February 2024 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Call for Submissions // 4S/EASST Amsterdam // Panel 370 // Live from the Frontlines: The Mediation of Armed Conflict Through Online Platforms
by Sarah Rüller 06 Feb '24

06 Feb '24

Dear colleagues, We are inviting contributions to the open panel 370. “Live from the Frontlines: The Mediation of Armed Conflict Through Online Platforms” for the upcoming EASST-4S 2024, which will take place in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 16-19 July 2024. Deadline for submission is February 12, 2024. This panel brings together researchers interested in the mediation of wars to discuss media’s influence on current violent conflicts, e.g. the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Palestine war. We explore critical approaches to war and media, with a focus on presenters from conflict regions. Armed conflicts and media technologies are tied together in modern warfare. The rise in the use of social media, owned by large technology platforms, in the ongoing conduct of wars, in their documentation and in influencing different actors in ways that transform warfare, raises many questions. During current wars in Ukraine and Palestine and Israel, new media technologies have been used to sway global public opinion, to expose and document human rights violations, to challenge narratives promoted by legacy media and state actors and to document life under fire or experiences of combatants. At the same time, Social Media platforms are being weaponized - for the spread of disinformation, propaganda and psychological warfare by state and non-state actors. Platform companies are tasked with moderating masses of content, leading to claims of unjust treatment and censorship. We are interested in contributions that address issues such as: • How is social media becoming part of military tactics and used for geopolitical influence (through hacking, bot wars, and the spread of disinformation)? • How is content moderation online weaponized for silencing dissenting voices under the guise of security issues? • The rise of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) as a mode of investigating truths on the battlefield. • How can STS researchers develop a critical approach and theory towards war and its media technologies? • Actors’ choice of terminology and its implications, also with regard to the spread of narratives online (war, invasion, occupation, military operation, genocide, annexation). • What challenges does this provide in terms of digital and information literacy and connectivity for people who follow the events of war online? • Also, with a view towards more optimistic outcomes - can media technology be used for conflict resolution and how? We ask to center this on scholars from regions under war and conflict, while also inviting others to contribute. Submissions: If you would like to participate in this session, please submit your individual abstract of approx. 250 words and follow the instructions described here: Link to the submission form: https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/easst-4s2024/paper-form/14454 ### The 2024 quadrennial joint meeting of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) and the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) invites panels, presentations, making & doing contributions, and other events that explore the role of STS in making and doing contributions to transformations in an era of grand societal challenges. More information can be found here: https://www.easst4s2024.net/ Please contact us if you have any questions Yarden Skop (yarden.skop(a)uni-siegen.de) Sarah Rüller (sarah.rueller(a)uni-siegen.de) Houda Elmimouni (Helmimo(a)iu.edu) _________________ Sarah Rüller M.Sc. Pronouns (She/Her) Researcher // CRC 1187 - Media of Cooperation PhD candidate // Information Systems and New Media University of Siegen Kohlbettstraße 15 // 57072 Siegen // Room: US-E 103

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Social media scraping - upcoming webinar on February 15 · 7-9 pm CEST
by Alessandro Zonin 06 Feb '24

06 Feb '24

Dear Association of Internet Researcher Members, after a period of extensive experimentation and exploration in the dynamic field of social media data collection, I have garnered a wealth of knowledge that I am eager to share with you all. I am thrilled to announce an upcoming *2-hours webinar *where we will delve deeper into this topic, offering you insights and hands-on experience in social media scraping. Here's a sneak peek of the contents: 🌟 The Fundamentals of Social Media Scraping 💼 Cost-Effective Data Extraction 🛠️ Utilizing Phantombuster <https://phantombuster.com/?deal=alessandro81> and Apify <https://www.apify.com/?fpr=c52ty> 📊 Hands-On Demonstrations Details and enrollments are as follows: 📅 *Thursday, February 15 · 7-9pm CEST* 🔗 Enroll Here: https://www.eventbrite.it/e/mastering-social-media-scraping-with-phantombus… *Please apply the discount code AIRONLY to enroll with a 10% discount.* I hope to e-meet you soon. Slide, laboratory material, and the webinar registration will be available to all participants. Hurry, register now as slots are limited! Cheers -- Alessandro Zonin Digital Data Stories <https://digitaldatastories.it>

