April 2025 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

[ACM RecSys] First call for Doctoral Symposium Submissions
by Starke, Alain 14 Apr '25

14 Apr '25

Dear all, Calling all doctoral students: The ACM Conference on Recommender Systems organizes a doctoral symposium during its 19th edition in Prague, September 22-26. Please check out all details on our website: https://recsys.acm.org/recsys25/call/Doctoral The Doctoral Symposium at ACM RecSys provides an opportunity for doctoral students to explore and develop their research interests under the guidance of a panel of distinguished researchers from both academia and industry. We invite students who feel that they would benefit from this kind of feedback on their work to apply for this unique opportunity, which will allow them to share their work with their peers as well as with senior researchers in the field. The strongest candidates will be those who have already made some research progress, but who are not so far along that they can no longer make changes in their research plans. You will be asked to submit an extended abstract of your work, submit a CV along with a one-paragraph statement of expected benefits of participation, and attach a brief letter of recommendation from your doctoral advisor. Deadline for submissions is June 3, 2025. Kind regards, Alain Starke Publicity Co-Chair

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VIDEO – APR 9 – ICANN | Opportunities in the Next Evolution of the Domain Name System
by Joly MacFie 14 Apr '25

14 Apr '25

F2F overview of ICANN's 'Next Round' in NYC. Edited video, transcribed into all 6 ICANN languages. *[image: ISOC LIVE] <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f9b61c8a68188beb53cc2b6…>On April 9, 2025, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=b68660de74217cee14a2ff2…> (ICANN) hosted a discussion 'Opportunities in the Next Evolution of the Domain Name System <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=9deda2e827bf2df57710d64…>' at Civic Hall in NYC. ICANN is preparing to launch the application window for the Next Round of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=25e508e6a1ab96f4421ce89…>Applications will be accepted starting from April 2026, but programs for Applicant Support <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=0dc566390cf9ecc170167ea…> and Registry Service Provider <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=406d1e693565612548f182a…> evaluation are already underway.* *SPEAKERSJoe Catapano - Stakeholder Engagement Director - North America & Global Academia, ICANNKen Herman - Member, Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC)* *YOUTUBE <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f16e467e1a283af710cae27…> | ARCHIVE | <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=2c73ad0b40c11d3bff19875…>PERMALINK <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f9b61c8a68188beb53cc2b6…>* *TRANSCRIPT AR <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ba4a211eacf93df9c96c68b…> / EN <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c3b42f5531c19569854fdf4…> / ES <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=52a079e6cf06aafb20b135d…> / FR <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f8c623ee72f201b5db8d0b8…> / RU <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=721ef21500cf02cdd928fd1…> / ZH <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ecdeeb310b665b718cb301a…> | SUMMARY AR <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=20d177af54ed7bac9343f4c…> / EN <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=bccad87267bf6fd980143c9…> / ES <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=8980d8d0e8a77a33d02ca47…> / FR <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=6f7a0af09d65732d7ce84d4…> / RU <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=67da62e939fedd410a21989…> / ZH <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=9076bac5f1b08626f2daea5…> |* * X #newgtlds <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=f90e2d6daea3d1d7be16f10…> @ICANN @CivicHall | MASTODON <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=a9e05f1489c271607542872…> | BLUESKY <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=b52494be7543d46fc2b5c44…> | INSTA <http://isoc.live/?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d3933fa93b017e5edfa7c99…>* *** ISOC.LIVE is a free webcasting support service for the Internet Society Community - ISOC LIVE is currently unfunded - if you would like to become a monthly sponsor - contact support(a)isoc.live *** -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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Online Talk: Agarwal, Examining the State-Platform Nexus in the Governance of Online News in India
by Christian Katzenbach 14 Apr '25

