Title: Social media and the prospects for expanded
democratic participation in national policy-setting
Date and Venue: April 9, 2015, Boston University, Boston, MA
USA
Abstracts Due: November 29, 2014
Decision Date: December 15, 2014
The power of social media appears at times almost limitless.
Indeed, when explaining the reasons for ISIL’s surprising success, President
Obama included in the list that they had been “savvy in terms of their social
media” (CBS 60 Minutes, 9/28/14). Social media have been credited at least in
part with not only a catastrophe in Iraq and Syria, but in catalyzing the
overthrow of Middle Eastern dictators and helping elect America’s first African-American
president. While there is no arguing that social media have affected daily
life, their impact on the conduct governance, widely considered, seems slight.
This is perhaps surprising since social media offers the promise of expanded
participation and more inclusive participation opportunities in governance.
That is, not only in creating more responsive policies, but better ones as
well. Yet although social media have demonstrated their critical role in
electoral politics and many other domains including disseminating political
news and information, they have not yet been effectively deployed in helping
set national policy. New social media platforms could potentially expand the
quality and level of public support in areas such as law enforcement, health,
education, and public diplomacy.
To better understand the barriers as well as potential role,
both positive and negative, of social media in setting national goals and
policies, leading thinkers will be coming to Boston University’s College of Communication
on April 9, 2015. With papers having been prepared in advance, the day-long
event will allow in-depth analysis of the latest thinking on these issues. In
addition, time will be set aside for a mapping exercise to consider what the
next steps are in terms of needed future research so that the insights
presented at the workshop can help inform other researchers both in the United
States and beyond. The papers and discussions from this workshop will be widely
disseminated and follow-up meetings with other groups will be held. Depending
on the findings presented at the workshop, further steps, such as convening a
blue-ribbon panel to advance recommendations may be considered.
The format of the workshop will combine invited and
competitively accepted papers. In terms of invited speakers, we have
acceptances from professors at Harvard University, Oxford University, George
Washington University, University of Washington, Syracuse, Wellesley, Roskilde University, and the Sorbonne, among other academic centers.
Moreover, to help assure that innovative thinking and a broad array of
perspectives will be included, we are circulating this call for papers. In this
way, we will be able to accommodate an additional small number of
paper-presenters.
Hence, we are soliciting additional papers on the workshop topic. Although we will consider for inclusion in a broad array of related topics, new and previously unpublished work that goes directly to the question at hand is of most interest to us. Those wishing to be considered as presenters should send an abstract of about 250 words to Dr. Jill Walsh (JillW@BU.edu) no later than November 29, 2014. Notice of acceptance will be given on December 15, 2014. Completed papers will be circulated on March 9, 2015 and will be made available on the Center for Mobile Communication Studies website (http://sites.bu.edu/cmcs/). Due to limited space, the number of participants must be strictly limited.
Co-organizers
James E. Katz, Ph.D., Dr.h.c., is the Feld Family Professor
of Emerging Media at Boston University’s College of Communication and director
of its Division of Emerging Media Studies. His latest book, The Social Media
President: Barack Obama and the Politics of Digital Engagement (2013, Palgrave
Macmillan), provides an in-depth exploration of the use and abuse of social
media for civic participation at the White House level.
David Karpf, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the School
of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. His work focuses
on strategic communication practices of political associations in America, with
a particular interest in Internet-related strategies. Author of The MoveOn
Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political Advocacy (2012,
Oxford University Press), Karpf highlights the disruptive role that the
Internet has played in the advocacy group system and differential partisan
adoption of new technologies.
