2017 International Conference on Social Media & Society
(#SMSociety)
WHEN: July 28-30, 2017
WHERE: Toronto, Canada (Ted Rogers School of Management,
Ryerson University)
SUBMISSION DEADLINES:
Dec 5, 2016: Workshops, Tutorials, & Panels
Jan 16, 2017: Full & WIP Papers
Mar 6, 2017: Poster Abstracts
Conference website: http://SocialMediaAndSociety.org
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
2017 #SMSociety Theme: Social Media for Social Good or Evil
- Our online behaviour is far from virtual--it extends our offline lives. Much social media research has identified the positive opportunities of using social media; for example, how people use social media to form support groups online, participate in political uprising, raise money for charities, extend teaching and learning outside the classroom, etc. However, mirroring offline experiences, we have also seen social media being used to spread propaganda and misinformation, recruit terrorists, live stream criminal activities, reinforce echo chambers by politicians, and perpetuate hate and oppression (such as racist, sexist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic behaviour). Furthermore, behind the posts are algorithms, power structures, commercial interests and other factors that surreptitiously influence our experiences on social media. So, we ask:
- What does it actually mean to use social media for social good?
- How can social media be further leveraged for social justice? What are the threats to meaningful participation and how can we overcome these threats?
- What do we know about the 4 W’s of who, what, why, where (and how) do people engage in anti-social behaviour online?
- What theoretical and methodological tools can we use to study anti-social behaviour? Can we detect such behaviour automatically?
- What are the ethics of algorithms (inclusion, accessibility, data discrimination, bots)?
- What are the legal, policy, privacy, and ethical implications of using social big data?
- Considering the proliferation of bots online, can we still trust social media data?
- And more broadly, what are the major effects of using social media on political, economic, individual, and social aspects of our society?
The 2017 International Conference on Social Media &
Society (#SMSociety) invites scholarly and original submissions that relate to the
broad theme of Social Media & Society. We welcome both quantitative and qualitative
work which crosses interdisciplinary boundaries and expands our understanding
of the current and future trends in social media research, especially those
that explore some of the questions and issues raised above.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE:
The International Conference on Social Media & Society
(#SMSociety) is an annual gathering of leading social media researchers from
around the world. Now, in its 8th year, the 2017 conference will be held
in Toronto, Canada at Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University on
July 28-30.
From its inception, the Conference has focused on the best
practices for studying the impact and implications of social media on society.
Our invited industry and academic keynotes have highlighted the shifting
questions and concerns for the social media research community. From
introducing media multiplexity and networked individualism with Caroline
Haythornthwaite and Barry Wellman in 2010 and 2011, to measuring influence with
Gilad Lotan and Sharad Goel in 2012 and 2013, to defining social media research
as a field with Keith Hampton in 2014, to identifying our commitments as social
media researchers in policy making with Bill Dutton in 2015, to exploring the
future of social media technologies with John Weigelt in 2015, to highlighting
the challenges of social media data mining in the context of big data with Susan
Halford and Helen Kennedy in 2016.
Organized by the Social
Media Lab at Ted Rogers School of Management at
Ryerson University, the conference provides participants with
opportunities to exchange ideas, present original research, learn about recent
and ongoing studies, and network with peers. The conference’s intensive
three-day program features workshops, full papers, work-in-progress papers,
panels, and posters. The wide-ranging topics in social media showcase research
from scholars working in many fields including Communication, Computer Science,
Education, Journalism, Information Science, Management, Political Science,
Sociology, Social Work, etc.
SUBMISSION DETAILS:
See online at https://socialmediaandsociety.org/submit/
PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES:
Full and WIP (short) papers presented at the
Conference will be published in the conference proceedings by ACM
International Conference Proceeding Series (ICPS) and will be
available in the ACM Digital Library. All conference presenters will be invited
to submit their work as a full paper to the special issue of the Social Media + Society
journal (published by SAGE).
TOPICS OF INTEREST:
Social Media Impact on Society
- Political Mobilization & Engagement
- Extremism & Terrorism
- Politics of Hate and Oppression
- The Sharing/Attention Economy
- Social Media & Health
- Virality & Memes
- Social Media & Social Justice
- Social Media & Business (Marketing, PR, HR, Risk Management, etc.)
- Social Media & Academia (Alternative Metrics, Learning Analytics, etc.)
- Social Media & Public Administration
- Social Media & the News
Online/Offline Communities
- Trust & Credibility in Social Media
- Online Community Detection
- Influential User Detection
- Identity
- Case Studies of Online Communities Formed on Social Media
- Case Studies of Offline Communities that Rely on Social Media
- Sampling Issues
- Value of Small Data
Social Media & Big Data
- Visualization of Social Media Data
- Social Media Data Mining
- Scalability Issues & Social Media Data
- Social Media Analytics
- Ethics of Big Data/Algorithms
- Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches
- Opinion Mining & Sentiment Analysis
- Social Network Analysis
- Theoretical Models for Studying, Analysing and Understanding Social Media
- App-ification of Society
- Privacy & Security Issues in the Mobile World
- Apps for the Social Good
- Networking Apps
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
Anatoliy Gruzd, Ryerson University, Canada – Conference
Chair
Jenna Jacobson, University of Toronto, Canada – Conference
Chair
Philip Mai, Ryerson University, Canada – Conference Chair
K. Hazel Kwon, Arizona State University, USA – Poster Chair
ADVISORY BOARD:
William H. Dutton, Michigan State University, USA
Zizi Papacharissi, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Barry Wellman, INSNA Founder, The Netlab Network
