CALL FOR PAPERS and Reviewers
Mini-track on “Cultural and Political Impacts of Digital and Social Media”
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 49)
Grand Hyatt, Kauai January 5-8, 2016
Description:
We seek submissions that address the cultural and political impacts of digital and social media (DSM) technologies. In particular, we are interested in exploring two entwined themes of inquiry: 1) critical studies that examine the social impact of DSM in our daily lives and 2) research that surfaces the ethical challenges that arise as we study social media to make sense of the rapidly changing power dynamics that accompany DSM’s global expansion.
DSM have radically alter the production, circulation, and consumption of information; they have transformed how we work, live, and play together in communities; they enable new ways and paths for learning and knowledge exchange. The affordances of DSM are generally viewed as providing positive opportunities: the potential for a wider range of civic engagement; the growth of new markets; the bridging of different worldviews.
However, while it is clear that DSM are shifting the locus of gatekeeping and balance of power in society, it is unclear if these seemingly dramatic changes are temporary, or benefit different groups in very different ways, or are even consolidating the concentration of power and privilege in the hands of fewer individuals or groups.
For the first theme, we seek studies that critically interrogate the role of DSM in supporting existing power structures or realigning power for underrepresented or social marginalized groups. Examples might include: perpetuation of gender-based hostility and bullying in a range of online environments; the values embedded in algorithms in platform content management; the political economies and labor conditions of paid and unpaid user-generated content creation; individual and collective challenges to established societal institutions (e.g., the Snowden case).
For the second theme, we seek studies that raise awareness of or illustrate the ethical issues associated with doing research on DSM. Examples might include: ethical pitfalls involved in studying the flow of misinformation during crisis events (e.g., the Boston Marathon bombing); the challenges and opportunities of studying proprietary DSM data generated in industry settings; the research implications of combining data from multiple DSM platforms (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, and FourSquare).
We seek both conceptual and empirical approaches. Conceptual papers could address foundational theories of critical studies of media or ethical conduct in periods of rapid change— e.g., new metaphors for thinking about information exchange in communities and societies. Empirical papers could draw on studies of social media data that illustrate the critical or ethical dimensions of the use of such data.
Important Dates:
June 15 Complete papers due [See http://www.hicss.org/#!calls/c1cd9 for details]
August 16 Decisions returned to authors (accept, reject, or accept with modifications)
September 4 Revised papers due
September 10 Final decision on acceptance
September 15 At least one author of accepted papers must register for the conference
Optional: you are invited to send abstracts before June 15 to the track chairs for feedback.
Organizers/Chairs:
Robert M. Mason – Information School, Univ. of Washington: rmmason@uw.edu
Mary L. Gray – Microsoft Research; The Media School, Indiana University: mlg@microsoft.com
Tarleton Gillespie – Microsoft Research; Communication, Information Science, Cornell University: tlg28@cornell.edu