User talk:Marlzbrooke/sandbox

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Your topic is very interesting. I'm not sure you want to focus on both the 'public utility' and 'information monopoly' aspects or just focus on one. From my first reading of the 250 words, I think it becomes a little hard to follow as it seems like you want to focus on the 'public utility' part of SNSs (social network sites). It may be easier to use 'information monopoly' as one section within your description of the theory of social media as a public utility.

Brainstorming Ideas

 * Identify why SNSs should and should not be a public utility (from a individual, business, and government level)
 * Can this theory be linked to any other policy ideas, past or present?



Brandonbrooks1 (talk) 23:57, 28 February 2012 (UTC) suggestions from NetworkedTogether-

Brandon's Articles
Social media is difficult to define and this article may be helpful. They define social media as, "Social Media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of User Generated Content".

The second article is more general and from NPR discussing how social media is expected to be a public utility. Thompson, Ambrose. 2010. Social Media as Public Expectation: The New Public Utility. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.nypl.org/blog/2010/06/30/social-media-public-expectation

Brandonbrooks1 (talk) 00:16, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Ruth's Comments
First of all, you have a great start on an interesting subject. It will be a bit of a challenge to develop more fully. There are some interesting aspects that could be debated.

A brief description of some concepts or topics to be explored that will expand the article. The concept of really examining what a public utility is, along with the fact that most social media is currently free anyway and accessible to whoever is really interested in obtaining it would be interesting to pursue. You could also pursue the historical social media groups such as My Space to show that what is currently considered “necessary” may be very outdated in a few years.

Citations for two academic papers that they should look through. Bach, A. (2010). Youth Media Literacy Practices: The Possibilities and Complexities of Creating and Distributing Non-Commercial Public Media in a Private and Commercial World and--- Zhang, T. (2011). Social media's role, utility, and future in video game public relations

A brief description of why each of the papers noted in (b) will be helpful. Both of these look at the role of social media and deal with aspects of how they can be used in communications aspects and also how essential they have become.

A quote from one of the two academic research papers identified in (b) that might be of interest. From the first article, “ Rooted in New Literacy Studies, a branch of scholarship which explores reading and writing primarily as social practices and cultural forms, this study understands literacy in relation to the larger economic, political, social, and historical contexts in which reading and writing always exist.” It looks at how social media has become a basic form of literacy A illustration you might like



--NetworkedTogether (talk) 23:42, 28 February 2012 (UTC)