ASIAN MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION / New Media, New Asia
In this section, we will revisit the assignment's expectations and the steps necessary to complete the assignment effectively.
1. Assessed criteria:
● Interpret relevant theoretical knowledge pertaining to the digital culture in Asia and its practices.
● Critique various contemporary trends and issues in Asian digital media.
● Analyze the influence of digital media on Asian cultural contexts.
● Evaluate the social and cultural impact of digital media and emergent technologies on Asian contexts and subcultures.
2. Assignment details:
● Requirement: write an industry white paper based on your assignment 1 proposal
● Format: industry white paper
● Objectives:
- Word count of 1,750 to 2,000 (excluding references and appendices)
- A minimum of 8 academic sources to be cited (sources in your annotated bibliography can be used and/or changed as you see fit). You should also use other high-quality sources, such as government documents, NGO papers, statistics and data, or news articles
- You must use at least 1 theoretical framework introduced in week 2 and 3 (summarized below) and relevant concepts learnt throughout the course for this assignment
- Your topic must be the same as that of your assignment 1
- You can adjust your introduction and theoretical framework
● Assignment structure (suggested in course content):
- Title
- Table of Contents
- List of Figures (tables, graphs, charts)
- Introduction (2-3 paragraphs):
+ Topic
+ Issue/problem
+ Research question
+ Thesis statement
+ Theory
- Explanation of theories
- Discussion
- Solutions/Suggestions
- Conclusion
- References
You can locate the instruction file on the white paper in week 12’s content.
In this segment, we will take another look at the terminology associated with assignment that is discussed within the context of the course.
|
Term |
Definition |
|
White paper |
A report that informs readers concisely about an issue. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, provide ways to solve a problem, or make a suggestion. |
|
Structure & agency |
- Structure: societal arrangements (such as government, politics as well as norms, values) which influence or limit our choices and opportunities - Agency: the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices This theory enhances the belief that human behavioral patterns are influenced by structure and agency. |
|
Technological determinism |
A reductionist theory that aims to provide a causative link between technology and a society’s nature. It tries to explain as to whom or what could have a controlling power in human affairs. The theory questions the degree to which human thought or action is influenced by technological factors. |
|
Social shaping of technology |
Decisions regarding the promotion of specific technological innovations are influenced by social factors. In other words, this theory rationalizes that humans shape the development of technology. |
|
Political economy of new media |
The theory delves into the ways in which economic policies, structures, and outcomes are shaped by and shape political institutions, processes, and ideologies. In relation to media, this approach argues that there needs an understanding of the regulations affecting information and communication technologies (ICTs) and/or the digital media-driven communication environment. |
|
Public sphere |
The idea of the public sphere involves a conceptual space where people gather to participate in reasoned discussions, deliberation, and debates on topics of shared importance. It provides a new perspective of looking at the world of public discourse and societal communication. |
|
Participatory culture |
This theory concerns the environments that allow people to actively participate in the creation and sharing of content and products, becoming producers rather than just consumers. The rapidly developing communication technology is accelerating this culture as more and more individuals become creators and distributors on online platforms. |
In this step, we will discuss in detail each component and its requirements within the assignment.
When choosing a topic to conduct research on, it is worth mentioning that you must be able to identify a particular case study alongside that before commencing the white paper. In other words, you should not start researching a subject without having a clear case study of that subject in mind. More details about this in the “Case study analysis” section.
1. INTRODUCTION:
For your introduction in a white paper, you’ll need to spend at least 2 paragraphs bringing to your reader’s focus the issue, the ways you’re going to dissect it and your research purposes. Here is a detailed version of the introduction structure:
● Introducing the issue: Start with general and broad concepts, then with each following sentence narrow the scope of your white paper to the specific aspect you’ve chosen to research on.
Example: You’ve identified “Tinder, algorithms and relationships” as your topic of discussion. A suggested approach would be: Online communities have, since their establishment, enabled seamless and seemingly “real” connection between people => Nowadays, there is a market of applications for every single type of interaction: Snapchat, Messenger, Zalo for messaging, Instagram for photo publishing, TikTok for video consumption and creation, Hinge, Tinder for dating. => In the dating scene, Tinder proves to be a heavyweight app compared to others (Rochadiat et al. 2020) => To formulate relationships based on users’ preferences and personal info, unique algorithms are constructed by Tinder (Courtois and Timmermans 2018), posing questions as to what really makes people find their SO? You should devote an entire paragraph to this, backing up statements with scholarly sources.
Charge your account to get a detailed instruction for the assignment