CK2S13 - Digital and Social Media 11 Feb 2020 - 31 Aug 2026 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: CK2S13
Module Title: Digital and Social Media
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Film and TV
Faculty Sub Group: Film and TV
Module Leader: Rebecca Williams
Module Team: James Rendell, Gwyneth Moore
First Intended Intake: SEP 2020 Final Year of Intake: 2025
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 5
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes:
HECOS Code Weighting:

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 11 Feb 2020
Valid To 31 Aug 2026

Module Aims

This module aims to introduce and evaluate the key concepts and theoretical approaches which underpin recent debates in digital and social media and to examine how these impact upon contemporary society and culture.

Content Summary

The purpose of this module is to enhance knowledge and understanding of key theories relating to digital media and social media including technological determinism, the Information Society, online community, issues of democracy and the public sphere, politics and activism, the consequences and ethics of datafication, and a range of digital media genres and forms (including platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook).

Finally, this module: a) will adhere to, and engage with, all ethical considerations (as laid out in this document – see ‘H. Ethical Issues’, above); b) when and where appropriate, it will make full use of Faculty-wide teaching expertise and technical support in its endeavour to fully integrate practice with theory.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 16
Seminar 16
Tutorial 2
Project supervision 2
Independent Study 92
Directed Study 72
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Analyse theoretical debates about digital and social media in a changing media environment as appropriate to Level 5.
LO2 Demonstrate critical awareness of key issues to be faced in studying and researching social media platforms and cultures.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Asynchronous Assessment Essay 1 Written essay 0 2500 50 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Visual Journal 1 Social media outputs responding to critical issues related to digital and/or social media 10 2000 50 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Essay 1
Visual Journal 1

Reading List

Abidin, Crystal (2018) Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online, Bingley: Emerald Publishing.
Boyd, Danah (2015) It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens, Yale University Press.
Denisova, Anastasia (2019) Internet Memes and Society, London: Routledge.
Leaver, Tama et al. (2020) Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Lindgren, Simon (2017) Digital Media and Society, London: SAGE.
Lupton, Deborah (2019) Data Selves, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Papacharissi, Zizi A. (2010) A Private Sphere, Cambridge: Polity.
Philips, Whitney and Ryan M. Milner (2017) The Ambivalent Internet, Cambridge: Polity.
Srnicek, Nick (2016) Platform Capitalism, Cambridge: Polity.
Tiidenberg, Katrin (2018) Selfies: Why We Love (and Hate) Them, Bingley: Emerald Publishing.
Umoja Noble, Safiya (2018) Algorithms of Oppression, New York: NYU Press.

Journals: New Media and Society
Television and New Media
Journal of Computer Mediated Communication
Convergence
First Monday
Social Media + Society