14 Apr '25

Dear all, We're excited to announce our next instalment of "Behind the Scenes: Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research" session, happening online this coming 15th of April 3-4pm CEST. For the occasion, we welcome Simran Agarwal to talk about "Examining the State-Platform Nexus in the Governance of Online News in India“ https://platform-governance.org/online-talk-series/session-18-simran-agarwa… Simran Agarwal is a doctoral candidate at the LabEx ICCA at the Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, France. Her research, titled ‘Platform Governance and the Political Economy of the Digital News Industry in India,’ looks at the distinct forms, mechanisms, and interests of platform governance that shape digital news speech and industry in India. Simran has held visiting positions at the Department for Media Studies, University of Amsterdam (2023) and Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi (2024-25). Prior to her doctoral work, she worked at the Centre for Policy Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Please register her to receive the Zoom link (if you haven't registered for earlier talks in the series): https://platform-governance.org/online-talk-series/session-18-simran-agarwa… Best, Christian Paloma Joao — Prof. Dr. Christian Katzenbach Professor of Media and Communication Centre for Media, Communication & Information Research (ZeMKI), University of Bremen www.uni-bremen.de/zemki Lab Platform Governance, Media and Technology (PGMT) platform-governance.org Associated Researcher Alexander von Humboldt Institut for Internet and Society (HIIG) www.hiig.de

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[CfP] SEMANTiCS 2025 - 1st Call for Industry & Use Case Presentations
by Beyza Yaman 14 Apr '25

14 Apr '25

Call for Industry & Use Case Presentations The Industry & Use Case track at SEMANTiCS welcomes submissions that present use cases and industry adoption of semantic technology. Solutions that deal with semantic processing of data and/or information in areas like Linked Data, Knowledge Graphs, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Publishing, Thesaurus and/or Ontology management, and any related fields. All submissions have a strong focus on real world applications beyond the prototypical status and demonstrate the power of semantic systems! Important dates Submission Deadline: May 14, 2025 (11:59 pm) Notification of Acceptance: June 13, 2025 (11:59 pm) Presentation Ready: August 18, 2025 (11:59 pm) All deadlines are set for 11:59 pm, Anywhere On Earth time (UTC-12) Submission via Easychair on https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=semantics2025. Please notice that a paper abstract is not necessary, as your submission will only include a presentation at SEMANTiCS and not a paper. Any submission should contain a summary of 200 to 300 words that will be used in the final program. Your submission must also include a full page description of the use case you want to present, in particular: initial situation, approach, business value and benefits of the semantic solution, prospects and recommendation. Submissions that don’t meet these requirements cannot be taken into account. Via Easychair, you can enter your summary in the field “Abstract”, and the full page description via the “upload paper” button. The summary will appear in the program on the webpage, the full page description will only be used in the selection process. Topics of Interest SEMANTiCS 2025 especially invites contributions that target the following main topics in the context of semantic-based research and systems as well as applicative domains. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Large Language Models (LLM) combined with Knowledge Graphs Enterprise Knowledge Graphs, Graph Data Management Machine Learning Techniques for/using Knowledge Graphs (e.g. reinforcement learning, deep learning, data mining and knowledge discovery) Knowledge Management (e.g. acquisition, capture, extraction, authoring, integration, publication) Reasoning, rules and policies Web Semantics & Linked (Open) Data Natural Language Processing for/using Knowledge Graphs Crowdsourcing for/using Knowledge Graphs Semantics in Data Science Trust, Data Privacy, and Security with Semantic Technologies Authentication of knowledge graphs IoT and Stream Processing, Linked Data Event Streams Conversational AI and Dialogue Systems Provenance and Data Change Tracking Semantic Interoperability (via mapping, crosswalks, standards, etc.) Author Guidelines and Submission This call for presentations reaches out to professionals in the areas related to the topics of SEMANTiCS for proposals to present industry implementations, best practices and use case prototypes, to discuss semantic systems in birds-of-a-feather sessions as well as informal settings. Additionally, we explicitly encourage the submission of software applications, apps or services that demonstrate the usefulness and benefits of semantic technologies and semantic data management. To contribute a submission for a presentation at SEMANTiCS 2025 please prepare the following: Fill out the online application at Easychair and give us relevant information about your expertise and your professional background. Please notice that a paper abstract is not necessary, as your submission will only include a presentation at SEMANTiCS and not a paper. Any submission should contain a summary of 200 to 300 words that will be used in the final program. Your submission must also include a full page description of the use case you want to present, iIn particular: initial situation, approach, business value and benefits of the semantic solution, prospects and recommendation. Submissions that don’t meet these requirements cannot be taken into account. Via Easychair, you can enter your summary in the field “Abstract”, and the full page description via the “upload paper” button. The summary will appear in the program on the webpage, the full page description will only be used in the selection process. All accepted submissions will be granted a presentation slot at the main conference. Please stick to this time pattern when preparing your talk. This is the only way we can guarantee a smooth and satisfying programme and allow all conference participants to attend as many slots as possible without missing important information. Submissions must adhere to the fair use of Large Language Models. Please refer to the SEMANTiCS full policy for more details: https://2025-eu.semantics.cc/page/llm-policy When your submission is accepted and you are preparing your talk, please take care to address the following aspects: Initial Situation What kind of challenge did you face in the beginning of the project? What problems needed to be solved? Approach and IT-Solution Which approach and methodology has been chosen to tackle the problem(s)? How is your solution composed with respect to technological aspects / human aspects / organisational aspects? How do the semantic components support the process from data to knowledge? Success Criteria for / Benefit of the Semantic Solution Which factors (conscious and unconscious) have been crucial to the success of your project? Which obstacles did you face? How can you measure the benefit of your solution? How does the organisation benefit from your solution? Prospects and Recommendations What are the next steps planned in your project? Can you give recommendations with respect to development / deployment of semantic solutions within organisational / corporate settings? Demo (if applicable) Prepare a short demonstration of your tool / service. Review and Evaluation Criteria Every submission will be reviewed by the Programme Committee. Submissions to this track will be evaluated according to the following criteria: Your presentation is relevant to industry and industrial purposes. It illustrates how semantic technologies / solutions contribute to or improve existing businesses and / or generate new ones. The presented solution has already been deployed and / or has been tested in a practical environment – at least prototypically. Your presentation is well-structured and does bring across its message. The topic is well described and covers enough explanations, examples, use cases, graphics, etc. Novelty: The topic covered is new to your industry – not necessarily new to business in general In case your presentation will be accepted, we will provide you with detailed information on organisational matters according to the selection of submissions and conference participation. We are looking forward to your contribution! Marco Brattinga Artem Revenko Industry & Use Case Track Chairs