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Deadline extended: Digital Society Topical Collection on Extended Reality
by Emma Elizabeth Hine - emma.hine＠studio.unibo.it 06 Feb '24

06 Feb '24

Now open till 31 May (and apologies for the cross-post): The Situated Metaverse: Cross-Cultural Philosophical and Practical Implications of Extended Reality<https://link.springer.com/collections/jdbeeejfed> <https://link.springer.com/collections/jdbeeejfed> Extended reality (XR) is growing in importance worldwide. From augmented reality (AR) games to virtual reality (VR) surgery to the “metaverse,” the technology is proliferating across different aspects of life. Companies, local governments, national governments, and supranational organizations are creating XR development—and, occasionally, regulation—plans, with goals varying by body and location. For instance, the Chinese government issued an Action Plan on VR, while individual cities are developing metaverse plans, and recently, the European Commission held three Citizens’ Panels on “virtual worlds” to draft recommendations for a European Commission action. Meta is launching “Metaverse Academies” in France and Saudi Arabia, while Nigeria hosted an XR storytelling event showcasing African XR creators. While most XR development is concentrated in a few countries, its use and impacts will be global. Despite this, most analyses of the potential impacts of XR focus on the American and European contexts. This not only overlooks several of the major XR development powerhouses, but also how XR technologies and experiences will have global impacts, including on human rights and the ways we interact with each other. This Topical Collection aims to address how XR’s impacts will be understood in different cultural contexts. While researching emerging technologies involves some amount of prediction, the rich science-fiction tradition surrounding XR promotes often baseless speculation. In order to promote XR as a topic of legitimate academic discourse, this Topical Collection welcomes clearheaded analyses of how XR will impact education, health, socializing, and work, especially those that consider under-addressed topics and locations, as well as explorations of the implications of XR across different philosophical traditions. Topics that could be addressed include but are not limited to include: - The role of XR in shaping diverse educational practices and pedagogies. - The applications and impact of XR in healthcare, especially for overlooked conditions and populations. - What impacts XR may have on mental and physical health, both positive and negative. - The social implications of XR, especially as regards connectivity and dislocation. - How XR may impact the future of work, labor relations, and practices. - What sociotechnical imaginaries of XR are being forwarded by under-studied entities. - The philosophical implications of the role and nature of XR in our societies, particularly those that foreground non-Western perspectives. - How the “metaverse” is defined and developed in different contexts. - The cultural implications of XR adoption, especially as regards under-represented locations and communities. - Ethical challenges of widespread XR use. I’ll be guest editing it (EIC is Federica Russo) and am happy to answer any questions! Best, Emmie Hine ---------------------- Emmie Hine PhD Candidate in Law, Science, and Technology @ University of Bologna & KU Leuven emmiehine.com

