In Baym’s chapter entitled “Communities and Networks”, the author wades into the debate regarding the impact of new digital media on community development. Has community been lost as a result of the widespread use of the likes of Twitter, Facebook, instant messaging, Skype, blogs, etc.? Or has community been enhanced for the better? Or has the traditional notion of “community” simply been transformed? Baym offers an analytical framework composed of 5 concepts: sense of space; shared practice; shared resources and support; shared identities; and interpersonal relationships. Murthy examines the same debate in his book with a specific focus on Twitter and the concepthomophily.
Your task in Assignment #4 is to write a paper in which you take a position in this debate with a specific focus on Twitter; that is, do the new social media and social networking sites, in particular Twitter, enhance community development, undermine community development, or do they simply transform traditional meanings of ‘community’?
You must incorporate into your paper the concepthomophily(see Murthy), the analytical framework mentioned above and found in Baym’s chapter 4, and you must apply these concepts to the subject matter of two (2) of the following Murthy chapters: ch. 4, ch. 5, ch. 6, or ch. 7.
Your assignment must be based exclusively on Baym’s and Murthy’s books (no other secondary sources). Your assignment must be 5-6 pages in length not including your title page or References page, double-spaced using 12 point Times New Roman font, and must use 1” margins. You must include a title page and a References page. The need to use a particular writing style (MLA, APA, ASA, etc.) does not apply to this assignment, but you must cite page numbers/authors when and if you use direct quotations and/or statements of fact. Assignment #4 is worth a maximum of 25% of your final course grade.Please see the Course Schedule for submission deadline. You must use the Dropbox tool to submit your assignment.Your assignment must be submitted in Word or RTF format, no other format will be accepted.Late submissions will be penalized 10% per day up to 48 hours past the deadline, after which late submissions will NOT be accepted.
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