Identities and social ties in digital social environments

Teacher(s)

Maes Renaud;

Language

French

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

Skill 1 - Develop communication strategies that integrate the different aspects of digital culture. Learning outcomes 1. Prospectively analyze the digital communication of an organization, its sector of activity and its social, cultural, technological, economic, political and legal context. 6. Identify new professional communication needs created by the evolution of society and digital technologies; be at the initiative of new practices or new professions to meet these new needs. Skill 4 - Mobilize and produce knowledge in communication strategy and digital culture in a supported and methodical way, as part of critical reflection or a research project. Learning outcomes 1. Have in-depth knowledge of the main theoretical and methodological approaches to research on communication and digital culture. 2. Based on multidisciplinary knowledge, develop critical and informed reflection on digital technologies and their human and societal issues. 3. Carry out an original research project, judiciously mobilizing various theoretical, methodological and technological resources. 4. Report research and its results in a clear, coherent and structured manner, in writing and orally, and respecting the requirements of scientific communication. 5. Based on research results, formulate recommendations regarding the organization's communication strategy and/or conceptualize new communication systems or practices. 6. Update your knowledge and practices by implementing monitoring techniques on communication and digital trends and innovations.

Content

This course unit examines transformations in identities and social ties at the intersection of broader societal change and technological developments in communication. Drawing on authors, concepts and approaches from sociology and communication studies, it highlights both the opportunities and risks posed by the Internet for “living together” and engagement in the public sphere. The main themes and issues addressed in this course unit are:

• The relationship between communication, technology and society (technological determinism, critiques of the Internet, social determinism, the co-construction of society and technology, etc.).
  
• Usage studies, including selected contributions from science and technology studies.
  
• Digital inclusion, the digital divide, and digital literacies.
  
• Online self-production, self-presentation and self-exposure, as well as online self-narratives—including the social uses of self-tracking metrics—web intimacy, and their implications for engagement.
  
• Digital sociabilities (online social networks, online communities, virtual communities, networked publics, etc.), relational uses of digital communication technologies, the influence of the Internet on social ties and social capital, and the implications for engagement.
  
• The spatio-temporal issues raised by communication technologies: the densification and duplication of time, connection and disconnection, practices of “despatialisation” and “respatialisation,” the privatisation of public spaces and the publicisation of private spaces, including issues of civility.
  
• Power and social media networks: relations of influence, transformations in control and “networked” power (including governmentality), as well as the socio-political dimensions of web metrics and big data (including dataveillance, sousveillance and interveillance).
  

Course outline
Part 1: Identity and Digital Culture

1. Digital identity and complex society
   
2. The process of identity construction
   
3. Digital narrative identities
   
4. Ruptures and shifts in digital culture
   
5. Egalitarianism and digital inequalities
   
6. Identities and disidentification
   

Part 2: Technologies, Uses and Virtual Identity

1. Technological development and innovation
   
2. Social uses of technologies
   
3. The construction of virtual identity, communities and connected individuals
   
4. Societal transformations: individualisation and acceleration, mobility and control
   

Teaching methods

The course unit combines lecture-based sessions, collective discussions of texts read by students that explore specific aspects of the course content in greater depth, and collective reflection or analysis sessions focusing on current issues or concrete cases (introduced by the lecturer and/or the students, as well as by invited experts).
Please note: regular and active participation by students in all course sessions is expected.

Evaluation methods

Assessment takes the form of an oral presentation before the two course co-instructors. Students may use supporting material, but this is not compulsory. Reading from a written text is not permitted.
Students are expected to give a presentation of approximately ten minutes, prepared in advance:

• Either a case study, including an analysis drawing on the content of both parts of the course, particularly the different theoretical approaches;
  
• Or an in-depth discussion of a specific chapter or course topic chosen from one of the two parts, while necessarily incorporating contributions from the other part.
  

The prepared presentation is followed by a discussion with the two course co-instructors.
The assessment by the two course co-instructors takes the following elements into account:

• the relevance of the presentation to the content of both parts of the course;
  
• the quality of the sources used and the critical assessment of those sources;
  
• the originality of the content presented;
  
• precision in the use of the concepts mobilised during both the presentation and the discussion.
  

The presentation must be based on original work. Students are expected to comply scrupulously with the rules and good practices regarding citation, referencing and the use of AI, as set out during the seminar sessions, in the document Referencing Sources, Citation and Non-Plagiarism (available on Moodle), and in the Code of Ethics Governing the Writing of Scientific Work, annexed to the implementing provisions of the General Regulations for Studies and Examinations for the Master’s programme in Communication Strategy and Digital Culture. Any failure to comply with the rules set out above may result in academic and/or disciplinary sanctions, in accordance with the General Regulations for Studies and Examinations.
In all cases, the use of AI must be explicitly disclosed. Any part of the presentation that relies, in any way, on generative AI must be clearly identified, either through a note on the presentation material or through an oral statement. Students must also specify which generative AI tool was used and how it was used.
“Reusing” individual or group work completed as part of any course unit requires considerable caution. Exceptionally, such an approach may be considered provided that the student: (1) seeks authorisation from the instructors; (2) justifies this reuse within the presentation, which must, as a whole, clearly constitute an original contribution in comparison with the initial work; and (3) scrupulously applies the rules governing citation and referencing to any use of that work. Failure to comply with these rules may be considered an academic irregularity, including self-plagiarism.
The assessment arrangements for the second examination session are identical to those of the first session.

Online resources

The PowerPoint slides are available online on Moodle.
The following materials are also available on Moodle:
Part 1: Reading pack
Part 2: The books and articles listed in the bibliography for each class session

Bibliography

Les ouvrages suivants sont indicatifs, une bibliographie complète est disponible sur Moodle.
Granjon, F. (2012), Reconnaissance et usages d'Internet : Une sociologie critique des pratiques de l'informatique connectée, Paris : Presses de l'école des Mines.
Cardon, D. (2010), La démocratie Internet, Paris : Le Seuil.
Fourmentraux, J.-P. (dir.) (2015), Identités numériques. Expression et traçabilité, Paris : CNRS.

Faculty or entity

> ESPB