics,
Mea
sure
men
t
10/03/12: First presidential debate
7. 10/10/12 Insights into social media responses: @140Elect
Final project teams are formed and draft project outline.
10/11/12: Vice Presidential Debate
10/16/12: 2nd Presidential Debate
8. 10/17/12 The basics of social media metrics
10/22/12 University lecture: Brownstein “American Politics, Today and Tomorrow”, Hendricks Chapel 7:30pm
Final presidential debate
9. 10/24/12 Measuring social media influence with Klout.com
Assignment 2 due on 10/30/12 by the end of the day.
10. 10/31/12 Lessons from the campaign trail for government
11. 11/06/12 Election night part, location Maxwell Rotunda
No class meeting on 11/07/2012
12. 11/14/12 Post-election Analysis by “Obama for America” staff
Final project exposé due on 11/14/12.
13. 11/21/12 Thanksgiving break – no class meeting
14. 11/28/12 Final class project presentations (Part I)
Stud
ent
proje
cts
15. 12/05/12 Final class project presentations (Part II)
PAI 730 9/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
13. Reading list and weekly topics Fall 2012
Week: 1 Date: 08/29/2012 Room: Crouse Hinds 425 Subject: Introduction to social media
• Course schedule, readings, expectations • The 2012 election and social media campaigns
Introduction to Twitter: • Mergel, I. (2012): Working the Network: A Manager’s Guide for Using Twitter, IBM
Center for the Business of Government: http://www.businessofgovernment.org/report/working-network-manager’s-guide-using-twitter-government
• Reihngold, H. (2009): Twitter Literacy (I refuse to make up a name for it), http://blog.sfgate.com/rheingold/2009/05/11/twitter-literacy-i-refuse-to-make-up-a-twittery-name-for-it/
Suggested readings:
• Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), online.
• Hunt, A. R. (2012): Campaigning has always been a dirty business, in: NYT, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/23/us/23iht-letter23.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share
• Thomson, C. (2008): Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, in: The New York Times, 09/07/2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html?pagewanted=all
• Haberman, M. & Burns, A. (2012): The 2012 campaign is the smallest ever, Politico: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77620.html#ixzz20dFVLBJg
• The Atlantic: What Do Your Favorite Websites Say About Your Politics?, http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/what-do-your-favorite-websites-say-about-your-politics/259662/#.T_10_6fm274.twitter
• Sutter, J., D. (2012): NRA tweeter was 'unaware' of Colorado shooting, spokesman says , CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/tech/social-media/nra-tweet-shooting/index.html
PAI 730 10/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
Week: 2 Date: 09/05/12 Room: Life Sciences Building 001 Subject: Using social media in Congress
Guest speaker: Bradford Fitch, Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) “#SocialCongress”“
Instructions: Prepare at least two questions for our guest speaker and upload them as a response to our class blog in the comment section. Required readings: • Congressional Management Foundation (2012): #SocialCongress:
http://www.congressfoundation.org/storage/documents/CMF_Pubs/cmf-social-congress.pdf
• Barry Wellman, "Physical Place and Cyber Place: The Rise of Personalized Networking,"
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 25 (2001), Special Issue on "Networks, Class and Place," edited by Talja Blokland and Mike Savage: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman/publications/individualism/ijurr3a1.htm#N_2_
• Hampton, K. (2012): It’s a matter of network externalities, in: NYT, JUNE 20, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/06/19/are-social-networks-just-a-fad-6/its-a-matter-of-network-externalities
• Quigley, R. (2010): Social media reshapes journalism: Expanding two-way information
flow between news outlets and the public yields big benefits for both, available online: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/insight/social-media-reshapes-journalism-613810.html
• Williams, M. (2012): What social media tools do government officials use most?, Government Technology: http://www.govtech.com/e-government/What-Social-Media-Do-Government-Officials-Use-Most-GRAPHIC.html?
• Steinhauer, J. (2011): The G.O.P.’s Very Rapid Response Team, available online:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/politics/after-being-burned-in-08-republicans-embrace-twitter-hard-for-12.html?_r=1
PAI 730 11/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
Week: 3 Date: 09/12/12 Room: Life Sciences Building 001 Subject: Imagining online identity and community
Guest speaker: Nick Troiano Americans Elect (the "first" online primary): Creating a presidential ticket online
Required readings: • The Millennial factor:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77124.html?fb_ref=.T9EXeTR0FS1.like&fb_source=home_multiline
• Rainie, L., Purcell, K., Smith, A. (2011): The Social Side of the Internet, Pew Internet and American Life Project.
