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May 21, 2008
Update to Psychology of Facebook Group
Again, I'm going to post something unusual here: my update to 800+ people who belong to the "Psychology of Facebook" group interested in my course at Stanford. The post is long. It may be boring.
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Hi, everyone . . .
A few updates from the Psych of Facebook class at Stanford
1. Two classes remain
We have just two class periods remaining in the Psychology of Facebook course at Stanford. If you haven't already, now is the time to tune into our class via web video. We go live each Thursday about 1:35 PST at this URL: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/psycholo
gy-of-facebook
(See my thoughts on broadcasts at the end of this note.)
2. Join this Facebook Page soon
After our course ends, we'll continue learning together via Facebook. But we won't likely use this Group (it will soon grow too big for me to email you). Instead, join this Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Psychology-of-Facebook/21745304968
3. Topics for this week
This week we're exploring the psychology of Facebook App Adoption and the psychology of Facebook as Ritual. You'll find readings listed at this page: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dcqn4jpj_230f4phghfm&hl=en
4. Chapter submissions due on Saturday
Saturday is the deadline for submitting your work for consideration in "The Psychology of Facebook" volume we're publishing in late summer. If you absolutely need an extension, it is possible. But I need to know your intention by Saturday, end of day. Email me: bjfogg@stanford.edu (Don't send it via Facebook because I can't filter or organize messages)
More info here: http://www.psychologyoffacebook.com/authors.html
5. Please appreciate help from Nao Ishitsuka and Daisuke Iizawa
I hope everyone will appreciate the work from two visiting researchers in my lab to make the class broadcasts possible (and the overall class easier). I did not have a teaching assistant this quarter, even though more than 100 people were involved in some form each week. So these two super people stepped up. Their volunteering made the course worse for them but better for many of you.
If you want to thank Nao and Daisuke, send a short email my way -- bjfogg@stanford.edu. I'll forward it.
That's all for now (except my thoughts about broadcasting below)
BJ Fogg
Persuasive Technology Lab
Stanford University
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Thoughts on broadcasting our course live to people around the world
I didn't intend to broadcast this new course live over the web. In fact, I was hesitant to do this because I thought being on live video might hurt the classroom experience. Also, because this is a new course, I didn't want to broadcast all the mistakes I might make in running the course. But many of you wanted to peek in, so we complied. Overall, I'm glad we did. I've received some nice notes of thanks, including from places I'd never expect.
I feel we've pushed the edge a bit in teaching & sharing. To broadcast our course we used no special gear, no budget, no advanced preparation. Today, any teacher with a computer, a web cam, and an internet connection can broadcast live. But the question remains: Why would a teacher want to increase complexity and stress in the classroom? I received no direct benefits for broadcasting except your notes of thanks. Somehow, making this content available to a wide audience felt like the right thing to do.
We got a rocky start with the technology, especially the audio. But we eventually improved. The audio/video quality still isn't superb, but it's decent. And for those who are interested in this topic, even a low-quality connection is much better than nothing at all.
I didn't expect that Ustream would record and save the video on their site. In fact, I explicitly didn't want this to happen. Yet I've heard good things from people who have watched the recordings. I worry about archiving the informal things we've said. The idea of being recorded does (or should) make you think twice before you speak. At times there were things I wanted to say but did not, knowing this was being recorded. This sensation, I suppose, is not so different from the effect Facebook is having on students these days while on campus: they know anything they do with friends in real life could appear on Facebook in a photo or Wall post.
Would I choose to broadcast the course live again? Perhaps. Would I save the videos online? I'm not sure. I may remove the remove the videos at some point. They seem to pose a liability, with no clear benefit in return.
One more thing . . .
Having a Facebook group -- all of you -- as supporters was definitely a big plus. It was helpful to get your feedback and input. It was fun to update you every week or so. Yes, I will definitely start groups for future courses. I hope to learn how to involve you in the course more. One barrier is time. But another problem is that the features in "Facebook Groups" are not so good. I've asked a few people at Facebook to make improving Groups a priority, but they don't seem to understand the new value they can create by making their Group offering "world class" and not merely mediocre.
Those are my thoughts for now . . .
Posted by BJ Fogg at May 21, 2008 06:42 PM