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Log Out! The Technopolitics of Refusal [international symposium @Toronto]
by Yujie Julie Chen 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Dear AoiR community and colleagues, On March 6 2024, The Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto Mississauga is organizing a symposium on the technopolitics of refusal, featuring critical thinkers' talks and lightening talks from graduate students. There will be a film screening of *Machines in Flames* and discussion with the directors in the evening of March 5. Both events are in-person. If you are around and interested in attending please register at *https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/log-out-the-technopolitics-of-refusal-symposium-tickets-820099789547?aff=oddtdtcreator <https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.event…>* Details of the symposium are below: *-----* *Log Out! The Technopolitics of Refusal* International symposium at the University of Toronto Mississauga, March 5-6, 2024 The Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology is organizing a symposium on the technopolitics of refusal, with Nicole Charles (U of Toronto), Leopoldina Fortunati (U of Udine), Jilly Boyce Kay (Loughborough U), Gavin Mueller (U of Amsterdam), Sarah Sharma (U of Toronto), Rinaldo Walcott (U at Buffalo), plus a set of theory pills by U of Toronto PhD students, and a pre-conference film screening of *Machines in Flames *with director Andrew Culp (California Institute of the Arts). The symposium is organized by Julie Chen, Alessandro Delfanti, and Sarah Sharma. Quit. Strike. Break. Nap. Disconnect. Withdraw. Drink. Detox. Trip. Abolish. Play. Luxuriate. Escape. We gather together for one day to acknowledge a desire to remove oneself from the grip of 24/7 techno-capitalism as it intersects with patriarchy and white supremacy. But we are stymied by the recognition that tactics of refusal are both scarce and plenty, sometimes competing and often contradictory. And we insist that without understanding techno-politics there is no refusal. Logging out en masse during a strike against a gig economy app is the contemporary equivalent of dropping the tools on a shop floor. The Luddites organized to smash the looms that were threatening their livelihood. Black fugitivity seeks liberation and autonomy both in and against the digital world. Abolitionists seek not a new technology or a strategy but a new structure. Incels operate underground but log on to organize against feminism and the gains of others fighting for civil liberties. Technology is not a tool for either disappearance or empowerment; it is not given, but rather a strategic environment in which to maneuver. Acknowledging that refusal has a technopolitics, we ask: what can be logged out from, when, and how? In order to expand our understanding of refusal, PhD students will deliver 5-minute “theory pill” talks that target a number of concepts that revolve around the symposium theme: Idleness (Seungwoo Baek), Touch Grass (Sarah Gram), Obfuscation (Mathew Iantorno), Tang Ping (Yuxing Yolanda Zhang), Disconnection (Nelanthi Hewa), Buddha-style (Hiu-Fung Chung), Shelter (Kaushar Mahetaji), Sleep (André Campos Rocha), Desire (Madison Mackley), Going Stealth (Upasana Bhattacharjee), Gambiarra (Guilherme Guilherme), Anti-tech (Réka Patrícia Gál), Meong Ttaerigi (Grayson Lee), Infertility (Julia Park). PROGRAM AND REGISTRATION: Tuesday March 5, 5 pm - 6:30 pm Centre for Culture and Technology, 39A Queen's Park Cres E, Toronto Screening of *Machines in Flames* (a film by Andrew Culp and Thomas Dekeyser). With director Andrew Culp, moderated by Upasana Bhattacharjee and Seungwoo Baek (U of Toronto) PLEASE REGISTER AT: *https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/screening-of-machines-in-flames-tickets-820094212867?aff=oddtdtcreator <https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.event…>* Wednesday March 6, 10 am - 5 pm University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road Log Out! symposium. Lunch will be served. A shuttle bus from downtown Toronto will be available. PLEASE REGISTER AT: *https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/log-out-the-technopolitics-of-refusal-symposium-tickets-820099789547?aff=oddtdtcreator <https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.event…>* Graduate students will have priority registration for the event. About the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology *www.utm.utoronto.ca/iccit <http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/iccit>* -- -julie _____________________________ Yujie "Julie" Chen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor University of Toronto, Canada Institute of Communication, Culture, Information & Technology (ICCIT) (Mississauga) Faculty of Information (St. George) *Latest Publications:* - Chen, J. Y., & Sun, P. (2023). *Digital labour platforms and national employment policies in China : studying the case of food delivery platforms*. ILO. https://doi.org/10.54394/KHET8772 - Chen, J.Y., Delfanti, A., Phan, M. (2023). “Worker Resistance in Digital Capitalism—Introduction <https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fijoc.org%…>.” Special Section in *International Journal of Communication *17: *3891–3898* - *Zhang, L. & Chen, J.Y. (2022). “A Regional and Historical Approach to Platform Capitalism: The Cases of Alibaba and Tencent.” *Media Culture **&* * Society* 44 (8):1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221127796 For a copy here <https://www.academia.edu/88753998/A_regional_and_historical_approach_to_pla…> ,

