Course introduction

The University College London (UCL) has designed this course on “Why We Post: The Anthropology of Social Media”.

Why join the course?

This free online course is based on the research of nine anthropologists who each spent 15 months in field sites in Brazil, Chile, industrial and rural China, England, India, Italy, Trinidad and Turkey.

What are the consequences of social media?

The course gives you a new definition of social media which concentrates on the content posted, not just the capabilities of platforms. Furthermore, it assesses the growing importance of images in communication and the reasons why people post memes, selfies and photographs.

During five weeks, you will discover the impact of social media on a wide range of topics including politics, education, gender, commerce, privacy and equality. Lastly, you will come to understand how the consequences of social media differ from region to region.

Course details:

• Course developer: University College London
• Language: English
• Course provider: Future Learn
• Learning mode: Self-paced
• Subject: Politics & Society
• Price: Free with limited access, monthly subscription: $27.99 or buy this course: $54, one-off payment for full access.
• Duration: 5 weeks (3 hours/week effort)
• Start date: Available now

Course instructors:

See the full list of instructors here.

Learning objectives

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Apply critical thinking to a range of cross-cultural qualitative and quantitative evidence.
• Evaluate social media from an anthropological & comparative perspective and conduct mini research projects.
• Compare one’s own perspective on social media to those from different cultural backgrounds.

Who can enroll?

This course is of crucial and significant importance to everyone interested in social media & people.

Course content

What will this course cover?

• What is social media and how should we define it?
• Academic attitudes to social media and an introduction to anthropology.
• The rise of images in communication.
• The effect of social media on gender and politics.
• The effect of social media on education, commerce and privacy.
• The influence of social media on inequality.

Course benefits

• 100% online
• Access to this course for 6 weeks

How to apply?

You can apply for this course by completing a simple registration on the link.

Register Now

For more information about the free online course on ‘The Anthropology of Social Media’ by University College London, please refer to FutureLearn’s website.

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