INF109 Digital Media and Society 2024-25
Individual Assessment: Blog 2 (50% of module grade)
For this assessment, you will write three individual 925-word blog posts (2775 words total) about material covered on the ʻ Digital Societyʼ strand of the module. You will submit these three blog posts at the end of semester 2. You will use Wordpress to create both of your blogs. You will be shown how to do this in the web skills strand of the module.
Blog Topics and Deadlines
Each topic that we have covered this semester has its own unique question/prompt that has been set by the lecturer for that topic. You will complete a total of three 925-word blog posts that respond to each of these prompts. In each post, be sure to reference some of the key concepts covered in the lecture and readings and use examples from contemporary digital society to illustrate your points.
Blog Post 1 should respond to the prompt: Reflect on whether social media is good or bad for users I well-being. Use examples that reference the design ofplatforms, their business models, and the type ofpractices and content they host.
Blog Post 2 should respond to the prompt: Reflect on how data driven digital advertising and marketing shapes individuals, for better or worse. Use specific examples of specific adverts or digital marketing campaigns to illustrate your key points.
● To help, you could think back to how adverts stereotype gender or nationality, for example. You may also wish to think about how data-driven marketing has impacted individual political beliefs in recent years, and you could draw on examples to do with fake news, conspiracy theories, or political advertising to illustrate your points. For instance, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, or Covid-19 conspiracy theories.
Blog Post 3 should respond to the prompt: Imagine you are an activist for a social movement.
Describe how you would use digital media to promote your cause, backing up your choices with information from the required readings, the suggested readings, and high-quality sources you find on your own.
Deadline: 29th May 2025 at 2 pm
Submission Instructions
For each deadline, you must submit your INF109 blogs in two locations:
Turnitin Submission
1. Copy and paste the text from your three blogs into a single Word document and submit to the Turnit in link in Blackboard. This will mean that you will lose any HTML formatting, but only the text in the submission to Turnit in is marked. Remember to name your file with your registration number only (e.g. 22165789.docx). This part of your submission makes up 50% of your mark and is for the written content of your blog.
Wordpress Submission
2. For the Web versions of your Blogs, you will submit using your live WordPress sites, developed during the Web Skills sessions. For submission, you will need to ensure that you have completed your WordPress blog by the submission time of 2pm on the 29th of May. After this time, you will lose the ability to edit your sites unless you have a pre-agreed extension. Remember it is your responsibility to check that your blog works as expected by the deadline (i.e. media displays properly, menus and links work etc.). This part of your submission makes up 50% of your mark and is for the design of your blog (i.e. your Web Skills).
If your work is not in both locations, you risk missing 50% of the available marks and failing your assignment. Please follow the instructions carefully.
Failure to meet the deadline
If you have extenuating circumstances which mean you are unable to meet the deadline you must apply for an extension prior to the deadline. See the student handbook for details and email Kate Miltner (k.miltner@sheffield.ac.uk) if you are unsure.
If you submit after the deadline, you will receive a penalty for late submission. Late submission will result in a deduction of 5% of the total mark awarded for each working day after the submission date, where ‘working day’ includes Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) and runs from 10 am to 10 am. The 5 working day deadline for late submission is absolute. Any coursework submitted after the 5 working day period that does not have an extension granted will receive a ZERO grade and will not be marked. See the Student Handbook for the policy regarding submissions and extensions.
Please leave plenty of time to submit your files to the two places of submission. It is your responsibility to check the readability of BOTH submissions and to leave yourself enough time to do so. If you have questions about how to submit your work, you must ask Kate and Peter at least 2 working days before the deadline.
Creating Your Blogs
Each blog post should be structured as follows:
● A brief title that sums up your overall argument about the topic (not included in the word count)
● Introduction: A brief introduction to the topic and your specific focus including brief definitions of any complex concepts.
● Body: Most of your word count should be used in this main section of the blog post.
Make sure that your argument is supported by material from class, the reading list, and other high-quality sources (e.g. academic books, journal articles, high quality media, government reports). You should have at least one source for each argument you make, and each source needs an in-text citation in Harvard format.
○ You gain marks for demonstrating you have understood the materials in class, and from finding your own good quality sources.
○ You need to use multiple good quality sources to begin scoring higher marks.
。 If you do not support your argument with evidence and citations, it ʼsjust your opinion.
● Conclusion: reiterate your main argument and discuss what the wider significance of this is (for people, society, inclusion etc)
● A reference list (not included in word count). A full reference list in Harvard style should be provided at the end of each blog post. You were taught how to produce a Harvard reference list in Semester 1.
○ You must show where you got your information and ideas from by citing your
sources in-text. You should provide Harvard citations in your text (and link these to the original source if it is online).
○ Poor referencing practice was an issue for many students in Blogs 1. If you have any questions about this, please review the recorded session in the Semester 1, Week
11 area of Blackboard. You can also ask for help from the 301 Academic Skills Centre .
● Blog-style writing: Writing an academic blog is like writing an essay, but in a less formal writing style. A good academic blog is easy to understand, clearly structured, and with strong arguments that are well-supported with high-quality sources. It is NOT an opinion piece where you say what you like without supporting your points with evidence.
○ You were given feedback on your writing in Blogs 1. You should read over the feedback you received for your previous blogs and try to work on the points for improvement that your marker gave you.
● Content requirements: You will be expected to reference the required reading and you will be penalized by 5 points if you do not reference the required readings in your response. We recommend that you reference the optional readings and video content when it is relevant to your response. You should also find additional high-quality, academic sources of your own.
● Generative AI: please refer to the Universityʼs guidelines on generative AI in
assessments and adhere to them. If you have any questions, please get in touch with Kate or Pete.
You get half of your marks for blog development using WordPress Your blog should demonstrate the web skills you have learned in the module e.g. content design, navigation, links, use of images, video and other embedded media (see marking criteria for web skills below).
Word counts
The word count is +/- 10%. That means each blog post should be between 833 and 1,017 words. You will receive a word count penalty (3 marks) if your blog is outside of this range. Please make sure to add your word count at the end of each blog post. You will receive a penalty of 3 marks if you do not include your word count.
Marking & feedback
Marking will be undertaken by the full teaching team and will be moderated to ensure consistency across markers.
Marking criteria
50% of the mark is for the content of the blog. We will mark the blog content using the
standard Information School marking criteria. This means that we will be assessing your work based on:
1. Interpretation and scope of the assignment
2. Understanding of the subject (concepts, themes, debates, issues etc)
3. Evaluation and synthesis of the evidence (how you used the sources you used to
evidence and develop your argument – you get higher marks from drawing on multiple sources to build an argument & evidence a point)
4. Critical Analysis
5. Argument
6. Structure of the writing
7. Use of English
8. Presentation of data, and quality of Harvard citations and reference list
9. Overall presentation
10. Identification of information/evidence (the sources you used to research the topic)
50% of the mark is for your web skills. We will mark this component using the following criteria:
1. Quality of the content design i.e. use of WordPress features and design to enhance the user experience of your readers and the context of your discussion
2. Quality of navigation and links - for example ensuring you provide readers the ability to link to other relevant stories and explore your discussion further, perhaps between your own blog posts or to other external thematically aligned content
3. Use of images, video and other embedded content - the use of media to enhance the context of your blog discussion. These could be images to support / explain your discussion, or links to embedded content such as social media posts or video content to better contextualise the topic to the reader.
4. Appropriateness of the design to the topic - use of HTML and Style within WordPress to promote effective communication - i.e. writing for the Web and clearly defining sections, quotes and embedded content with accompanying citations (online where possible)