April 2023 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Polymedia
by Traci Belanger 11 Jul '25

11 Jul '25

Hi everyone, does anyone have suggestions for articles on "polymedia" or specifically how polymedia interacts with media ecology? Thanks so much! Traci Belanger --- May all winds at your back inspire you, and may you have harmony and peace today.

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For my US colleagues: an 8 minute survey, where your input might make a difference
by Patricia Aufderheide 08 May '25

08 May '25

I know, exactly what you don't need to do at this crazy point in the semester. At AU, Profs. Aram Sinnreich, Joseph Graf and I have been working with Electronic Frontier Foundation and New Media Rights to design a survey about DMCA exemption language and its accessibility. Would you be interested in taking, sharing with your students and networks, including putting on social media the survey link <http://bit.ly/2nEfY8j>? Here it is again: *http://bit.ly/2nEfY8j <http://bit.ly/2nEfY8j>* Your generosity much appreciated! 👏 -- Patricia Aufderheide, University Professor, School of Communication Founder, Center for Media & -- Patricia Aufderheide, University Professor, School of Communication Founder, Center for Media & Social Impact American University 4400 Massachusetts Av., NW American University, Washington, DC 20016-8017 McKinley Hall 323 @paufder @cmsimpact cmsimpact.org paufder(a)american.edu 202-885-2069 office <202-643-5356> 240-643-4805 mobile <202-643-5356> "The world we have received also belongs to those who follow us." --Pope Francis

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Non-software uses of GitHub
by Jim Herbsleb 16 Apr '25

16 Apr '25

I’m looking for GitHub repositories that are used for things other than software, especially where users are actively collaborating rather than just putting together static collections. So far, we have found a few books being written, some musical transcriptions being error-checked, and some policy documents maintained online. Does anyone know of any examples of these or other categories? Any pointers much appreciated. Happy to share what we find with anyone interested. Jim ---- Jim Herbsleb Carnegie Mellon University http://herbsleb.org/ Google Scholar profile: https://goo.gl/sv3p7l

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AOIR Discord?
by Roo S 18 Dec '24

18 Dec '24

Hello! I'm wondering what AoIR members think of building a Discord? I realize that there are several platforms out there, and ironically we all are probably "too close" to some of the failings and/or opportunities of community, communication and digital space, but I would imagine that this group would probably hold a strong consensus that group email threads and listservs is an outdated way to share, organize, search for, and apply information. I'd love to connect more deeply with anyone who's interested. Here's a brief/simple survey to help me follow up and/or learn from the group: https://forms.gle/zbxmg5433r7LctKf8 Last but not least, here's an interesting article about the applications of Discord for better digital community practice: https://www.newkinco.com/projects/anitya-metaverse-platform Looking forward to connecting! Roo -- Systems Thinking for Digital Products | linktr.ee/roosphere | Work with me <https://www.workwithroo.com/>

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4S 2023 Open panel - Decolonizing Data Infrastructures: Pluralizing Imaginaries and Histories of Datafication (due May 26)
by Yousif Hassan 03 Feb '24

