business information systems

The purpose of the assignment is for you to choose an industry and then research industry related user-generated content (UGC) sites that are growing in influence. Wikipedia defines UGC as "any form of content such as blogs, wikis, discussion forums, posts, chats, tweets, podcasting, pins, digital images, video, audio files, and other forms of media that are created by users… and made available via social media websites.” Industry-specific UGC sites have gained prominence and can affect sales, social acceptance, and brand image. 

You can review a list of standard industrialized classification (SIC) codes that might be helpful to define an industry of interest at http://www.sec.gov/info/edgar/siccodes.htm.  You will then write a 2-3 page APA style paper that describes your activities, your own research, and cites the textbook.  Begin with an introduction.  State the industry, SIC code, and the top three firms based on your research.  Then comment about UGC sites you evaluated and some of their similarities and differences.  Add a discussion about the most influential UGC sites and a description of the role they play within the industry (critic, gossip, news, sales, etc.).  Be prepared to present your findings during class. You will then use this industry as the basis for other individual assignments in this course.