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New CIS report on vulnerable users' experiences with risks and harms from digital financial services
by Chiara Furtado 14 Apr '25

14 Apr '25

Hi everyone, We are glad to share a report that Centre for Internet and Society, India has released on ‘Navigating the Digitalisation of Finance: User experiences of risks and harms’. In this report, we unpack experiences of marginalised users navigating the digitalisation of finance in India. Through a survey of 3,784 users, 18 interviews and 7 focus group discussions, our findings highlight user experiences of risks and harms while accessing digital financial services, foregrounding experiences of persons with disabilities, transgender persons, gender and sexual minorities, elderly persons, women, regional language-first users, and persons facing digital and economic vulnerabilities. We highlight gaps in access and accessibility for marginalised users, their experiences with exclusions, inadequate platform design, and other socioeconomic harms when using digital financial services and accessing social protection. We also discuss users’ experiences of digital financial fraud in the context of increasingly complex ways used to defraud users, and challenges users face with redressal. You can find the full report online here: https://cis-india.org/raw/navigating-the-digitalisation-of-finance We welcome your feedback and encourage you to share the report with your networks. Best, Chiara (on behalf of the digital harms team at CIS) -- Chiara Furtado Senior Researcher Centre for Internet and Society +91 6360112829

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SI: Critical Data Studies in Latin America (Big Data & Society)
by Rafael Do Nascimento Grohmann 13 Apr '25