03 Feb '24

*** Please feel free to share and circulate to your networks *** -- - *Submission Instructions*: https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions.php <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions.p…> - *Deadline for Abstract *Submissions: May 26, 2023 (notification of acceptance on June 9) 90. Decolonizing Data Infrastructures: Pluralizing Imaginaries and Histories of Datafication <https://streaklinks.com/BexeNN94uPDoRFUKtAnGHDZl/https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.c…> *Yousif Hassan, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Jane Yeahin Pyo, University of Massachusetts-Amherst;** Paola Ricuarte, Tecnologico de Monterrey; Anita Chan, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign* Discourses of decolonization have become salient in the field of AI/Big Data and global circles of responsible innovation. These discourses often take a universalist view of ethics, or imply a vision of AI mono-futurism based on Euro-American centric understandings of the social, political, and economic implications of data-driven developments across different geographies of the Global South and North. This panel attempts to problematize such trends by recovering the pluralistic histories of decolonization across different geographies of knowledge production. We seek nuanced discussions of surveillance, prediction, and segregation economies and resistances to them that are underpinned by alternative ways of knowing and being in the world. We invite methodological, theoretical, and empirical contributions that engage with alternative future imaginations to remake or refuse dominant data-driven imperatives and look for past and present practice from places that have been historically excluded from knowledge-making. This includes work that: - Open up spaces for solidarity and reimagination of shared human futurities that confront and seek to dismantle systems of oppression - Problematize notions of intelligence and ethics based on Western understandings of human difference. - Explore colonial ideologies reproduced through information ecologies and their impacts on marginalized communities - Illuminate Southern epistemologies that contribute to more inclusive and accountable practices or policy around data infrastructures. - Address feminist, racial and social justice approaches to technology to interrogate relations of power across situated data ecologies. - Examine communal approaches to technology and their implications for political economies *Contact: *asaychan(a)gmail.com, yousif(a)illinois.edu, forrain526(a)gmail.com, pricaurt(a)tec.mx Keywords: Social Movements and STS, Decolonial and Postcolonial STS, Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning, decolonization infrastructures, data/AI colonialism, data solidarities, AI mono-futurisms, socio-technical pluri-histories, political economy of technology, datafication, Indigenous STS, Feminist STS, Race/Black Studies and STS, Social Movements and STS, Transnational STS, coloniality, decolonial computing and media technologies, critical race and media studies, infrastructure studies ᐧ

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Job advertisement - Postdoctoral Fellowship "Sonic-Social Genre? - Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics
by Christopher Haworth 31 Jan '24

31 Jan '24

The successful applicant for this postdoctoral fellowship will collaborate on a research project focused on new approaches to analyzing and modeling music genres. Located between informatics engineering, music information retrieval, musicology, and music anthropology and sociology, this interdisciplinary project addresses the lack of an adequate theory of genre in existing approaches to music genre recognition. See link for more information: https://www.aesthetics.mpg.de/karriere/jobs/postdoctoral-fellowship.html

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NEW: Research Assistant Position Job Opening
by Martin Sykora 27 Oct '23

27 Oct '23

We have an exciting new Research Assistant job opening in Social Media Analysis Methods at the Centre for Information Management, Loughborough University. The position is full-time, fixed-term for 8 months (£26,396 to £31,411 per annum) - applications close 1st Feb - https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CWS047/research-assistant-social-media-analysis-… It might be a great fit for applicants interested in social media research, data science, and ethical information management, with a background in (computational) social science or related fields within information science. The role will be in support of an existing urban community research project, focusing on digital social platform data collection and analysis approaches, contributing to the development of a mixed methods approach for integrating geo-social media data and other relevant contextual information to help learn about local drivers of chronic stress and resilience, across communities. A particular focus will be the study of vulnerable communities and potential algorithmic biases, to help ensure algorithmic/analytical equity. If this is of intrest, you can find out more details about the role and how to apply at https://vacancies.lboro.ac.uk/tlive_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC107GF.open?…<https://vacancies.lboro.ac.uk/tlive_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC107GF.open?…> Kind regards, Martin ----------------------------- Dr. Martin Sykora, PhD, FHEA Associate Professor in Information Management Centre for Information Management (CIM) Loughborough Business School (LB) BE.1.32 (Sir Richard Morris Building) Loughborough University, LE11 3TU @martinsykora<https://twitter.com/martinsykora> (on Twitter) @msykora<https://mastodon.social/@msykora> (on mastodon.social) Profile Page: https://socialmedia.lboro.ac.uk/sykora/ Latest Publications: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=lF2XTEEAAAAJ&sortby=pubdate

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CFP: Media-N, "As the World Burns: On Media and Climate"
by Rebecca Uliasz 08 Jun '23

