Note: if you have not set up Twitter name, posted it in the comments section and following me on Twitter @anneperez) you MUST do so by the end of today or I will assume you do not wish to remain enrolled in the course. If you are having trouble signing up for Twitter, please contact me. Do not leave it until you see me in class Wednesday.
For Wednesday :
Read: Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, chapter 1: It Takes a Village to Find a Phone. You’ll find the pdf under the readings section above (if you forgot the password, either email or tweet me). Bring a paper copy to class. Make at least two tweets about the reading.
Read: The Circle. Try and make tweets connecting the two texts.
Write: Before 11:59 PM Tuesday, under comments, write your thoughts while reading. Read more about the story here in the New York Times account. I’d like to know how you felt reading about it. Were you, like Shirky, troubled or like Evan did you find the story pleasingly just? How did you feel about Evan, about Sasha? Does Sasha being 16, Puerto Rican or a single mother matter to how you feel about the story? What are other examples you can think of of viral organizing or flash mobs? How do you think someone makes an event like this happen?
Shirky ends his telling of the story with the question “What happens next?” The story was written in 2008 (it happened in 2006), what has happened with social media over the past almost decade? How would you connect it with the world imagined in The Circle?
(Note: You don’t have to answer all these questions. Just choose something to write about under the comments on this blog post. Your comments should be about 250 words and must be posted by 11:59pm on Tuesday. See you Wednesday.)
(Image credit: Here Comes Everybody book cover)