All One Needs to Know About Social Media
Postgraduate course exploring social media ecosystems, creator workflows, analytics, ethics, and immersive media including social VR and the Metaverse.
Spring 2026- Jump to schedule
- Download materials
- Form your team: Groupmate Finder and Registration Form
- Zoom (ID: 977 7930 5040; Pw: 478872)
Course Information
Course Code:
EMIA6500R (CWB) · CMAA5022 (GZ) · CSM160021 (Helsinki)
Credits: 3
Term: Spring 2026
Duration: 3 hours
Instructional Format: Hybrid (In‑Person and Online Zoom/VR)
Locations:
- Room 223, W1, Metaverse Classroom (GZ)
- Room 6568, Digital Learning Studio, MTPC [Lift 27 and 28] (CWB)
- TBD (Helsinki)
CILOs:
- CILO‑1: Analyze and strategically use diverse social media platforms across contexts, informed by analytics and research.
- CILO‑2: Design ethical, innovative workflows leveraging generative AI and multimodal tools.
- CILO‑3: Craft digital stories across formats, including VR, with accessibility and inclusivity.
- CILO‑4: Apply gamification and nudge theory while evaluating ethical risks.
- CILO‑5: Conduct and communicate research to inform strategy and measure outcomes.
Overview:
All One Needs to Know about Social Media (also known as Social Media and Social VR) is a postgraduate course that immerses students in the evolving ecosystem of social media and its applications across creative practice. Blending human-led instruction with AI-driven teaching assistants and lecturers, the course explores how creators ideate, produce, and distribute content in networked environments. A distinctive feature is its multi-university collaboration: students co-create and discuss with peers from partner institutions worldwide inside a shared Metaverse Classroom in VR, experiencing truly cross-cultural production workflows and critiques. Students engage critically and practically with platform logics, audience behaviors, and emerging technologies, including generative AI, social VR, and Metaverse. Each class includes a seminar session featuring global researchers and student teams presenting current work, giving learners direct exposure to cutting-edge scholarship and practice. Through case and paper analyses and iterative prototyping, participants develop fluency in creative content creation, digital storytelling, multimedia production, gamification for engagement, and data-informed strategy. Emphasis is placed on ethical and responsible creation, accessibility and inclusivity, experimentation, and reflective practice. Students will be capable of designing innovative, research-informed social media experiences that resonate across diverse communities and contexts.
Our Innovative Learning Environment
- Human + AI Digital Teacher co‑lecturing
- AI Teaching Assistant Q&A platform (demo)
- Metaverse Classroom in VR: stand‑ups, whiteboarding, artifact pin‑ups, presentations
- Global Seminar Series with rotating themes and reflective takeaways
- Multi‑University Collaborative Projects with industry‑mirrored roles and milestone critiques
- Interactive activities: Gamified VR game, VR storytelling
Assessment Brief and Grading Breakdown
No Examination! Group projects can be submitted as research/start-up projects! We encourage creativity!- Research Essay/Project — 35% — Individual — Not less than 2500 words
- Hands‑on Creative Project
- Project Report — 10% — Group — 15+10 minutes
- Presentation & Demo — 25% — Group — Description and Reflection
- Paper Readings & Presentations — 20% — Group — 15+5 minutes
- Participation — 10% — Individual — Online survey in class
No final or midterm exams for this course.
Reasons to take this course
- Collaborate with peers across time zones and cultures, mirroring how leading global teams work
- We emphasize practical projects, modern tools, and communication practices valued by top employers and researchers
- Collaborating on hands‑on projects so you can expect portfolio‑ready deliverables to be showcased for research roles or job applications
- Networking via our Weekly Seminar. Guest speakers and alumni panels from both academia and industry, plus connections across three campuses
Instructor and Teaching Team
Course Instructor (CWB & GZ): Professor Pan HUI
- International Fellow of RAEng, MAE, and IEEE Fellow · Chair Professor, CMA, HKUST (GZ) · EMIA, HKUST
- Webpage: panhui.people.ust.hk, Email: panhui@ust.hk
- Office: 605, E1, HKUST (GZ). By Appointment.
Course Instructor (UH): Professor Jussi KANGASHARJU
- Professor, Department of Computer Science, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology
- Webpage: jussi-kangasharju, Email: jussi.kangasharju@helsinki.fi
- Office: University of Helsinki. By Appointment.
