Implementing and Analyzing Social Media in Higher Education

This article examines how social media can incorporate into the higher education setting in meaningful ways using optional participation, active content production, and active moderation. The authors use two authoethnographic case studies. The first case pertains to pedagogical use through a student created and maintained Facebook group for a Sociology of Gender course. The second case pertains to the construction and maintenance of a participatory learning culture through a departmental Facebook page. The article includes accounts from each case and an analysis of the successful components.