Final Project

Here's the description of your final project. You need to get started early in the semester.

Please consult the Schedule to see when your initial proposals and the final report are due.

Post your assignment to your user page, as usual.

Design a Network

Your goal is to design and launch an online social network. You can do it with the tools available at your disposal and that you know how to use: some of you may just want to start a Facebook group; others may decide to launch a wiki or a blog.

The network must have a goal or mission: it should exist to accomplish something (a one-time goal or a continuing one). The goal must be something beyond just providing an opportunity for a bunch of people to friend each other. Regardless of the tools you use, your goal is to try to get people to join your network and accomplish your goal.

Your network must be public so that we can review it.

Monitor your network

You should start your network as early as possible, so that you have time to monitor it as it grows (or not). It's probably not a good idea to launch your network a week before classes end.

Write a paper about the experience

Although I will be evaluating your design decisions, your grade will not be based on whether your network succeeds or fails. What I do want to see is a reflection, supported by the readings you did in class, of why you think your network succeeded or failed.

Your final written report should be about 2000 words in length and should include the following:

1. Introduction: describe your network and its goal(s)
2. Design decisions: use the readings to justify your design decisions
3. Observation: Tell us the story of what happened after you launched the network. Did it succeed, or did it fail?
4. Conclusions: Use the readings and what you learned in class to analyze the reasons for your network's success or failure. What did you learn about the experience?

---