SOCIOLOGY 197

THE SOCIOLOGY OF CYBERSPACE:
Online Communities and Markets

FALL 2003

Instructor	Peter Kollock
Office	287 Haines Hall
Phone	310-825-3914
Email	kollock@ucla.edu

Class Discussion Boards

Week 1		INTRODUCTION
		Most of the readings and resources for this class will be available online.  Readings in bold are available in the one book required for this seminar:  Communities in Cyberspace (ASUCLA bookstore).  Readings and assignments are to be done prior to the week in which they are discussed. Each week you will be asked to post your reactions to the week's readings on the class Discussion Board.  These postings are due by 8:00pm the day before class. Each week you will also be asked to post field notes on the class Field Notes Board describing the online groups and communities you have visited in the past week (also due by 8:00pm the day before class).
Week 2		COMMUNITIES
Reading		Communities in Cyberspace. (Kollock & Smith 1999 -- also available online) Net Surfers Don’t Ride Alone: Virtual Communities as Communities. (Wellman & Gulia 1999 -- also available online) The Heart of the WELL and Daily Life in Cyberspace (Rheingold 1993) Mudding: Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Reality. (Curtis 1991) How many list subscribers does it take to change a lightbulb? Post reactions on  the Discussion Board
Surfing		Online introductions Post an introduction of yourself on the Field Notes Board.  Post your email address, personal web page URL & picture (if available), skills (e.g., HTML, setting up web sites, familiarity with research literatures, etc. ), and the URL’s of some favorite web sites. Describe the online groups and communities you are most familiar with.
Week 3		IDENTITY AND ANONYMITY
Reading		The Strange Case of the Electronic Lover. (Van Gelder 1991) Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. (Donath 1999) Reading Race Online: Discovering Racial Identity in Usenet Discussions. (Burkhalter 1999) Writing in the Body: Gender (Re)Production in Online Interaction. (O’Brien 1999) Post reactions on  the Discussion Board
Surfing		Visit at least two asynchronous text groups (i.e., Discussion boards, Usenet newsgroups, etc.) Post notes on the Field Notes Board
Week 4		SOCIAL ORDER AND DEVIANCE
Reading		A Rape in Cyberspace. (Dibbell 1993) Approaches to Managing Deviant Behavior in Virtual Communities. (Bruckman et al. 1994) Hierarchy and Power: Social Control in Cyberspace. (Reid 1999) Problems of Conflict Management in Virtual Communities. (Smith 1999) Post reactions on  the Discussion Board Also Recommended: LambdaMOO Takes a New Direction (1996)
Surfing		Visit at least two synchronous text groups (i.e., Chat rooms, IM, IRC, MUDs & MOOs, etc.) Post notes on the Field Notes Board
Week 5		COOPERATION AND COLLECTIVE ACTION
Reading		Managing the Virtual Commons: Cooperation and Conflict in Computer Communities. (Kollock & Smith 1996) The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. (Kollock 1999 -- also available online) The Cathedral and the Bazaar. (Raymond 1997/2000) Cyberspace and Disadvantaged Communities: The Internet as a Tool for Collective Action. (Mele 1999) Post reactions on  the Discussion Board Also Recommended: Social Dilemmas: The Anatomy of Cooperation. (Kollock 1998) The Effect of Communication Modality on Cooperation in Online Environments. (Jensen et al. 2000)
Surfing		Visit an online community of your choice Post notes on the Field Notes Board
Week 6		MARKETS AND REPUTATIONS
Reading		The Production of Trust in Online Markets. (Kollock 1999) Reputation Systems. (Resnick et al. 2000) Revenge of the Know-It-Alls. (Frauenfelder 2000) Skim: The USENET Marketplace FAQ Alt.Music.Bootlegs FAQ METW Trading Rules and METW Trader References Post reactions on  the Discussion Board Also Recommended: Slashdot (description of the Karma system in the FAQ) Reputations Research Network Trust Among Strangers in Internet Transactions: Empirical Analysis of eBay's Reputation System. (Resnick & Zeckhauser 2002) MUD Money:  A Talk on Virtual Value and, Incidentally, the Value of the Virtual. (Dibbell 1995)
Surfing		Visit at least one  informal online market (e.g., Usenet forsale groups or web auction sites such as eBay) and one formal commerce site (e.g., Amazon). Post notes on the Field Notes Board
Week 7	(Holiday)
Reading	No readings for this week Post a 1-2 sentence description of your class project on  the Discussion Board
Surfing	Join a multiplayer online world Post notes on the Field Notes Board
Week 8	GRAPHICAL WORLDS: Lessons from History
Reading	The Lessons of Lucasfilm’s Habitat. (Morningstar & Farmer 1991) Habitat Anecdotes. (Farmer 1988) Oracle Layza’s Tales from Fujitsu Habitat. (Farmer 1990) Metaworlds. (Rossney 1996) Life at the Palace. (Suler 1996) “History of the First Year”; “Subtlety in Multimedia Chat”; skim rest Post reactions on  the Discussion Board Also Recommended: Comic Chat. (Kurlander, Skelly & Salesin 1996) The Social Life of Small Graphical Chats. (Smith, Farnham, & Drucker 2000)
Surfing	Spend time in the multiplayer online world you’ve selected Post notes on the Field Notes Board
Week 9	GRAPHICAL WORLDS
Reading	Killers Have More Fun. (Kim 1998) Kill Bunnies, Sell Meat, Kill More Bunnies. (Lizard 1998) The Unreal Estate Boom (Dibbell 2003) Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier. (Castronova 2001) Post reactions on  the Discussion Board Also Recommended: On Virtual Economies. (Castronova 2002)
Surfing	Spend time in the multiplayer online world you’ve selected Post notes on the Field Notes Board
Week 10	LESSONS AND DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Reading	Online Community Building Concepts. (Williams 1994) Nine Principles for Making Virtual Communities Work. (Godwin 1994) Making Virtual Communities Work. (Suler 1996) Design Principles for Online Communities. (Kollock 1996) Secrets of Successful Web Communities:  9 Timeless Design Principles for Community Building. (Kim 1998) Post reactions on  the Discussion Board Also Recommended: The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online. (Rheingold 1998) The WELL Host Manual (1996) Cyberspace Innkeeping. (Coate 1993)
Surfing	Class Projects Post a 1-2 sentence description of your class project on  the Discussion Board

Ask yourself what you need to know to make this the kind of world you would like to live in. Demand that your teachers teach you that.

Kropotkin

        (Historical Note:   Syllabus from the first time this seminar was taught -- Spring 1993)