RHET 3450(3)-001 | Critical Studies of Social Media | Flisfeder 1

RHET 3450(3)-001:
CRITICAL STUDIES OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Department of Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications
University of Winnipeg
Winter 2020
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00am-11:15am
Manitoba Hall, 3M57

Dr. Matthew Flisfeder

Email: m.flisfeder@uwinnipeg.ca
Tweets: @MattFlisfeder
Office Location: 3G23
Office Hours: By Appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Social media and social networking websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat,
YouTube, TikTok and others, structure many of our experiences of the world, ourselves, and the
culture that surrounds us. Whether we use these sites to connect with friends and family, share
pictures and images, read and (re-)distribute interesting news items and information about
current events, play games, or share cat photos, social media have evidently become
embedded into our daily lives. For some, there is even a sense of stigmatization for non-users.
How can we make sense of this new media environment?

This course takes a critical, cultural, and rhetorical approach to the study of social media. Topics
include: the rhetoric of the public profile and persuasive constructions of social media selfhood
and identity curation; the language and meaning of social media “friendship” and “publicity;”
questions about the rhetoric of privacy under conditions of constant surveillance; the
relationship between discourse, algorithms, and platform logics; and, the role of social media in
framing the world of meaning and public discourse.

This year, we will focus on the rhetoric of “social media” and ask: is “social media” the correct
concept for thinking our digital communications? Despite the fact that mainstream social media
websites and apps are caught in the logic of neoliberalism and “communicative capitalism,”
wrapped up in problems of surveillance, control, and manipulation, can we still use the
metaphor of “social media” as a measuring stick for learning about those forces that may help
us to build a truly social media? Or, do we require a new concept or term; and, if so, what term
should we use?
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REQUIRED TEXTS:

• Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in The Social Media
Age (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013).
• Richard Seymour, The Twittering Machine (London: Indigo Press, 2019).
• Nick Srnicek, Platform Capitalism (Malden, MA: Polity, 2017).
• Jodi Dean, Blog Theory: Feedback and Capture in the Circuits of Drive (Malden, MA:
Polity, 2010).
• Angela Nagle, Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4Chan and Tumblr to Trump
and the Alt-Right (Winchester, UK: Zero Books, 2017).
• Other course readings available on NEXUS

COURSE REQUIREMEMENTS:

Assignment Grade Due

Weighting
Self(ie)-Reflection Paper 15% January 28th, 2020
Research Essay Proposal 15% February 13th, 2020
Research Presentation 15% March 24th, 26th, 31st and April 2nd, 2020
Final Research Essay 35% April 9th, 2019
Participation and Attendance 20% Cumulative

GRADING SCALE:

A+ 90-100% C+ 65-69%
A 85-89% C 60-64%
A- 80-84% D 50-59%
B+ 75-79% F 0-49%
B 70-74%

POLICY ON LATE/MISSED ASSIGNMENTS:

All assignments and presentations must be submitted on their respective due dates. Written
assignments will be word-processed and submitted in hard-copy form only. Written
assignments submitted after the due date will be lowered one letter grade each calendar day
thereafter. Missed presentations will receive a zero. If you have a valid medical reason for
having missed an assignment, you will need to provide valid documentation. Email submissions
will only be accepted if extenuating circumstances prohibit the delivery of a hard copy.
Requests for extension or deferred assignment date must be submitted in writing by email at
least one week prior to the due date and decisions are at the discretion of Dr. Flisfeder (too
much work in other courses is NOT a valid reason for extensions).
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PARTICIPATION:

Students are expected to attend meetings regularly and be prepared to have informed
discussions about course materials, having completed assigned readings before the date for
which they are assigned. Top participation marks will be granted based upon consistent
perceptive and constructive contributions to meetings and class discussions, which
demonstrate knowledge and understanding of course concepts. Participation grades are also
based upon students’ efforts to be attentive and respectful when engaging with other speakers’
points of view. See Appendix 1.

EMAIL POLICY:

Please be reminded that only your University of Winnipeg email address (webmail) will be used
for course-related correspondence, such as class cancellations. You may wish to have your
webmail emails forwarded to another (personal) account. Instructions are available at
http://theuwsa.ca/academic-misconduct/webmail-forwarding/.
Dr. Flisfeder only responds to student emails during regular working days, between 9am-5pm.
Emails received after hours or on the weekend will usually receive a response on the next
working day. Please keep emails short. A longer email indicates that it might be a better idea to
make an appointment to meet with me to discuss the matter in person.

POLICY ON LAPTOPS AND DIGITAL DEVICES IN THE CLASSROOM:

Research shows that students who use laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other digital devices
to multitask in class are far less likely to succeed in their courses. If you still wish to use
electronic devices in class, please be courteous and aware of others around you, and consider
how your use of technology might be distracting to your classmates and your instructor.

DEADLINE FOR COURSE WITHDRAWAL:

The deadline for withdrawing from this course without any academic penalty is March 13th,
2020.

READING WEEK:

Reading Week is February 16th-22nd, 2020. No classes are scheduled during this time.