13 Apr '25

Hi AoIR! Finally, Big Data & Society journal published our entire special issue on Critical Data Studies in Latin America, edited by me, and I would like to invite you to read it. Many thanks to all authors, reviewers and BD&S editors for their hard work. This special issue focuses on Latin America as a site of theoretical, methodological, and empirical inquiry in critical data studies, emphasizing the region's potential to generate new insights into datafication, power, and artificial intelligence (AI). While numerous scholars have examined data-related issues in Latin America, there remains significant room for expanding our understanding of the intersections between capitalism, colonialism/coloniality, intersectionality, and other critical approaches in/from/with the region. Rather than treating Latin America as merely a site for the ‘local application’ of theories developed in the Global North, this special issue foregrounds the theoretical, epistemological, and methodological contributions that Latin American scholarship can offer to global debates. Through an interdisciplinary lens, we explore both the region's specificities and its commonalities with broader critical data studies discussions. What alternative frameworks and perspectives emerge when examining critical data studies from Latin America? How can bridges be built between Latin American scholarship and other critical traditions worldwide? Table of Contents Latin American Critical Data Studies Rafael Grohmann https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517251330160 Algorithmic Governmentality in Latin America: Sociotechnical Imaginaries and Governance’ Paola Ricaurte, Edgar Gómez-Cruz & Ignacio Siles https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517241229697 Official statistics and big data in Latin America: Data enclosures and counter-movements Oscar Arruda D’Alva & Edemilson Paraná https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517241229696 Deeply Embedded Wages: Navigating Digital Payments in Data Work Julian Posada https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517241242446 Platform sub-imperialism Kenzo Soares Seto https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517241249410 Participatory action research in critical data studies: Interrogating AI from a South–North approach Andrea Medrado & Pieter Verdegem https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517241235869 Data artivism and feminicide Helena Suárez Val, Catherine D'Ignazio, Jimena Acosta Romero, Melissa Q Teng & Silvana Fumega https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517231215356 An alternative planetary future? Digital sovereignty frameworks and the decolonial option Sebastián Lehuedé https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517231221778 Against decolonial reductionism: The impact of Latin American thinking on the data decolonization project Stefania Milan & Emiliano Treré https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517241270694 Critical data studies with Latin America: Theorizing beyond data colonialism Jonas Valente & Rafael Grohmann https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20539517241227875 best, Rafael -- dr. Rafael Grohmann Assistant Professor of Media Studies Department of Arts, Culture and Media<https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/acm/rafael-grohmann> Faculty of Information<https://ischool.utoronto.ca/profile/rafael-grohmann/> University of Toronto Leader, DigiLabour<https://digilabour.com.br/> Research Associate, University of Oxford<https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/profiles/rafael-grohmann/> Founding Editor, Platforms & Society<https://journals.sagepub.com/home/PNS> Principal Investigator, Worker-Owned Intersectional Platforms (WOIP)<https://digilabour.com.br/worker-owned-intersectional-platforms-woip/> Co-Lead, Creative Labour and Critical Futures (CLCF)<https://criticaldigitalmethods.ca/creative-labour-critical-futures/> 2024-2025 Faculty Fellow, Queer and Trans Research Lab, Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto<https://sds.utoronto.ca/qtrl-cohort-2024-25/>

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CfP JoSSIT 9: Networked Creativity: Musicking in the Social Media Era
by Marta García Quiñones 12 Apr '25