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4S/EASST Open Panel - 'Data justice and climate resilience in emerging autonomous technologies'
by MC Forelle 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Hello AOIR, I know there's a robust community of folks on this listserv working on issues at the intersection of data-driven autonomous technologies, policymaking, and climate justice. I hope some of you will consider submitting your work to our panel, "Data justice and climate resilience in emerging autonomous technologies" *Abstract* In an attempt to minimize the environmental impact of cars, governments around the world are urging the automotive industry to shift fully toward electric vehicles. While electric cars are often framed as the most effective and achievable means of reducing the carbon emissions in global transportation systems (Muncrief, 2021), they are, in fact, extremely resource-intensive systems, and the extent of that resource draw is understudied (Forelle, 2022). On the front end, these systems require the mining and extraction of non-renewable resources to build semiconductors – often in Global South countries that bear the burden of precarious labor, pollution and local environmental impacts – while on the back end, the integration of electrified and data-driven automotive features creates burdens on repair ecosystems, making many EVs more difficult and costly to repair (Savin, 2007). Moreover, the increased reliance on big data and artificial intelligence (AI) has a hidden environmental impact, particularly regarding electricity and water infrastructures (Hogan, 2015; Crawford, 2021). These consequences of datafication remain unaddressed by current data regulation paradigms and are further complicated by the fact that these vehicles become black boxes that challenge privacy and data protection regulation, creating additional governance issues for the industry, governments and civil society. This panel invites contributions that explore the concerns shared between data governance and environmental resilience efforts posed by the move toward electrification, connectivity, and automation in the automotive industry and elsewhere. We seek to collect scholars who are critical of these moves and who are working toward developing policy recommendations, design practices, and pedagogical tools that can help connect policymakers, engineers, and local communities in ensuring that emerging electric, connected, and automated technologies truly achieve their stated goals of sustainability and equity. We are open to work in multiple formats, including proposals for traditional paper presentations, dialogue sessions, and workshops. ---- Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions about our vision for the panel! Cheers, MC Forelle -- Assistant Professor Engineering & Society University of Virginia | Charlottesville, VA @mcforelle on the tweet and toots

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4S/EASST Panel: Global Socio-Technical Imaginaries of AI | deadline: Feb 12
by Noopur Raval 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Dear all, If you are planning to attend 4S/EASST 2024, please consider submitting to our experimental multimedia panel on 'Global Socio-Technical Imaginaries of AI' Link: https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/easst-4s2024/p/14156?fbclid=IwAR0L28NVrU1B… " If you have questions about the types of submissions or anything else, please reach out to me at noopur dot raval at gmail dot com. Thank you, Best, Noopur -- Noopur Raval