STATUTORY HOLIDAYS AND CLOSURES:

The University will be closed on February 17th, 2020, for Louis Riel Day.
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COURSE SCHEDULE AND TOPICS:

Week Topic Readings Assignments/Other

January 7th and 14th Communicating Via Mark Fisher, “Exiting
Social Media: the Vampire Castle”
Can’t We All Just Get (NEXUS)
Along?
January 14th and 16th The Rhetoric of “Web Marwick,
2.0” and “Social Introduction and
Media” as a Chapter 1: A Cultural
Reflection of History of Web 2.0
Neoliberal Capitalism
Seymour, Forward
and Chapter 1: We
Are All Connected
January 21st and 23rd Curating the Self(ie) – Marwick, Chapter 3:
Microcelebrity and The Fabulous Lives of
Self-Objectification Micro-Celebrities,
and Marwick,
Chapter 4: Self-
Branding – The (Safe
For Work) Self

Seymour, Chapter 3:
We Are All Celebrities
January 28th and 30th Privacy and Publicity Marwick, Chapter 6: Selfie Reflection
– Sharing is Caring? Lifestreaming – We Paper Due on
Live in Public January 28th.

Seymour, Chapter 5:
We Are All Liars
February 4th and 6th Understanding Stuart Hall,
Algorithms, Part I: “Encoding/Decoding”
Encoding, Decoding, (NEXUS)
and the Role of
Discourse Cathy O’Neil,
Introduction and
Chapter 1: What is a
Model (NEXUS)

Ed Finn, Chapter 1:
What is an
Algorithm? (NEXUS)
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February 11th and Understanding Seymour, Chapter 2:

13th Algorithms, Part II: We Are All Addicts
Do Structures Walk
the Streets? Adam Greenfield,
Chapter 8: Machine
Learning – The
Algorithmic
Production of
Knowledge (NEXUS)

Cheney-Lippold,
Chapter 1:
Categorization –
Making Data Useful
(NEXUS)
February 18th and Winter Reading
20th Week – No Class
February 25th and Platforms Curate, Gillespie, Chapter 1: Essay Proposals Due
27th Too! All Platforms February 25th
Moderate (NEXUS)

Gillespie, Chapter 2:
The Myth of the
Neutral Platform
(NEXUS)

Ivan Manokha,
“Surveillance: The
DNA of Platform
Capital – The Case of
Cambridge Analytica
Put Into Perspective”
(NEXUS)
March 3rd and 5th Platform Capitalism Nick Srnicek,
Platform Capitalism
March 10th and 12th Communicative Dean, Blog Theory
Capitalism and the
Trouble with
Enjoyment
March 17th and 19th The (So-Called) Seymour, Chapter 4:
Digital Public Sphere We Are All Trolls
– Social Media and
the Culture Wars Nagle, Kill All Normies
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Lewis, “Alternative
Influence:
Broadcasting the
Reactionary Right on
YouTube”
March 24th and 26th Research
Presentations
March 31st and April Research
2nd Presentations

*Final Essay Due before 3pm on April 8th, 2020

Submit Essays to Dr. Flisfeder in 3G23
or
Email me to make ALTERNATIVE arrangements

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Important information for students in Rhetoric, Writing, and Communications courses at the
University of Winnipeg is housed on the department’s website. These statements include the
Senate Requirements, Deans’ Recommendations, and Department Requirements. They are all
important for students to read, be familiar with, and refer back to throughout a course. The
statements can be accessed by visiting the Department’s Webpage
(www.uwinnipeg.ca/rhetoric/), then clicking the “Courses” tab under the Department Links,
and then clicking the “RWC Course Statements” sub-tab, or by typing in the following link to a
web browser:
https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/rhetoric/courses/rhetoric,-writing,-and-communications-course-
statements.html
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APPENDIX 1

PARTICIPATION RUBRIC

A+ A B C D F

Actively Actively Makes a Limited Virtually no No interaction

supports, supports, sincere effort interaction with interaction with with peers
engages and engages and to interact peers peers
listens to listens to with peers
peers peers (ongoing)
(ongoing)
(ongoing)

Arrives fully Arrives fully Arrives Preparation, Rarely Never prepared

prepared at prepared at mostly, if not and therefore prepared
every session almost every fully, prepared level of
session participation,
(ongoing) are both
inconsistent

Plays an Plays an Participates When prepared, Rarely Never

active role in active role in constructively participates participates; participates
discussions discussions in discussions constructively in comments are
(ongoing) discussions generally
(ongoing) (ongoing) vague or drawn
from outside
the assigned
material

Comments Comments Makes And makes Demonstrates Demonstrates a

advance the occasionally relevant relevant a noticeable noticeable lack of
level and advance the comments comments lack of interest interest in the
depth of the level and based on the based on the in the material material (on-
dialogue depth of the assigned assigned (on occasion) going)
(consistently) dialogue material material
(ongoing)

Group Group Group Group dynamic Group dynamic Group dynamic

dynamic and dynamic and dynamic and and level of and level of and level of
level of level of level of discussion are discussion are discussion are
discussion discussion discussion are not affected by harmed by the significantly
are are often occasionally the student’s student’s harmed by the
consistently better better (never presence presence student’s
better because of worse) presence
because of the student’s because of
the student’s presence the student’s
presence presence

Chapnick, A. (2005). A Participation Rubric, The Teaching Professor, Volume 19, 3: p. 4. Madison, WI:
Magna Publications.

Note: Permission to distribute this rubric was granted by the author, Adam Chapnick.