Option 1: The Internet and the Individual as a Part of Social Change
In this assignment, you will consider the ways in which the Internet can affect personal action to ease social issues.
E-participation can be understood as a dimension of a broader social and political transformation process stemming from rapid social change in a postmodern/post-industrial and globalized society. Social movements are now experimenting with more individualized mobilizations and a wide set of multifaceted identities/belongings.
You will examine a local or international entity that uses the Internet to create social communities and empower them to generate change in social/political spheres.
Choose a local, regional, or international political or social change organization that uses the Internet to make individuals believe that they can be part of social change. Analyze this organization, its structure, its history, and the ways in which it uses the Internet to create e-communities. Evaluate the work this organization does in light of both postmodern theory and the social forces that maintain the social problems the organization strives to combat.
Reference: DiMaggio, P., Hargittai, E., Neuman, W. R., & Robinson, J. P. (2001). Social implications of the Internet. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 307. Retrieved from
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~rneuman/works/2001_socialimplication.pdf
Here are some international social change entities that use the Web to promote their ideas and motivate individuals to action:
Amnesty.org: http://www.amnesty.org/
Greenpeace: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/
Grassroots International: http://www.grassrootsonline.org/
National Coalition for the Homeless: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/
Rainforest Action Network: http://www.ran.org/
Option 2: The Internet as a Path to Individual Change
In this assignment, you will analyze how the Internet offers a venue to transform individual thought and action.
Read the following:
Overview of Goffman, “Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life,” at http://www.soc.duke.edu/~jmoody77/TheoryNotes/Goffman.htm
Bargh and Fitzsimmons, “Can You See the Real Me? Activation and Expression of the ‘True Self’ on the Internet,” at http://ezproxy.umgc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=6194722&site=eds-live&scope=site
“Managing Impressions Online: Self-Presentation Process in the Online Dating Environment,” at
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00020.x
Choose an Internet site used fairly often. Investigate this site to answer the following question: How does the Internet provide a venue to transform the individual socially?
Looking at the site, address the following question: What methods does the Web site employ to control individual behaviors or to manipulate the individual’s feelings of belonging? You may use yourself as a case in point, but please discuss the broader context of individual behaviors.
Discuss this Internet site in light of relevant theories and concepts we have studied.
Conclude with “what it all means”: What does one’s use of the Internet for personal development and connection to community mean over the long term in a postmodern society? What are the pros and cons of using the Internet to connect with others? Apply the concepts and theories discussed in the course readings as applicable.
Your paper will be reviewed using Turnitin prior to being graded. For more information about the use of Turnitin in this course, please review the material in the syllabus.