12 Apr '25

Dear colleagues, Please find below the CfP of no. 9 of the Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology (JoSSIT), on "Networked Creativity: Musicking in the Social Media Era”, edited by Juan Bermúdez (University of Music and Performing Arts Graz). We accept submissions in English, Spanish and Catalan. Deadline for submission: 4 July 2025. Thank you, kind regards, Marta Marta García Quiñones, PhD | Associate Lecturer | Cultural Industries | Technology Editor Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology (JoSSIT) mgarciaq(a)tecnocampus.cat<mailto:mgarciaq@tecnocampus.cat> | jossit.tecnocampus.cat<http://jossit.tecnocampus.cat/> ---- Call for Papers (open call) Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology (JoSSIT) Number 9 (monographic): Networked Creativity: Musicking in the Social Media Era Issue editor: Juan Bermúdez (University of Music and Performing Arts Graz) Deadline for submission: 4 July 2025 Publication date: December 2025 Journal of Sound, Silence, Image and Technology (JoSSIT) is an open-access, peer-reviewed electronic journal published annually. Since 2018, it has been edited within the SSIT research group, linked to the TecnoCampus university center, affiliated with Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). The journal focuses on academic debate and scientific research concerning the broad relationship between sound and audiovisual contexts. JoSSIT’s ninth issue, coordinated by Juan Bermúdez (University of Music and Performing Arts Graz), will explore the practice and experience of music in short audiovisual formats on digital platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. This issue will gather multidisciplinary research to understand how digital platforms and contexts influence the practice and experience of music and dance. The rise of social media has transformed how music and dance are created, shared, and experienced, fostering new dynamics between musicians and their audiences. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram offer intimate glimpses into musicians’ lives while enabling audiences to actively participate in music-making through comments, remixes, challenges, and virtual interactions. This interconnected creativity and practice are central to the issue’s theme. This issue aims to explore the relationships and processes of interconnection between musicians and audiences, focusing on dynamics that extend beyond the platforms themselves. It seeks to examine the complexities of connection and intimacy in the social media era, analyzing how musicians and audiences navigate these evolving relationships. The intimate labor of connection cultivated during musical practices through these digital platforms, approached from various analytical perspectives, is a critical focus for this issue. We invite contributions from scholars interested in examining musical practices on and through social media from diverse analytical approaches. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following topics: 1. Social Media as a Performance Space: • What role does social media play in shaping musical performances? • How are forms of sonic and visual creativity created and disseminated on social media? • How do users engage in producing and circulating content? 2. Audience Participation and Co-Creation: • How do platforms like TikTok enable audiences to collaborate with artists? • What are the implications for authorship and ownership? • How are networked audiovisual amateur music and dance performances, such as challenges and trends, performed and experienced? 3. Multimedia Communities: • How do online communities influence the experience of music and dance? • How do they redefine fandom and fan engagement? • How do connection infrastructures shape multimedia creativity, circulation, and experience of music and dance? • How are these practices embedded in participants’ daily lives? • How has social media facilitated cross-cultural musical exchanges? 4. Digital Personacraft: • How do musicians craft their online personas to foster intimacy and connection? • How are cultural imaginaries and musical identities created and negotiated in multimedia contexts? • How are networked glocal aesthetics, including those of gender, class, and race, performed, negotiated, and experienced? 5. The Intimacy Paradox and Emotional Labor: • How do musicians balance vulnerability and authenticity with branding and content creation demands? • What psychological and emotional challenges arise in maintaining an online presence? • How does this affect their creative processes? • What ethical issues arise when musicians share personal lives online? • How do audiences navigate boundaries in their relationships with artists? We strongly encourage participation from women, Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), young researchers, individuals from the Global South, and members of underrepresented sociopolitical groups. ________________________________ Submission Guidelines JoSSIT accepts only original articles not previously published elsewhere or under simultaneous review. All submissions undergo a double-blind peer review process. Articles may be submitted in Spanish, Catalan, or English and should include: • Title • Author details (name, academic/professional affiliation, postal address, and email). These will be anonymized during the review process. • Abstract (200–300 words) summarizing the research's key aspects and findings. • 4–6 keywords. • Article body, structured into sections and subsections. • References and bibliography (following APA style). Submissions should range between 6,000 and 8,000 words, including footnotes, references, and image captions. Footnotes should appear at the bottom of the page. Manuscripts must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word, RTF, or Open Office format via the RACO platform, where authors must create an account to submit their work. The platform also allows tracking of the submission’s status and progress through the editorial process. For a complete list of submission guidelines and to submit articles, please visit RACO’s website: https://raco.cat/index.php/JoSSIT/about/submissions Articles and any questions or queries should be sent to: jossit(a)tecnocampus.cat<mailto:jossit@tecnocampus.cat>, or directly to the issue editor: juan.bermudez(a)univie.ac.at<mailto:juan.bermudez@univie.ac.at>

