An online syllabus for a new class at the Parsons New School is adorned with the following quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Fame is proof that people are gullible." The class is called Internet Famous.FAME, at least according to this professor, is defined as getting hits; and students in this class learn the science behind how to best leverage social media channels and gain online audiences.
There is no A for Effort, though, as student's grades are tabulated solely on what kind of fame they are able to generate for themselves over the course of the semester:
Offered at Parsons New School of Deisgn, Internet Famous Class is dedicated to learning how to spread your work to the widest possible audience online. It's also the first algorithmically graded class in the history of academics.
Our Famotron software measures the online attention economy — view counts, blog links, social media activity, followers and their influence — and awards students their final letter grade.
Is this affiliated with the Reality TV school?
