Purpose

You may have heard the news about the whistleblower’s testimony in Congress regarding Facebook and Instagram some time ago. Since her testimony, a conversation has started among the public about the problems not only with Facebook and Instagram but also with social media as a whole. Social media has become dominant as a social entity and is gradually becoming a global reality. The social significance and consequences of social media cannot be minimized or ignored. Our purpose is twofold: (1) to analyze the functions of social media, and (2) to apply sociological theories to develop a sociological perspective on the issue.

Task

Based on the readings assigned for the week (Chapter 1 of the textbook as well as Lesson 1 reading materials, and other sources, 

 Discuss with examples the functionalists’ take on the manifest, latent, and dysfunctions of social media. Which function would conflict theorists focus on? 

 Discussion should be at least 250-500 words in length. 

Evaluation

You will be assessed on:

1. Successfully answering the discussion prompt with originality and accuracy, and following directions.
2. Accurately including and applying important terminology from the textbook and course content.
3. Participation, timeliness, and quality of posts and replies.
4. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice, and sentence structure of posts and replies.
5. Refer to the Discussion Rubric SP21 for more specific criteria to attain a maximum discussion score.

Rubrics

• Discussion Rubric SP21