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Reminder CfP EASST/4S: Panel "The banality of failure"
by i.zakharova＠ish.uni-hannover.de 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Dear colleagues, this is a kind reminder that the deadline for abstract submission for the EASST/4S 2024 is on February 12. If you are interested in technological fragilities, failures, and resilience, please consider submitting to our open panel The banality of failure: Disturbances, fragilities and resilience of digital infrastructures, media and technologies. Link to the submission form: https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/easst-4s2024/p/14248 We are looking forward to exciting discussions at the EASST/4S 2024 (16-19 July) in Amsterdam! Kind regards, Irina Zakharova, Erik Koenen, Christian Schwarzenegger & Sigrid Kannengießer The banality of failure: Disturbances, fragilities and resilience of digital infrastructures, media and technologies Long panel abstract: This open panel takes as a starting point studies of infrastructures, their breakdowns, and the often invisible maintenance work supporting digital technologies. How can societies productively engage with technological fragilities? What is the role of failure in our relations with technologies and what practices of resilience develop from these relations? How can everyday maintenance work be acknowledged and integrated into technopolitics? Breakdowns such as an internet connection not working during an important video call or an electricity outage following an ecological or human-made crisis are no rare occurrences. As such small and big breakdowns challenge everyday activities, they render visible the inherent fragility of our digitally mediated existence. There is, however, an inclination in both public discourse and academic scrutiny to focus on the extraordinary rather than the commonplace. Taking a step back from such attention to the transformative power of breakdown, this paper aims to explore the banality of failure and everyday maintenance work. Dealing with small everyday technical malfunctions, failures, and glitches, caring for or fixing technological breakdowns has become as invisible and taken for granted as the digital infrastructures themselves. Noticeably, these practices of everyday maintenance are often overlooked when advertising new technologies, but present integral components of the economic revenue models, digital design and user experience. Lastly, we need to recognize the environmental impact stemming from intentional design of digital technologies that seem destined to fail, pushing consumers towards more frequent replacements rather than fixes. This panel invites to explore such disturbances, fragilities and resilience in our relations with digital infrastructures. Topics can include empirical cases of common or exceptional, deliberate or unintentional technological failures and their fixes, reflections on existing failure-free technopolitics, material obsolesce and the intentionally limited lifecycles of digital technologies, and conceptual inquiries into the nature of failure, disturbance, and resilience. -- Dr. Irina Zakharova Postdoctoral researcher Leibniz University Hannover Institute of Sociology Working group Sociology of Digitalisation

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CFP: Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) Conference and Media Festival
by Rachel Marks 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Dear colleagues, We invite submissions for presentations, performances, and exhibition pieces at the annual Electronic Literature Organization Conference and Media Arts Festival (ELO), to be hosted fully online July 18-21, 2024 by a team based at the University of Central Florida with collaborators around the world. ELOnline 2024’s theme is (Un)linked. We particularly encourage submissions that center on the web as a contested platform of community and computational creativity, with attention to both dystopian shifts (such as the slow demise of the platform formerly known as Twitter) and hopeful futures. As part of this theme, we invite submissions across all formats considering the 15th-ish anniversary of Twine and more broadly exploring the trajectories of hypertext and the web as a site of electronic literature making, community, and futures. Topics of particular interest include: * Utopian and Dystopian Imaginaries * Platform Deaths and Migrations * Sustainable Electronic Literature * Queer, Feminist, and Anti-Racist Pedagogies and Practices * Computational Creativity and