Teaching Assistants (HKUST):
- Ching Christie PANG — ccpangaa@connect.ust.hk
- Iris DELIKOURA — idelikoura@connect.ust.hk
Teaching Assistants (HKUST GZ):
- Jia SUN — jsun666@connect.hkust-gz.edu.cn
- Guanxuan JIANG — gjiang240@connect.hkust-gz.edu.cn
Teaching Assistants (Helsinki UH):
- Marianna Ojanen — marianna.ojanen@helsinki.fi
Introducing Digital Teachers and Metaverse Classroom
Schedule (Tentative)
Zoom For Class: Zoom (Meeting ID: 977 7930 5040; Passcode: 478872). YouTube Playlist: Social Media For Creatives PlayList
| Week | Date | Attendance* | Topic & PPT | Activities & Links | Assignments & Deadlines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 Feb | — | All One Needs to Know about Social Media （PDF） |
|
Groupmate finder & team info |
| 2 | 13 Feb (hybrid)# | — | Social Media and Creativity (PDF) |
|
GZ: CNY Holidays |
| 3 | 20 Feb (hybrid)# | — | Social Media in the East and West (PDF) | 11:59pm, Feb 20, 2026: Submit group info (=4 members with GZ, HK, UH) and topics via form | |
| 4 | 27 Feb | 1 | Power of Multimedia in Social Platforms (PDF) | ||
| 5 | 6 Mar | 1 | Homophily, Creative Advertising, Viral Marketing (PDF) |
5 Mar: PG drop deadline 11:59pm, Mar 5, 2026: Group 1 submit slides/PDF/presentation materials to Canvas |
|
| 6 | 13 Mar | 1 | Social Networks and Influence (PDF) | 11:59pm, Mar 12, 2026: Group 2 submit slides/PDF/presentation materials to Canvas | |
| 7 | 20 Mar | 1 | Social Research Methods (PDF) | 11:59pm, Mar 19, 2026: Group 3 submit slides/PDF/presentation materials to Canvas | |
| 8 | 27 Mar | 1 | Digital Storytelling & Citizen Journalism (PDF) | 11:59pm, Mar 26, 2026: Group 4 submit slides/PDF/presentation materials to Canvas | |
| 9 | 10 Apr |
1 | Extended Reality (XR) and NFTs (PDF) | 11:59pm, Apr 2, 2026: Group 5 submit slides/PDF/presentation materials to Canvas | |
| 10 | 17 Apr | 1 | Existing Online Harms Powered by GenAI (PDF) | ||
| 11 | 24 Apr | 1 | Advanced CSCW: Case Study of Dating & Romance (PDF) | ||
| 12 | 8 May |
1 | Creative Project Presentations |
|
11:59pm, May 7, 2026: All groups submit final creative project presentation slides/PDF/presentation materials to Canvas |
| 13 | 15 May | 1 | Creative Project Presentations |
|
11:59pm, May 21, 2026 (tentative):individual research essay/project to Canvas |
* Attendance is scored with an in-class short survey (where applicable).
# 13 and 20 Feb are holidays at the GZ campus, so we are taking online/hybrid mode with no attendance marked. Students are encouraged to join for optimal group formation.
Instructions to Use MetaClassroom
Introducing how to use Meta Quest 3 or Pro to enter and use our MetaClassroom
Download Instruction (PDF)
Course Materials
Slides and readings will be posted to Canvas
Academic Integrity
We uphold the highest standards of academic integrity. All students must adhere to policies in the Student Conduct and Academic Integrity chapters of the Handbooks for HKUST‑GZ and HKUST.
Remarks & Readings
Keywords: Social Media Strategies, Creative Engagement, AIGC, Visual Storytelling, Branding, Influencer Marketing, Analytics, Cross‑platform Optimization, Community Building, Cultural Perspectives, Collaboration, Emerging Trends, Social Research, Nudge Theory, Gamification.
Recommended Readings:
- Easley & Kleinberg — Networks, Crowds, and Markets (selected chapters)
- Roman Kmenta — What on Earth Should I Post?
- Reza Zafarani — Social Media Mining: An Introduction
- Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Creative Technologies
- ICIDS 2023 Proceedings (and other years)
- Selected papers (WWW, KDD, CHI, CSCW, ISMAR, IEEE VR) — see Canvas updates
Optional Reading: To be updated on Canvas per interests and topics.
- Announcements on Canvas; slides posted ≥ 6 hours before class.
