Linda--That is a very interesting question. I have taught an introduction to social media course I created for a few years now for the MA Media Studies program at The New School. I have found that combining chapters from a few of the best books together right now seems to work very well. Here is what I have used or still do: * Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirky (key text) * The Wealth of Networks, Yochai Benkler (theory and background) * Everything is Miscellaneous, David Weinberger (tagging and knowledge) * Infotopia, Sunstein (Wisdom of Crowds) * Ambiant Findability, Peter Morville (searching and finding) * Smart Mobs, Howard Rheingold (collective behavior) * We the Media, Dan Gilmore (impact on news, journalism, info dissemination) And then of course there are about 30-50 articles, print and Web based assigned from authors like dana boyd, Jay Rosen, and many others... Bob Berkman, Associate Professor Media Studies The New School New York NY (some interesting novels to consider too: Little Brother and Feed)