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CfP - GenAI & Creative Practices Conference @UvA, Dec. 17 & 18
by Tom Divon 12 Apr '25

12 Apr '25

Dear Colleagues, On December 17 & 18, we are organizing an international conference on GenAI & Creative Practices at the University of Amsterdam. We are very much looking forward to your proposals for papers, panels, roundtables and fishbowls! You can find the full call for papers here: https://rdt.uva.nl/genai--creative-practices/genai--creative-practices.html In light of the rapid development of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), the conference aims to gather together scholars, researchers, and practitioners from around the world to discuss and rethink: - Creative Practices - Values and Creative Work - Scalable Responsible GenAI - The Future of Creative Work - The Political Economy of GenAI and Transformation of the Cultural Sector - Governance and Regulation of GenAI The deadline for submitting proposals is *26 May 2025*. Best wishes, Thomas Poell, Tobias Blanke, Monika Kackovic, Somendra Narayan, Nanne van Noord -- *Tom Divon* Creators & Platforms R*esearcher* Dept. of Communication & Journalism, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Sammy Ofer School of Communications, IDC, Herzliya Tel: +972-547-532681 [image: Twitter] <https://twitter.com/TomDivon>[image: Instagram] <https://www.instagram.com/divon.tom/>[image: Facebook] <https://www.facebook.com/tom.divon> Website: https://tomdivon.com/ Co-Founder: The Content Creator Scholars Network <https://www.ccsn.site/> *Publications*: >> Playful Activism: Memetic Performances of Palestinian Resistance in TikTok #Challenges <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20563051231157607> >> #JewishTikTok: The JewToks' Fight against Antisemitism <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359548581_JewishTikTok> >> Serious TikTok: Can You Learn About the Holocaust in 60 Seconds? <https://reframe.sussex.ac.uk/digitalholocaustmemory/2022/03/24/can-you-lear…> >> Playful Trauma: TikTok Creators and the Use of the Platformed Body in Times of War <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20563051241269281> >> Platform gaslighting: A user-centric insight into social media corporate communications of content moderation <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/29768624241303109> >> The unsolicited algorithm: unveiling gendered harms and (non)consent in apple iOS features <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09589236.2024.2433683?src=> >> The sound of disinformation: TikTok, computational propaganda, and the invasion of Ukraine <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448241251804?icid=int.sj-full…> >> Youthful Platform Commemoration: TikTok as a Frontier for Holocaust Education and Memory <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383957738_Youthful_Platform_Commem…>

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Call for Abstracts: CSMC Special Issue: Games & Storage
by Christine Tran 11 Apr '25