08 Jun '23

Hello all, I wanted to share the call for abstracts for the next issue of Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus Current Open Call Media-N: Journal of the New Media Caucus invites submissions for a special themed issue: [A cartoon dog in a small hat sits calmly in a wooden chair at a dining table while flames and smoke consume the room.] Image: KC Green. Alt text: A cartoon dog in a small hat sits calmly in a wooden chair at a dining table while flames and smoke consume the room. As the World Burns: On Media and Climate Guest Editors: Corinna Kirsch, PhD (Pratt Institute) and Rebecca Uliasz (Duke University) Deadline for abstracts: Monday, July 31, 2023 For this special issue of Media-N, the editors invite abstracts on topics related to the history, theory, and aesthetics of digital media and climate. We hope to shed light on the long history of digital art and media’s participation in planetary processes connected to climate change, including the challenges posed by new media art’s ongoing culpability and participation in its advancement, and the overarching effects of these actions on social, perceptual, and cognitive registers, both globally and individually. Through this form of eco-criticism, we approach two acute developments faced today, each bearing enormous and unevenly distributed threats to a globalized world: climate change and the proliferation of data-driven technology across nearly every social sphere. We also seek alternatives to climate discourse’s hyper-focus on present-day structures by appealing to deep histories and non-western approaches to the ambiguous interconnection of media and “nature.” In so doing, we see that the relationship between media and climate is not a new situation by any means, nor is it a universal one: the Anthropocene began prior to this century, with geological shifts recorded at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and, even further back, to the European colonization of the Americas. As Andreas Malm has put it, “We can never be in the heat of the moment, only in the heat of this ongoing past.” Questions informing the special issue include: In what ways are new media scholars, activists, and artists engaging with the Earth-altering processes of technology? How have practitioners, scholars, and activists working with digital media illuminated the way agency, subjectivity, and environment is defined and operationalized in diverse geo- and socio-political contexts? What alternatives might be sought through appealing to indigenous and other forms of climate knowledge, cultivated by communities that have long found themselves subjected to colonially-induced climate change? As a method of promoting cross-disciplinary conversation among the new media community, we are seeking project reports, exhibition and event reviews, interviews, and manifestos in addition to formal research papers. Topics of potential interest to the editors include, but are not limited to: * Questions related to weather, climate, and digital infrastructures * Weather and meteorology in media and systems-based practices, e.g., climate control in museums, solar powered art, and media projects with natural radio * Relation between media aesthetics and environmental “injustices,” e.g., eco-fascism and climate-change denialism * Elemental, thermal, atmospheric, infrastructural and other forms of media that aren’t exclusively digital * Non-western and indigenous histories and theories of art, digital media, and the environment * Environmental media and digital or financial capitalism, e.g., blockchain, algorithmic forecasting, and predictive simulations * Climate fiction, futurities, and imaginaries, including multi-species assemblages * Environmental media and digital colonialism and neocolonialism * Labor, subjectivity, and psychic dimensions of environmental media To submit an abstract for consideration, please send 200-300 word abstracts and a condensed (under 5 pg.) CV to the following individuals by Monday, July 31, 2023: * Guest Editor, Corinna Kirsch: corinna.kirsch(a)gmail.com * Guest Editor, Rebecca Uliasz: rebecca.uliasz(a)gmail.com * Interim Executive Editor, Chelsea Thompto: chelsea.l.thompto(a)gmail.com * Executive Editor, Johanna Gosse: johannagosse(a)gmail.com Final Submission Length Guidelines: * Articles: 6,000-8,000 word range * Artist's projects: 4,000-6,000 word range * Interviews and Reviews: 1,000-3,000 word range https://iopn.library.illinois.edu/journals/median/information/authors Please do share with anyone that may be interested in submitting! Sincerely, Becca Rebecca Uliasz/ MFA PhD candidate/ Computational Media, Arts, and Cultures/ Duke University/ rebeccauliasz.com

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CfP Content Moderation and Its Discontents
by Jacob Johanssen 10 May '23