Generative AI * Twine and Hypertext Fictions * Critical Making and E-Lit in Digital Humanities * Literary Games and Interactive Fiction Futures * Mixed, Alternate, Augmented, and Virtual Realities Submissions are welcome in the following categories: * Panels. Panels or roundtables of 3 to 6 participants are welcome. We encourage groups proposing panels to prioritize engaging formats, rather than simply organizing a series of long talks. Panels will be scheduled live on Zoom in 75 minute blocks. For panel submissions, please provide a 350 - 500-word abstract of the session, anonymized for peer review. * Individual Talks. Individual talks (10 to 12 minutes) will be organized into sessions based on common themes. For an individual talk, please provide a 250-300 word individual abstract, anonymized for peer review. * Workshops. Workshops focused on specific skills, technologies, platforms, and techniques of interest to practitioners and/or scholars of electronic literature are welcome. For a workshop, please provide a 250-300 word individual abstract, anonymized for peer review, and any details about needs or timeslot requirements. * Performances. Due to the online-only format of the conference, all performances should be suitable for Zoom, and participants are particularly encouraged to make use of the distant modality and interface as part of their performance. For performance submissions, please provide a 350 - 500-word artist statement detailing the aesthetic intentions and structure of the piece. Statements should be anonymized for peer review. Performers should keep in mind the constraints of a 10 to 15-minute time slot. * Online Exhibition. Due to the online-only format of the conference, all exhibition pieces must be designed for web deployment using web standard technologies and hosted on UCF’s server space. We particularly encourage work engaging thoughtfully with the constraints and affordances of the web, and pointing towards the past, present, and imagined futures of hypertext literature. For exhibition submissions, please provide a 350 - 500-word artist statement detailing the aesthetic intentions and structure of the piece. If available, please provide a URL of the work or a demonstration of the concept in-progress. * Experimental Track. The experimental track invites participants to propose alternative platforms and modalities for sessions, ranging from text chat to in-game meetings. Hosts of experimental track sessions are responsible for access and moderation to their proposed platform for the duration of their sessions, and are asked to consider the environmental impact and accessibility of their approach as a means for exploring future conference modalities and opportunities. For experimental track proposals, please provide a 350 - 500-word abstract of the session, anonymized for peer review. Our submission portal at https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2024/ are open January 1st, 2024 through February 15th, 2024. Notice of acceptances will be distributed by March 15th. All participants will be invited to submit a longer proceedings paper for publication in the UCF STARS repository (indexed via Google Scholar); however, this type of submission is not required. All conference sessions will be recorded and made available open access in the UCF STARS Repository. Participants are restricted to two presenting or first-author roles on the program to allow for a wide range of voices: while more submissions are allowed, that is not encouraged. Cost and Impact This fully online iteration of ELO is developed in response to concerns raised both within the community and more broadly regarding the environmental impact, accessibility, and affordability of academic conferences. Our approach is intended to reflect an intentional, impact-conscious, approach using established platforms (Zoom, Discord, and the STARS Repository) and minimizing cost both to the organizers and participants. Membership is not required to submit to the conference. However, all conference participants will be required to join the ELO, with membership fees payable directly to the organization. There is no additional conference registration fee beyond dues: however, those able to do so are encouraged to donate to ELO in lieu of registration. Questions? Please direct all queries to the conference co-chairs: Anastasia Salter (anastasia(a)ucf.edu<mailto:anastasia@ucf.edu>) and John Murray (jtm(a)ucf.edu<mailto:jtm@ucf.edu>) or exhibition and performance questions to Lyle Skains (lskains(a)bournemouth.ac.uk<mailto:lskains@bournemouth.ac.uk>)