11 Apr '25

Dear colleagues, We are excited to circulate this call for articles for a special issue of Critical Studies in Media Communication, on the broad topic of games and storage. The foundational premise of this special issue is that systems of containment and storage provide the conditions for digital play – and that like other infrastructural arrangements, they are both profoundly political and frequently, at least for most of us, invisible. Questions of media, storage, and containment have become central to our current moment of cascading crises: How do the enclosing logics of digital platforms both contain our data and, in a slightly different sense, contain modes of resistance? How do storage technologies harbour elements of the digital we consider ephemeral, like cloud data, livestreams, or abandonware? What are the climatological impacts of our data storage, particularly given the voracious demands of AI? How are digital games entangled in these larger processes? Whose sociotechnical systems filter games and their players into states of precarious (hyper)visibility? How do strategies of containment both unlid and foreclose the future of critical game studies as a discipline? Here, we are guided by Zoe Sofia’s articulation of “container technologies” and the recognition that systems of storage and containment are never neutral, though they are frequently invisibilized. We understand container technologies both as media, as per Brooke Erin Duffy and Jeremy Packer’s look at Tupperware, while also considering certain media technologies from the standpoint of the work they do to store and retrieve, as with the theorization of MP3s offered by the late and wonderful Jonathan Sterne. For this special issue on games and storage, we are less interested in providing a list of possible topics than we are with soliciting work that engages seriously with these premises and foundational texts. We are particularly interested in hearing from emerging, precarious, and/or minoritized scholars, and are able to provide a supportive editorial hand in bringing your work to fruition. If you are interested in developing a paper for this special issue, please send a 250-500 word abstract to Nick Taylor (ntt(a)yorku.ca<mailto:ntt@yorku.ca>) with “Games and storage special issue” in the subject line. We will accept abstracts between now and April 22, and notify you of our decision by April 30. Selected authors will be invited to submit a full draft for review by June 2025, with finished drafts ready by the end of September, for publication in December 2025. If you do not have the bandwidth for a full-length paper, we would also love to host shorter, non-peer reviewed “forum” pieces. The following are topics for papers we have already solicited: * Solar servers for hosting games (‘storing’ the sun) * Containing bodies through Twitch’s policies around nudity * Bunkers in games * Keeping gender minorities safe at games industry conventions (while also containing feminism). If you are interested in serving as a reviewer, please also let us know by emailing Nick (again, ntt(a)yorku.ca<mailto:ntt@yorku.ca>). Thanks for your interest! Nick Taylor Robyn Hope Christine Tran Duffy, B. E., & Packer, J. (2022). Wifesaver: Tupperware and the unfortunate spoils of containment. In S. Sharma & R. Singh (Eds.), Re-Understanding Media: Feminist Extensions of Marshall McLuhan (pp. 98–118). Duke University Press. <https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478022497-009.> https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478022497-009.<https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478022497-009.> Sofia, Z. (2000). Container Technologies. Hypatia, 15(2), 181–201. <https://doi.org/10.1353/hyp.2000.0029.> https://doi.org/10.1353/hyp.2000.0029. Sterne, J. (2006). The mp3 as cultural artifact. New Media & Society, 8(5), 825–842. <https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444806067737> https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444806067737 --- Christine H. Tran, they/she Assistant Professor (LTA), Department of English & Drama<https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/english-drama/people/christine-tran> Doctoral Candidate, F<https://ischool.utoronto.ca/profile/christine-h-tran/>aculty of Information<https://ischool.utoronto.ca/profile/christine-h-tran/> University of Toronto christine.tran(a)mail.utoronto.ca || http://thechristinet.wordpress.com<http://thechristinet.wordpress.com/>

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Berkman Klein Center Call for Applications: 2025-2026 BKC Fellowship
by Patrick Goulart Soares 11 Apr '25

11 Apr '25

Hello! I hope you’re all doing well. The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University welcomes 2025-2026 fellowships applications. Fellows will reside in Cambridge, MA, to conduct independent work in collaboration with BKC faculty, staff, students, and the broader BKC community. We would appreciate it if you would please forward information about the call to your communities and to people who you think would benefit from a year based at Harvard and the Berkman Klein Center. Through this open call, the Center will accept candidates across three tracks: Academic fellowships for full-time faculty members Post-doc fellowships for scholars who have recently completed their PhDs or equivalent Non-academic fellowships for accomplished practitioners from outside the academy For the 2025-26 academic year, the Berkman Klein Center is inviting fellows to collaborate on one or more of our topical workstreams, including: AI Interpretability Ethics and Implications AI Ethics with the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation (note: this joint fellowship follows the same application process; more information can be found on this page) Agentic AI Protocols and Risk Mitigations Artificial General Intelligence Futurecasting and Policy Development Tech, Tools, and Practices for Improving University Discourse Safety Solutions for Social Media Applications will be accepted until Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Check out our full open call for applications for more information about fellowships in the coming year and for application instructions, and reach out with any questions. We look forward to hearing from you! Kindly, Patrick Goulart Soares -- Patrick Goulart Soares | he/him/his 617-998-1926 Community Administrator | Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society

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