About

Welcome to the class blog for USC Annenberg’s class “Introduction to Online Communities.”  On this blog, you can expect to see about 4-6 posts per week related to our general course themes.

If you’re not yet familiar with our program, please review this description of our course objectives:

The Introduction to Online Communities course provides a basic set of knowledge, skills, and terminology needed to understand the advent, growth and development of online communities.

Students learn to engage with, critique, and discuss online communities through timely readings, reputable guest lecturers, and lively discussions. Assigned readings include both influential industry blogs and academic publications.

Frequent guest lecturers offer information about new developments in the industry and provide students with insights into the leadership and management of online communities.

Weekly discussions draw from the week’s industry news, other readings, and topics and issues raised by our guests. The class explores business aspects of online communities, motivations for their creation, strategies for cultivating them, as well as trends in this industry.

This wealth of knowledge serves as preparation for future classes and projects at APOC.

Looking forward to a great year of class. And a great year of student reflections here on this blog!

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