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CfP: The Semiotics of Celebrity Fallouts: Questioning Power, Morality, and Fame
by Simone Driessen 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Dear readers, Please see our CfP for a Special Issue in Social Semiotics on cancel culture and celebrity bashing: Thanks, Simone, Gaëlle and Eve CfP: The Semiotics of Celebrity Fallouts: Questioning Power, Morality, and Fame Special Issue for Social Semiotics - Guest editors: Simone Driessen (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Gaëlle Ouvrein (Free University Brussels), and Eve Ng (Ohio University) The past years have illustrated how cancel culture has emerged as prominent socio-cultural, and even political phenomena. More so, the rise of these phenomena has challenged traditional notions of fame and celebrity, but also of accountability, power relations, and societal values. Think about how the #MeToo-movement and particularly the allegations against Harvey Weinstein shocked Hollywood, how certain celebrities, like Ellen DeGeneres or Kevin Spacey, have fallen of their (symbolic) pedestals, but also how the trial-by-media led to fans and media still putting Johnny Depp in a more favorable position than Amber Heard. In all these cases of celebrity bashing or allegations against celebrities, issues like (gender) inequality, power relations, but also morality play a role. And precisely these issues are foundational in and to many cases we would consider core examples of cancel culture or celebrity bashing. This Special Issue delves deeper into the complex dynamics of cancel culture, like the practice of celebrity bashing or boycotting stars from the public debate, by exploring and critically examining these phenomena, their implications and consequences from different perspectives (e.g, media-psychological, legal, commercial, etc.) and from a multi-disciplinary approach. Is it, in today's world and creative industries, necessary to revise how we consider or think of cancel culture? Should we view celebrity bashing in a trend of celebrity in crisis, or as an effect of increased (and continuous) para-social relationships not living up to expectations? In this Special Issue we invite researchers to explore the roots of cancel culture and celebrity bashing, its mechanisms and consequences, as well as contributions investigating the role of (social) media fueling or mitigating these phenomena. Furthermore, this Issue aims to look at the ethical and moral dimensions and implications of cancel culture and celebrity bashing, but also its impact on those involved, the industries in which this happens, or the social structures which they touch upon. Anchored in the journal's aims and scope, to scrutinizing societal organization and everyday lives, contributors are invited to undertake semiotic analyses that focus on the interconnected nature of words, images, behaviors, and various other signifying elements. We encourage scholars to explore how these semiotic phenomena contribute to the construction of societal narratives, and particularly, how they may perpetuate biases, imbalances, or legitimize and sustain power interests - issues laid bare by cancel culture and celebrity bashing. The analytical frameworks for articles may draw upon linguistic analysis, visual analysis, content analysis, ethnography, interviews, or production studies, anchored in the principles of Social Semiotics. A critical aspect of the submission should lie in its ability to unveil and critique the limitations and variations in how (semiotic) resources related to or practices like canceling and celebrity bashing expose potential reinforcement of societal power dynamics. We look forward to including a global perspective, contributions discussing particular cases, cultures, countries are most welcome. This Special Issue wishes to contribute to a nuanced and critical understanding of these phenomena, but also enrich the scholarly dialogue on the social-, cultural-, and political framework of fame, celebrity, morality, and social accountability. At this stage, we solicit abstracts of max. 350 words length. We will then select a number of submissions, to be developed in an article of 7/8000 words (bibliography included). For any questions about this CfP, please contact Simone Driessen: driessen(a)eshcc.eur.nl<mailto:driessen@eshcc.eur.nl>. Timeline: Deadline Abstract Submission: 8 May 2024 Communication of proposals selected: 29 may 2024 Deadline for full papers: 30 September 2024 Refereeing process: 30 September 2024- 30 December 2024 Delivery of definitive version of texts: 28 February 2025 Publication: April 2025 Dr. Simone Driessen Assistant Professor in Media & Popular Culture, ESHCC Visiting address Erasmus University Rotterdam Van der Goot Building/ Room M7-07 T: 0031 (10) 408 2468 I am unable to answer emails outside working hours Monday to Friday. I endeavour to respond to student emails within one working day. On Friday I'm on parental leave, and I will not be responding to emails on that day. Recent publications: - Driessen, S. (2023). The Participatory Politics and Play of Canceling an Idol: Exploring How Fans Negotiate Their Fandom of a Canceled 'Fave'<https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13548565231199983>. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies. - Driessen, S. (2022). Campaign Problems: How Fans React to Taylor Swift's Controversial Political Awakening<https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642211042295>. American Behavioral Scientist.

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Book announcement!
by Liz R 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Hello colleagues, I am pleased to announce the publication of my book “Push the Button : Interactive Television and Collaborative Journalism in Japan”, available from https://www.dukeupress.edu/push-the-button (among places). Push the Button tells the story of two groups working to innovate Japanese mass media in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. One group, working from inside the major TV networks, sought to use interactivity as a strategy to bring new voices into television and to attract young viewers back to the platform. The other, the independent journalists, perceived the mainstream media as too broken and sought to design a new kind of journalism around interactive, bidirectional broadcasts. Both groups shared a common idealism, if not equivalent resources, and sought to solve a problem of culture through technology. This book is an ethnography based on 18 months of fieldwork in the industry, spanning TV networks and independent journalism startups. It argues that content conservatism ultimately triumphed over technological innovation, and that new technology was unable to overcome the entrenched structure of corporate media. It might be of interest to those in media studies, East Asian studies, anthropology, STS, and communication. I appreciate you taking a look! Warmly, Liz

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