• Steele, C. (2012): Election 2012: How Social Media Will Convert Followers into Voters: Social media will change the 2012 election, just as the first televised presidential debate completely altered the election process in the United States: http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/293078/election-2012-how-social-media-will-convert-followers-into-v
• Barr, A. (2008): 2008 turnout shatters all records, in: Politico, November 5, 2008.
• Ronald E. Rice, James E. Katz, Sophia Acord, Kiku Dasgupta, Kalpana David, (2004), "Personal Mediated Communication and the Concept of Community in Theory and Practice," in P. Kalbfleisch (ed), Communication and Community, Communication Yearbook 28, Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp 1-10.
• Robin Hamman, Introduction to Virtual Communities Research and Cybersociology Magazine Issue Two.
Case discussion: In class discussion: “America 2.0” HBS case, please pick up a copy of the Harvard Business
School case study at Syracuse University’s bookstore.
Spec ia l event : Date: 09/14/12 Subject: A closer look at Mitt Romney, State of Democracy lecture by Micharl Kranish,
Boston Globe, Mitt Romney biographer 4pm Link to live stream & video will be provided ahead of time
PAI 730 12/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
Reflec t ion paper 1 due at beg inning o f c lass 4 (9/19/12)
(Instruct ions in c lass)
Week: 4 Date: 09/19/12 Room: Life Sciences Building 001 Subject: Designing a social media strategy
Guest speaker: Guest: Bonner Gaylord, Raleigh City Council http://www.bonnergaylord.com/ Twitter: @bonnergaylord “Using social media in government”
Required readings: • Mergel, I. (2012): A Manager’s Guide for Designing Social Media Strategy, IBM Center
for the Business of Government, Special Report Series, available online: http://www.businessofgovernment.org/sites/default/files/Social%20Media%20Strategy%20Brief_0.pdf
• Aitoro, J. R. (2009). GSA signs deals for agencies to use social networking sites. NextGov, 03/25/2009, online.
• GAO (2011). Challenges In Federal Agencies' Use of Web 2.0 Technologies. • Oxley, A. (2011). A Best Practices Guide for Mitigating Risk in the Use of Social Media,
IBM Center for the Business of Government, online report. • Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (1986). Reducing Social Context Cues: Electronic Mail in
Organizations. Management Science, 32(11), 1492-1512. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kiesler/publications/PDFs/SPROULL_KIESLER_1986_Reduci.pdf
Week: 5 Date: 09/26/12 Room: Crouse Hinds 425 Subject: Applying social media tactics
Required readings:
• Senior, J. (2009): The Message Is the Message: Barack Obama’s ubiquitous appearances as professor-in-chief, preacher-in-chief, father-in-chief, may turn out to be the most salient feature of his presidency, in: New York Magazine, August 2, 2009.
• Shear, M. D. (2012): Obama Ad Continues Effort to Tie Romney to Outsourcing , in: NYT, July 14, 2012 , http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/obama-ad-features-a-singing-romney/?smid=tw-share
• Steinhauer, J. (2012): The G.O.P.’s Very Rapid Response Team, in: NYT, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/us/politics/after-being-burned-in-08-republicans-embrace-twitter-hard-for-12.html?_r=1
PAI 730 13/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
Week: 6 Date: 10/03/12 Room: Crouse Hinds 425 Subject: The political power of online campaigning
Required readings: • Suellentrop, C. (2004): America's New Political Capital: President Bush infects
Washington with his favorite buzzword, available online: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/ballot_box/2004/11/americas_new_political_capital.html
• Newton, K. (1997): Social Capital and Democracy, American Behavioral Scientist, 40:5, pp. 575-586, available online: http://abs.sagepub.com/content/40/5/575.short
• Shirky, C. (2011): The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change, in: Foreign Policy, January/February 2011, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67038/clay-shirky/the-political-power-of-social-media
• Gladwell, M. & Shirky, C. (2011): From Innovation to Revolution: Do Social Media Make Protests Possible?, March/April 2011: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67325/malcolm-gladwell-and-clay-shirky/from-innovation-to-revolution
• Wasik, B. (2012): Gladwell vs. Shirky: A Year Later, Scoring the Debate Over Social-Media Revolutions, Wired Magazine: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/12/gladwell-vs-shirky/
• Ingram, M. (2012): Learning from this week’s crash course in citizen journalism, GigaOm: http://gigaom.com/2012/07/22/learning-from-this-weeks-crash-course-in-citizen-journalism/
Tonight: First presidential debate
PAI 730 14/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
Final project teams are formed and project outlines are drafted due on 10/10/2012
Week: 7 Date: 10/10/12 Room: Life Sciences 001 Subject: Review: First presidential debate
Guest speaker: Zach Green, @140Elect “Insights into social media responses”
Readings and instructions:
• Prepare observations from the first debate.
