Web Links

1. iPods knock over beer mugs This USA Today article covers the top "in" things to do at universities according to Student Monitor's 2006 study. This study revealed that iPods ranked above beer as the "in" thing to do or have at the university.
2. Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication Tools This PBS site provides a timeline of significant media events and media policy that have shaped the U.S. media environment from 1980 to 2005.
3. Exploring the Immersive Parasocial: Is it You or the Thought of You? This article from the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT) covers parasocial relationships, persistent virtual space, human-embodied avatar, social presence, virtual relationships, and more and can be useful to students in online classes.

Activities

1. Visit the NPR website below and listen to the program “Developing Fictional Relationships” on parasocial relationships. Listen for direct and indirect tie-ins to what Duck and McMahan have to say in the chapter about these relationships. Make notes as you listen to get a solid handle on how these relationships develop and how we view them in everyday life.
2. Using the Internet Wayback Machine, track the development of a cell phone company's website and analyze the shifts in the way the company or organization attempted to portray relationships in connection with the development of cell phones.
3. Visit the site titled “Technological Determinism: How Technology Causes Social Change in Africa.” As you read, think about how this article and the tie-in to Africa might apply to other culture or maybe did apply to the larger United States at some time.