CFP: International Conference on Computational Social Science

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

International Conference on Computational Social Science
Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland, 8-11 June 2015

WEBSITE

http://www.iccss2015.eu/

IMPORTANT DATES

Deadline for abstract submission: 15 November 2014
Opening of registration: 15 January 2015
Conference dates: 8-11 June 2015

EVENT OVERVIEW

The conference will bring together scientists from different areas to meet and discuss problems on social systems and dynamics, as well as research questions motivated by large datasets, either extracted from real applications (e.g. social media, communication systems), or created via controlled experiments.

PROGRAM CHAIRS

Karen Cook (Stanford)
Santo Fortunato (Aalto University)
Michael Macy (Cornell)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Opening talk by Michael Macy (Cornell)

Lada Adamic (Facebook)
Sinan Aral (MIT)
Albert-Laszlo Barabasi (Northeastern University and CEU)
Nicholas Christakis (Yale)
Robin Dunbar  (Oxford)
Andreas Flache (University of Groeningen)
Dirk Helbing (ETH Zurich)
Matthew Jackson (Stanford)
Jure Leskovec (Stanford)
Alex Pentland (MIT)
Alessandro Vespignani (Northeastern University)
Duncan Watts (Microsoft)

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Santo Fortunato (Aalto University),
Aristides Gionis (Aalto),
Heikki Hämmäinen (Aalto),
Kimmo Kaski (Aalto),
Walter Quattrociocchi (IMT Lucca),
Jari Saramäki (Aalto),
Juuso Valimäki (Aalto)

TOPICS OF INTEREST INCLUDE (but are not limited to)

• Social networks
• Social contagion
• Communication dynamics
• Information diffusion and other spreading phenomena
• Social influence
• Crowd-sourcing
• Popularity dynamics
• Smart cities
• Attention economics
• Social design and user behavior
• Group formation, evolution and group behavior analysis
• Human mobility
• Mobility and context-awareness
• Economics of trust

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Contributions to the conference have to be submitted via Easychair (www.easychair.org), the name of the event there is IC2S2.

Each submission consists of an extended abstract of max 2 pages (A4). Please give a sufficiently detailed description of your work, put at least one figure, otherwise it will be difficult for the PC to assess its relevance. Short, paper-like abstracts will not be considered. Abstracts do not need to refer to unpublished work. If the work is published or under submission elsewhere it is fine. We want to give to everyone the opportunity to present the most relevant work to the topics of the conference. There will be no proceedings, but we are exploring the possibility of having a special journal issue, where selected contributions will be published. Authors of those contributions would be invited to submit full papers after the conference. Each extended abstract will be reviewed by two PC members. Abstracts can be submitted from September the 15th till November 15th, 2014. We will do our best to have mostly oral presentations of the selected contributions, both plenary and in parallel sessions. However, there will be a poster session as well. During the submission process, you will be asked to specify whether your contribution is intended for a) Plenary session presentation, b) Parallel session presentation or c) Poster session presentation. The final allocation of each contribution will be decided by the Program Committee.

CONTACT

For any question you might have please contact Prof. Santo Fortunato (santo.fortunato@aalto.fi)

CFP: Mobile Gaming in Asia: Politics, Culture and Emerging Technologies

Mobile Gaming in Asia: Politics, Culture and Emerging Technologies

Edited by Dal Yong Jin, Ph.D., Simon Fraser University. To be published by Springer in October 2016

The dramatic improvement of mobile phones, tablets, and game consoles has fundamentally changed our daily lives. While the bite-sized software programs people loaded onto their mobile phones seemed to be frivolous games until several years ago, smartphones and their applications have recently created new capital for information and communication technology corporations and changed the way people communicate. While many countries have invested in mobile industries since the early 21st century, several Asian countries have become some of the centers for mobile technologies and culture with their global smartphone manufacturers, such as Samsung and LG in Korea, HTC in Taiwan, Huawei and Lenovo in China. Although these countries were once lagging behind in the penetration of mobile phones, Asia exists as an interesting test-bed for the future of mobile technology and culture because several Asian countries advance several new mobile games based on their smartphones and application. The recent emergence of the smartphone industry and mobile gaming in Asia can be attributed to favorable information technology policies, severe competition among IT corporations, and enthusiastic mobile game users in the region. Equally important is the role of local smartphone applications, which have provided convenient smartphone platforms for local game users. Asians’ engagement with smartphones and related mobile apps suggest that the smartphone becomes a symbolic and material resource for people’s mobile game lifestyle.

