This introductory course systematically examines a wide range of topics related to the proliferation and use of digital media in a networked world, including psychology, social relationships, culture, economics, politics, and philosophy. It is designed to prepare students for living and working in an increasingly mediated society in which digital technologies are omnipresent, yet ubiquitous. While the scope of this course is highly interdisciplinary, its emphasis will be placed on specialist knowledge for media professions such as advertising and journalism. Prerequisite: ADV 150. Restricted to students with sophomore and junior standing.
Topics
- Core Concepts and Principles - Advertising as communication, the changing media landscape, the "digital economy" and the advertising industry, a whirlwind tour of digital advertising
- Data Eats Everything - Data is the new oil, cookies and fingerprints, recommender systems, programmatic advertising, digital display advertising, search engine marketing
- Brands Want to Be Your Friends - Social media, conversational commerce, eWOM & user-generated content, influencer marketing, content marketing, bots
- Off the Big Screen & Into the Matrix - Mobile advertising, multitasking & synced advertising, wearables and the "quantified self," virtual and augmented reality, advergames, the Internet of Things
- Building a Better Future - Cooperative vs. adversarial advertising, privacy & surveillance capitalism, the attention economy, mis- dis- and malinformation, algorithmic bias, the "time bomb at the heart of the internet"