• Hansen, D., Shneiderman, B., Smith, M. (): Analyzing social media networks with NodeXL, available online: http://voson.anu.edu.au/papers/Book_ASMN_Ch12_WWW-Ackland-final.pdf
• Karissa McKelvey, Alex Rudnick, Michael D. Conover, Filippo Menczer (2012): Visualizing Communication on Social Media Making Big Data Accessible, available online: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1202.1367.pdf
Vice Presidential Debate scheduled for October 11, 2012
PAI 730 15/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
Week: 8 Date: 10/17/12 Room: Crouse Hinds 425 Subject: Social media metrics & impact measurement
Review: 2nd Presidential Debate & Veep Debate
• Mergel, I. (2012): Measuring the effectiveness of social media tools in the public sector, in: Downey, E. & Jones, M.: Public Service, Governance and Web 2.0 Technologies, IGI-Global, DOI: 10.4018/978-1-46660-071-3, pp. 48-64. [pdf]
• Lipowicz, A. (2012): Which federal agency packs the most online punch?, Federal Computer Week, http://fcw.com/articles/2012/05/14/federal-clout-online.aspx?sc_lang=en
• Girard, M. (2012): Social Media Monitoring Can Inform Political Parties What To Poll For, Radian6, Sales team: http://www.radian6.com/blog/2012/07/social-media-monitoring-can-inform-political-parties-what-to-poll-for/
• Glantz, D. (2012): When Agencies Receive High Klout Score, http://fedconnects.com/index.php/2012/06/when-government-agencies-receive-high-klout-scores-does-it-really-mean-they-have-more-clout/
• Cha, A. E. (2012): ‘Big data’ from social media, elsewhere online redefines trend-watching, in: Washington Post, June 6, 2012: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/big-data-from-social-media-elsewhere-online-take-trend-watching-to-new-level/2012/06/06/gJQArWWpJV_story.html
October 22, 2012 3rd presidential campaign
University lecture: American Politics, October 23, 2012 7:30pm in Hendricks Chapel
PAI 730 16/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
Week: 9 Date: 10/24/12 Room: Life Sciences 001 Subject: Measuring social media influence
Guest speaker: CEO Klout.com
Review: Final presidential debate
• McHugh, M. (2012): Klout reveals a new scoring algorithm and the critics are quite, Digital Trends, available online; http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/klout-reveals-new-scoring-algorithm-and-the-critics-are-quiet/
• Stone, B. (2012): Klout, Controversial Influence-Quantifier, Revamps Its Scores, Bloomberg Businessweek, August 14, 2012: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-14/klout-controversial-quantifier-of-influence-revamps-its-scores
Assignment 2 “Personal reflection: Twitter lessons learned”, October 30, 2012 By the end of the day – instructions follow!
Week: 10 Date: 10/31/12 Room: Life Sciences 001
Subject: Reaching the right audiences Surprise guest speaker
Happy Halloween!
PAI 730 17/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
Week: 11 Date: Tuesday 11/06/12 starting at 6pm (instead of 11/07/2012) Room: Maxwell Rotunda Subject: Election night party
Maxwell School experts will comment on the first results! Refreshments and snacks will be served. Be prepared to celebrate! NOTE: NO CLASS MEETING ON 11/07/2012!
Picture source: http://redriverpak.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/election.jpg?w=500&h=396
PAI 730 18/18 Ines Mergel (2012)
Week: 12 Date: 11/14/12 Room: Life Sciences 001 Subject: Post-election analysis & reflections on the 2012 digital campaign
Guest speakers: “Obama for America”, Amanda Grant, the social media advisor for the national campaign
Required readings: • Iowa Prediction Market: http://tippie.uiowa.edu/iem/markets/pres12.html • NYT Electoral Map: http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/electoral-map • Politico: http://www.politico.com/2012-election/ • Huffington Post: http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/romney-vs-obama-
electoral-map
Final project exposés of all four teams are due at beginning of class.
Instructions will follow!
Week: 13 Date: 11/21/2012 Subject: No class meeting: Thanksgiving break
Week: 14 Date: 11/28/12 Room: Crouse Hinds 425 Subject: Final project presentations (Part I) Week: 15 Date: 12/05/12 Room: Crouse Hinds 425
Subject: Final project presentations (Part II) Wrap up