SCOPE

Despite the significance of smartphones and mobile gaming in both digital economy and youth culture across the globe, there has been a lack of academic literature exploring how mobile phones are integrated into the socio-economic and cultural landscapes of a particular local game context, and how smartphone users engage in the process. This volume looks into a hitherto neglected focus of inquiry, a localized mobile landscape emerging with the smartphone and its apps, with particular reference to Asians’ engagement with mobile gaming. This edited volume focuses on not only the celebratory achievement of local mobile games, but also the significance of the social milieu in the development of Asian mobile gaming culture. It also investigates several dimensions in the growth of mobile game technologies and culture, including government policy through the lens of globalization theory. Although it seeks to identify factors for the growth of local mobile games, it will also critically examine significant conflicts between global and the local forces. Given that users are the primary actors propelling the smartphone era forward, the volume analyzes how smartphones have taken shape within the context of Asia’s particular mobile culture.

We welcome research by emerging Asia-focused or Asian-based scholars whose work has not been published in English.

Possible topics for submissions include but are not limited to:

• History of the growth of mobile gaming as a regional/global industry, discourse, and media product
• Critical interpretation of emerging local game industries in Asia
• Comparative mobile game studies
• Mobile games and globalization/regionalization
• Convergent technologies and the impact on established modes of mobile/social game play
• Government regulations and types of mobile game play
• Mobile game fandom and free labor
• Mobile gaming as social technology/media
• A culturally specific aesthetic to the production and consumption of mobile games
• New media and experimental mobile gaming
• Gendered consumption and production of mobile games
• Mobile gaming and the role of apps
• Moral panics about mobile gaming (especially among religious communities)
• Concerns about mobile gaming addiction and consequent policy changes
• Traditional dominance of the market by Asian developers
• Unique ways in which specific Asian countries have adopted mobile devices
• Intellectual property issues particular to the region
• Tendency for big developers to look to Asia for outsourcing and localization
• Case studies to gaming in places such as Korea (PC Bangs/StarCraft tournaments etc.)

SUBMISSION 

Please submit proposals of up to 800 words, and a brief (300-word) author bio in an e-mail attachment by 30 May, 2015, to Dal Yong Jin (yongjin23@gmail.com). Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by 15 July, 2015, and invited to submit a full paper by 15 October, 2015. Manuscripts should be no more than 8,000 words, including notes and references, and conform to APA style. All chapters will be subjected to anonymous peer review following submission.

CFP: ICA Mobile Pre-Conference

12th ICA Mobile Pre-Conference CALL FOR PAPERS
May 20-21 (1.5 days), 2015.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Deadline for Abstract Submissions: December 1, 2014.

Communication through mobile media has become central to people’s lives around the world, no matter age, gender, or ethnicity, and is driven by widespread adoption of a repertoire of mobile devices. Usage of mobile media is closely tied to the life circumstances of individuals. The 12th annual ICA Mobile Pre-conference will examine, scrutinize, and reflect upon the influence of this dominant new medium on everyday practices of communication through the theme “From Womb to Tomb: Mobile Research Across Genders, Generations, Ethnicities, Cultures, and Life Stages.

We anticipate a broad range of research topics in mobile communication and welcome extended abstracts based on empirical and/or theoretical work as it relates to: civic engagement, activism and social movements, social media, learning and education, methodologies, international contexts, international development, health, cultural similarities and differences, local culture and heritage, place-based issues, journalism, politics, usability issues, user experiences and perceptions, technologies, interfaces, mobile media histories and archaeology

The pre-conference will include a workshop for emerging scholars to provide a forum where graduate students, new faculty, and early scholars can present and discuss their research with more experienced mobile researchers, thus representing an opportunity to establish and nurture a supportive and integrated community. This pre-conference also features a “best paper” competition, Professor James E. Katz (Boston University) as the closing keynote speaker, and other fun and engaging extra-curricular activities.

Submissions are welcomed from scholars at all stages of their careers and across multiple disciplines related to mobile communication. Submissions should be extended abstracts of no more than 750 words and be completed online through the main website (http://icamobile.org/2015/submissions). The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM EST on December 1, 2014. Papers will be judged by peer review on criteria of relevance, originality, adequacy of literature review, methodology, legitimacy of conclusions, clarity of presentation, as well as fit with—and contribution to—the conference theme. Notifications of acceptance will be emailed in January 2015.