10 May '23

*Content Moderation and Its Discontents* *An International Conference, St. Mary’s University (London, UK), 23 June 2023 * *Call for Papers* In recent years, content moderation on social media has become a contested topic. As forms of online extremism, harassment and hate speech have increased on major platforms, community guidelines and AI-based detection and moderation policies have been introduced to tighten regulation, yet such plans often fall short or are actively circumvented, as Elon Musk’s efforts at undoing what he regards as excessive restriction of “free speech” on Twitter demonstrate for instance. Some spaces on the internet are also notorious for their lax or inexistent moderation policies, such as Reddit or 4chan. In times of culture wars, many have also claimed an erosion of free speech in a climate of “cancel culture” in which it has allegedly become impossible to share particular viewpoints or ideas. Equally many have disputed the very existence of cancel culture and have pointed out that many instances of deplatforming or cancellation are mere shifts in discourses whereby voices who have been marginalised are now claiming their rightful place on the discursive stage. This conference takes the complex relationship between the facilitation and moderation of content and particularly of content that can broadly be labelled “problematic” as a starting point. Opinions among politicians, tech experts, academics and others differ in relation to what types of content should be flagged or removed by platforms or if too restrictive regulation constitutes censorship. A blanket ban on “problematic” online content is unrealistic and perhaps counterproductive. While illegal content or posts that constitute hate speech such as death threats should surely be removed, the question of content moderation becomes more complex when it comes to “problematic” content such as images of self-harm, “pro-Ana” communities or the open discussion of mental health problems like suicidality or depression. This interdisciplinary conference invites papers that deal with the complexity of content moderation and associated topics from different perspectives. We invite critical papers that can address but are not limited to: - The dynamics and functions of content moderation (flagging, up and downvoting, removing, etc.) - Content moderators, labour and trauma - Practices of in/visibility: shadow banning, soft blocking and other forms of disengagement - Self and collective regulation (e.g. in fora) - Content moderation, regulation and the law - Culture wars and cancel culture - Polarisation, filter bubbles and echo chambers - Problematic content and mental health communities - Shitstorms and online shaming - Psychodynamics of social media and platforms This conference is organised by Jacob Johanssen (St. Mary’s University), Daniela Nadj (St. Mary’s University) and Susanne Benzel (Sigmund Freud Institute, University of Frankfurt) as part of the research project *Mapping Online Mental Illness Communities: History, Representation and Questions of Regulation*. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. It will be a hybrid event. In-person attendance is encouraged and virtual participation is possible. Please submit an abstract of 250-500 words by *08 May* to the organisers: jacob.johanssen(a)stmarys.ac.uk, daniela.nadj(a)stmarys.ac.uk and benzel(a)sigmund-freud-institut.de

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ACM Internet Measurement Conference 2023, October 24-26, 2023, Montreal, Canada, Paper Submission Deadline: May 26, 2023
by Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou 10 May '23

