Our Social World: Condensed: Introduction to Sociology
Video and Multimedia
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Video Links
Learning Objective: 5.1: Demonstrate the impact social networks can have on the lives of individuals.
In a funny, rapid-fire 4 minutes, Alexis Ohanian of Reddit tells the real-life fable of one humpback whale’s rise to web stardom.
Fred Stutzman discusses Facebook, Myspace, and social networks in general. He covers the concepts of Social surveillance, weak versus strong ties, and the effect of the “invisible audience.” The differences between social networks, and the effects of social networks on society in terms of privacy implications are discussed.
In Generation Like, author and FRONTLINE correspondent Douglas Rushkoff (The Merchants of Cool, The Persuaders) explores how the perennial teen quest for identity and connection has migrated to social media—and exposes the game of cat-and-mouse that corporations are playing with these young consumers.
Audio Links
Learning Objective: 5.1: Demonstrate the impact social networks can have on the lives of individuals.
Scroll down to the “Big Data Revolution”. Once invisible details of our lives can now be tracked and turned into data. Will this make life easier or more complicated? This hour, TED speakers imagine how Big Data will reshape our world.
Learning Objective: 5.2: Provide examples of how verbal and nonverbal interaction guides our behavior.
NPR All Things Considered story describes Milgrim’s experiment, key findings, and limitations of the original study. The story reports on present-day follow-up investigation with original participants, and addresses ethics and implications for human subjects studies.
Web Resources
Learning Objective: 5.1: Demonstrate the impact social networks can have on the lives of individuals.
5.3 Social Media
This article from Contexts magazine takes a look at the relationship between higher education and social media, specifically Twitter and Facebook.
Learning Objective: 5.3: Describe the needs primary and secondary groups meet for members of society and the overall society.
5.1 Role Strain of Student Athletes
This article looks at the challenges college athletes face and how stress can impact their course work.
Learning Objective: 5.4: Show how the characteristics of bureaucracy apply to formal organizations.
5.2 National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Act protects the rights of employees to act together to address conditions at work, with or without a union. This protection extends to certain work-related conversations conducted on social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.
This article from Pacific Standard Magazine takes a look at “mindfulness” initiatives that are now becoming more commonplace in many companies. These techniques may help workers be happier while on the job and more productive.