- All assignments submitted via Canvas on Tuesdays before 23:59.
- Projects in groups of 3–5, ideally cross‑disciplinary and cross‑campus.
- You’ll meet several digital teachers; please share feedback and preferences.
Instruction
Assignment guidelines, submission instructions, and rubrics.
How to submit: Use the Canvas submission link before 23:59 on the due date. Accepted formats: PDF, public links, or zipped projects.
General Expectations
- Be respectful and constructive in discussions.
- Cite sources for all media and data used.
- Prototype early; iterate often.
Group Formation
- Form teams of 4-5 members, with at least 1 from HKUST(GZ), 1 from HKUST, and 1 from UH.
- You can use the Groupmate Finder to find your groupmates with similar interested on Form.
- Fill in the team roster and proposed project topic by Week 3 (20 Feb).
- Student(s) who fail to find your group until week 3 will be assigned and you cannot reject the arrangement, so plan it wisely.
Your group will be a big part of this course. So make sure to get acquainted, exchange numbers/e-mail/social media/etc.
In Your Group...
- You should introduce yourselves, and then think about social media you use, observe, or find interesting.
- Identify 2-3 phenomena you'd like to track for the next 10 weeks.
- Create a Miro Board and share in the form
A phenomenon could be:
- A creator or influencer (someone active you can follow)
- A platform or feature (an app, a tool, a new functionality)
- A content format or trend (a meme style, a video genre, a hashtag)
- A controversy or ongoing debate (policy changes, moderation issues, a scandal)
- A community or subculture (a fandom, a niche group, a movement)
- A brand or campaign (how a company uses social media)
On Your Miro Board ...
For each phenomenon you propose, add a sticky note to your team's Miro board with:- Name of the phenomenon
- Brief description (2-3 sentences)
- Why it interests you
- One link or example
Selection criteria:
Your phenomenon must be...- Observable by everyone on your team (not behind a paywall, not in a language no one reads)
- Active and evolving (things are still happening, not a finished case from the past)
- Present in both Eastern and Western contexts (or its absence in one context is interesting)
- Rich enough to analyze for 10 weeks through different lenses
VR Group Discussion in Every Class (MetaClassroom) - 45 minutes Discussion + 15 minutes Wrap-up
Discuss in MetaClassroom / Zoom Breakout Room. Then, update your Miro board with:- Miro Board Template: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVG4ZqvCU=/?share_link_id=774962572902
- Create a header with your chosen phenomenon
- Write a one-paragraph description of what it is
- Add initial links and examples from Hong Kong SAR, Guangzhou, and Helsinki perspectives
- List what you already know and what you want to find out
What you're building toward each week, you'll apply that week's course concepts to your phenomenon. By week 11, your Miro board will tell the complete story of your phenomenon analyzed through multiple lenses: creativity, East/West differences, multimedia, networks, virality, storytelling, XR, gamification, and manipulation.
Your final presentation will walk the class through your phenomenon's journey and what you learned together.
For Your Paper Reading Presentation
- Schedule: One group presents each week from Week 4 to Week 11 (be careful to the sign-up form for your assigned date).
- Format: 15-minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of Q&A.
- Content: Summarize paper/readings' core argument, methods, key findings, and limitations. Connect it to related work and provide a brief literature review around your chosen phenomenon.
- Goals:
- Introduce the topic and why it matters.
- Highlight notable insights, open questions, and real-world implications.
- Engage the audience (e.g., a quick poll, example, or “fun fact”).
- Preparation: Submit your slides and relevant links at least 24 hours before class on Canvas.
- Evaluation criteria: clarity, accuracy, synthesis of related work, critical insight, and audience engagement.
How to Use FrameVR? (YouTube Tutorial: Link)
- Choose one member from the group to be the representative who set the group. Not all student needs an account but to create your own room/avatar, you would need one account.
- Setup: Go to framevr.io or https://framevr.io/ to create an account using Google, Microsoft, Facebook, or email.
- Create a Frame: Click "Create Frame" to choose an environment and create a unique, lowercase URL for your space.
- Navigate: Use WASD keys to move and drag with the mouse to look around.
- Customize: Use the "Edit" menu to add/arrange 3D models, images, or PDFs by dragging them into the room.
- Interact: Activate your camera, microphone, and screen share for collaboration.
- VR Mode: Use the Menu button to enter VR mode for headsets.
- You may also refer to Instruction 1 and Instruction 2 for more information.