10 May '23

================================================================================================================ ACM Internet Measurement Conference 2023 October 24-26, 2023, Montreal, Canada https://conferences.sigcomm.org/imc/2023/ Paper registration: May 20, 2023 Paper submission: May 26, 2023 Early reject notification: July 14, 2023 Notification: August 18, 2023 Submission Site: https://imc2023.hotcrp.com/. ================================================================================================================ The Internet Measurement Conference (IMC) is a highly selective venue for the presentation of measurement-based research in data communications. As we are in the era of data-driven research, IMC 2023 will focus on improving the standard in the collection, usage, and sharing of network measurements for the research community. Despite the efforts in stimulating reproducibility of research as well as sharing of data, little progress has been made in our community to make research data open. Therefore, without fundamentally changing the topics in scope compared to previous years, our attention when assessing contributions will be particularly on the willingness of the authors to share their data and make their work reproducible. New this year: To encourage data sharing and reproducibility, authors will be required to make a declaration on artifact availability (full, partial, or no availability) for the submitted work. Since legitimate reasons (such as proprietary and privacy reasons) may prevent authors from sharing artifacts, papers will be assessed based on whether the contributions warrant acceptance despite the lack of artifact availability. In the case of no availability of artifacts, the authors are expected to explain why this is the case in a specific section. Artifact submission is not required at the paper submission time. All papers accepted to the program will be shepherded to ensure that the artifacts promised have been made available. IMC takes a broad view of contributions that are considered in scope for improving the practice of network measurement, including, but not limited to: * collection and analysis of data that yield new insights about network structure and network performance (e.g., traffic, topology, routing, energy utilization, performance) * collection and analysis of data that yield new insights about application and end-user behavior (e.g., economics, privacy, security, application interaction with protocols) * measurement-based modeling (e.g., workloads, scaling behavior, assessment of performance bottlenecks, causality) * methods and tools to monitor and visualize network-based phenomena * systems and algorithms that build on measurement-based findings * Theoretical analysis and modeling of networked-systems and measurement techniques * Novel methods for data collection, analysis, and storage (e.g., anonymization, querying, sharing) * reappraisal of previous empirical network measurements and measurement-based conclusions * descriptions of challenges and future directions the measurement community should pursue Networks of interest include: * Internet transit networks * edge networks, including home networks, broadband access networks (e.g., cable, fiber), and cellular networks * data center networks and cloud computing infrastructure * peer-to-peer, overlay, and content distribution networks * software-defined networks * online social networks * online services, platforms, and content providers * experimental networks, prototype networks, and future internetworks Review process and criteria IMC 2023 invites two forms of submissions: * Full papers (up to 13 pages for text and figures + unlimited pages for references and appendix) that describe original research, with succinctness appropriate to the topics and themes they discuss. * Short papers (up to 6 pages for text and figures + unlimited pages for references and appendix) that convey work that is less mature but shows exciting promise, OR offer results that do not merit a full submission. Short papers could articulate a high-level vision and describe challenging future directions that the authors believe the community should tackle; validate, verify, or update important results; or present new ideas that challenge existing assumptions. Any submission exceeding the short paper page-length limit will be evaluated as a full paper. Authors should submit only original work that has not been published before and is not under submission to any other venue. We will consider full paper submissions that extend previously published short, preliminary papers (including IMC short papers), in accordance with the SIGCOMM policy and the ACM Plagiarism Policy. The ACM policy on simultaneous submissions does not consider technical reports (including arXiv) to be concurrent publication or submission. IMC 2023 will bestow two awards on paper submissions, (1) a Best Paper award; and (2) a Community Contribution award. The best paper award will recognize the outstanding paper at the conference, and all accepted papers are eligible for it. The community contribution award will recognize a paper with an outstanding contribution to the community in the form of a new dataset, source code distribution, open platform, or other noteworthy service to the community. To be eligible for the community award, the authors must make data or source code publicly available or have a software artifact that is accessible and usable by the public at the time of the camera-ready deadline. The authors indicate their eligibility on the submission form and are also encouraged to include a link to the contribution in the submitted paper. A few accepted papers may be forwarded for fast-track submission to IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking. Anonymity Guidelines Authors are expected to make a good-faith effort to anonymize papers. As an author, you should not identify yourself in the paper either explicitly or by implication (e.g., through the references). Anonymization of important details are not required, if they are critical for the evaluation of the paper. For example, system names may be left de-anonymized, if the system name is important for a reviewer to be able to evaluate the work, and the paper may point to existing public datasets and artifacts that highlight or underscore the contributions outlined in the paper. Please follow the following guidelines: Author names and affiliations must not appear on any submission. Identifying information such as grant numbers must not be included on submissions. The text of the submission must refer to the authors' own previous work in the third person, unless the previous work provides important context for evaluation of the existing contribution (e.g., the paper describes an implementation or deployment of a method previously developed by the same authors). Authors are explicitly allowed to post their submissions on Arxiv or other public websites, and reviewers will be discouraged from searching for such listings while a submission is under review. However, authors are strongly discouraged from engaging in publicity for their papers while they are under review, unless doing so is in the public interest (e.g., responsible disclosure). Authors who are unsure of whether they are allowed to publicize their double-blind submissions should contact the program committee co-chairs at imc2023pcchairs(a)acm.org<mailto:imc2023pcchairs@acm.org>. More information about the CFP: https://conferences.sigcomm.org/imc/2023/cfp/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou, Assistant Professor Computer Engineering Vice Chair Director of Recruiting and Admissions Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM, 87131 Office: 326B Tel.: (505)-277-5501 Email: eirini(a)unm.edu<mailto:eirini@unm.edu> Website: PROTON Lab<http://ece-research.unm.edu/tsiropoulou/index.html> PROTON Lab's News: @Tsiropoulou_EE<https://twitter.com/Tsiropoulou_EE> "Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach." ~ Aristotle

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