CFP: Social media and the prospects for expanded democratic participation in national policy-setting

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.

new book: Living Inside Mobile Social Information

Living Inside Mobile Social Information Volume available free.

A PDF version of papers from our recent workshop is available.

Please contact us at mobicom@bu.edu if you would like to receive a printed copy; we’d be happy to send you a copy.

Kind regards,
James Katz

CFP: Private chat to public sphere: Mobile media

CFP: Private chat to public sphere: Mobile media, political participation, and civic activism in Asia

Edited by Ran Wei, Ph.D., University of Caroline

To be published by Springer in January 2016

With increasing personal freedom and faster mobile technologies centered around the smartphone, more and more individuals have the capacity to participate, create and disseminate information, shaping a new public sphere of participatory citizenship or democracies for Asia. As the smartphone gets smarter, communal networks take shape and interact,giving rise to grassroots movements that capture national and even global attention. With more than 2.5 billion users, Asia leads the world in mobile phone population. The increasing saturation of Asian societies by mobile phones with their participatory capacity call for a special volume to explore the mobile phone’s efficacy as a tool for citizen engagement and participation in civic and political affairs, especially in the search for solutions to widespread social problems such as food safety, pollution, government corruption, terrorism, and sectarian violence, and public health risks.

This volume in the Springer series, “Mobile Communication in Asia,” explores how personalized content and the inherent networked nature of the mobile phone lead to positive network effects for public good and fostering social progress. Considering the vast cultural diversity of Asian societies that are shaped by different levels of political, social, economic and religious development, the volume will focus on nuanced investigation and in-depth analysis of the mobile phone and political communication in particular Asian societies, from which it will draw broad themes from local cases and synthesize enduring concepts of global significance. Research is only now catching up with advanced mobile technology, and this book provides the most significant and up-to-date studies on the topic.

We welcome research by emerging Asia-focused or Asian-based scholars whose work has not previously been published in English.

Chapter proposals are needed for topics in the volume including but not limited to:

• Empirical studies that examine uses of the mobile phone (calling, voicemail, SMS/texting, mobile social media, mobile blogs, mobile Weibo, mobile webchat) to access and share information about public affairs, mobile crises, community events, and the like.
• How social media transforms at the individual level and at the structural level, leading to mobilization and civic engagement.
• The bridge between Asian news consumption and political participation (e.g. voting).
• Creative use of mobile media for consuming news as well as increasing autonomy.
• The growth of a networked publics among young people through mobile social media.
• Explorations and theorizing about the technical aspects of mobile media in virtual social movements, from network apps to contents of posts.
• Implications of mobile media in Asia for citizenship, national identity, social capital, solidarity and empowerment.
• Research that assesses the effectiveness and outcomes of social movements organized or facilitated by the mobile phone.
• Enhancement through social media of collective action in both scope and integration into daily life.
• Mobile media campaigns in specific movements, such as students’ rights and climate change.
• The implications of the Asian experience for world politics.
• Mobile campaigns to confront social problems such as food safety, pollution, corruption, and social injustice.
• Enhancing information and services for public health initiatives.

Please submit proposals up to 800 words, and a brief (300-word) author bio in an e-mail attachment by 15 June, 2015, to wei2@sc.edu. Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by 15 July, 2015, and invited to submit a full paper by 1 October, 2015. Manuscripts should be no more than 9,000 words, including notes and references, and conform to APA style. All chapters will be subjected to anonymous peer review following submission.

The volume editor: Ran Wei is the Gonzales Brothers Professor of Journalism at University of South Carolina, and current Editor-in-Chief of Mass Communication and Society. He earned a B.A. in English Literature and International Journalism from Shanghai International Studies University (China), a M.A. in Journalism Studies at the University of Wales (U.K.), and a Ph.D. in Mass Communication at Indiana University. His research focuses on new media, the processes and effects of media messages in various contexts (political, social, promotional, health and risk) that involve a wide range of media channels and devices (traditional and emerging). He is a pioneering scholar in mobile communication research, with his mobile phone studies being widely cited. He serves on the inaugural board of Mobile Media & Communication, and was a guest editor of Media Asia.

MIT COMMUNICATIONS FORUM

Documentaries, Journalism, and the Future of Reality-Based Storytelling
Raney Aronson, deputy executive producer, FRONTLINE
Katerina Cizek, documentary director
Jason Spingarn-Koff, New York Times Op-Docs editor
Francesca Panetta, Guardian multimedia special projects editor
Moderator: William Uricchio, MIT
Thursday, October 9, 2014
5-7 PM | 66-110