Writing Project Description

Writing Project Description#

In this class we have practiced using different ethics frameworks to look at issues involving automation and social media. This writing project is an opportunity for you to try a more in-depth version of this.

Project Content#

Your task is to create a project that explores the following:

  • Present a social media and automation issue or scenario

    • You can choose whatever interests you. It can be from the book (feel free to look at future chapters), or it can be something not addressed in the book.

  • Use two ethics frameworks to analyze a issue/scenario

    • You can use the ethics frameworks from the book or ones that we didn’t mention but you want to use.

  • Compare and contrast how the two ethics frameworks applied to the issue/scenario

    • Did the different frameworks highlight different aspects of the issue/scenario?

  • Conclude with what your primary ethical concerns are with the issue/scenario

    • Informed by the two ethics frameworks.

    • You could say that in your view one fits the situation well and another doesn’t, or that looking at both together provides more insight than either one by itself.

Feel free to incorporate your own experiences with the issue/scenario, particularly in the introduction and the conclusions.

Project Format#

Your writing project can be in the social media format of your choice. For example you could make:

  • A series short of social media posts on Tumblr, Mastodon, Bluesky, etc.

  • A blog post or Reddit post (could be like a traditional essay)

  • A series of TikTok short videos

  • A YouTube video essay

  • A podcast

WARNING: Some media formats take a deceptively large amount of work, particularly video with graphics or clips.

Note: You will need to cite sources in your project in whatever citation is appropriate for the format you are using (e.g., citations like MLA, hyperlinks, notes in the video or podcast description, holding up a book on screen, screenshots, etc.)

Project Stages#

You will be doing several intermediate steps to create your writing project. These steps are not meant to make you do any additional work, instead they are intended to be the work that you’d have to do anyway to write the final project. They are broken into different turn-ins (about 1 per week) to make sure you stay on track for finishing the paper at the end of the quarter, and so that you can get feedback on your progress and improve your writing.

  • Proposal

  • Sourcing the topic/scenario

  • Ethics framework background

  • Outline of using frameworks

  • Full project draft

  • Final project

Grading#

For each of the stages of the project (except the final project) you will have to get peer feedback on that stage from before it’s due and turn in information on who you got feedback from and what feedback you got (we will give you time in class to do this).

  • Proposal (10 pts peer feedback, 15 points turned in)

  • Sourcing the topic/scenario (10 pts peer feedback, 15 points turned in)

  • Ethics framework background (10 pts peer feedback, 15 points turned in)

  • Outline of using frameworks (10 pts peer feedback, 25 points turned in)

  • Full project draft (10 pts peer feedback, 75 points turned in)

  • Final project (100 pts)

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