Social Networks and Communities

Introduction

Understanding relationships is vital for organizations and is particularly critical to the success of marketing and/or public relations activities. However, new forms of communication and cooperation have made it more difficult for organizations to have an overview or control over their relationships. Analyzing and detecting social networks and communities allows organizations to make sense of the social and information networks arising from the pervasive availability of the Internet and new interactive applications whose use by consumers and other stakeholders can be a benefit for organizations but also can put their reputations at risk. The course introduces basic theoretical perspectives and research methods of social networks and their applications with a focus on communication networks.

Against this background the course will cover particular aspects of social networks and communities impacting corporate communication, marketing and other communicative aspects of product and service development, and reputation.

Target groups
Bachelor students with an interest in corporate communication (for example, public relations, customer relations, public affairs), marketing (especially advertising and branding), journalism, social media and technology. The course is ideal for students who intend to pursue a career in marketing and communication, but also in communication related tasks in consulting or strategy-related corporate functions.

Course content

• Defining social networks
• Creating and sustaining social capital on social media
• Principles and applications of the social Internet
• Social networks: analysis and applications
• Communities, peer production, crowdsourcing and online collaboration processes
• Trust on the Internet
• Attention economy - the future of content
• Communication implications of digital business models
• The (counter-) cultures of the Internet
• Engaging social networks online