CALL FOR PROPOSALS
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.
IMPORTANT DATES
Workshops/ Technical Tutorials – Due December 5, 2016
Full and Work -in-progress (WIP) Papers – Due January 16,
2017
Posters – Due March 6, 2017
Conference – July 28-30, 2017
Please visit the Submission Page (http://socialmediaandsociety.org/submit/)
for a full description of the submission types and deadlines for
Workshops/Technical Tutorials, Panels, Full Papers, Work-in-Progress Papers,
and Posters.)
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 also be
invited to submit their extended conference paper to a special issue of
the journal Social Media + Society
(http://sms.sagepub.com/) published by
SAGE.
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 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 (http://socialmedialab.ca/) 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.
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
- Anatoliy Gruzd, Ryerson University, Canada – Conference Chair
- Jenna Jacobson, University of Toronto, Canada – Conference Chair
- Philip Mai, Ryerson University, Canada – Conference Chair
- Hazel Kwon, Arizona State University, USA – Poster Chair
- Bernie Hogan, Oxford Internet Institute – WIP Chair
- Jeff Hemsley, Syracuse University, USA – WIP 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
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
Social Media & Small Data
- 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
Theories & Methods
- Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches
- Opinion Mining & Sentiment Analysis
- Social Network Analysis
- Theoretical Models for Studying, Analysing and Understanding Social Media
Social Media & Mobile
- App-ification of Society
- Privacy & Security Issues in the Mobile World
- Apps for the Social Good
- Networking Apps
