17-704 Influence and Persuasion Online

6 units, Carnegie Mellon University

The marketplace of ideas is moving online. Social networks play a dominant role in product success, the blogosphere shapes opinion and policy, and internet strategy strongly influences outcomes of elections at all levels. The Internet makes much more information and opinion available to everyone, but also makes it possible to construct information bubbles that hold divergent opinions at bay. The course will examine research and practice of influence and persuasion, at the individual, social, and societal levels. We will examine such questions as What makes web sites credible How and why do memes circulate through the blogosphere What strategies make Internetbased campaigns successful In this course, students will challenged with readings about research and current issues, invited to blog about the topic, and will undertake an individual or team project in an are of interest.

Prerequisites: none listed

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