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2nd Notice: Virtual Summer Speaker Series: Fake News & Disinformation and Its Spread
by Jeffery Joe Hemsley 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

Virtual Summer Speaker Series: Fake News & Disinformation and Its Spread The Center for Computational and Data Science (CCDS) in the iSchool at Syracuse University invites you to join us for our Virtual Summer Speaker Series. We will host three presentations in June, July and August. The theme for the series will focus on: Fake News & Disinformation and Its Spread. Event registration is required and we will be using Zoom as our virtual platform. Please find below the details and we look forward to welcoming these thought-provoking speakers. We hope you will join us this summer! Wednesday, June 17, 2020 12:00-1:00PM EST Disinformation, Political Networks and Social Media in Brazil This talk will discuss research results about how Brazilian political networks spread and legitimate disinformation on social media, focusing on types, characteristics and discursive strategies. Raquel Recuero is a professor at Federal University of Pelotas (UFPEL) and Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil, and a researcher for the National Research Council (CNPq). She is also the lead of MIDIARS (Research Laboratory on Discourse, Social Media and Social Networks). Sign-up: https://forms.gle/w7WotyFTpWYpuB5B7 Thursday, July 9, 2020 1:00-2:00PM EST Black Trolls Matter and Other Conclusions from Analyzing State-Sponsored This talk will discuss research Dr. Freelon conducted with colleagues on the Twitter component of the Internet Research Agency's (IRA) disinformation campaign before, during, and after the 2016 US elections. In particular, Deen will discuss the distinct appeal of Black-presenting trolls, how IRA tweets found their way into mainstream news articles, the types of audiences that consumed IRA content, and the IRA's effects on Twitter users' political opinions. Deen Freelon is an associate professor in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC-Chapel Hill. These days he is mostly interested in disinformation, hyperpartisan communication, and computational methods. This research has been published in the following articles: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0894439320914853 https://www.pnas.org/content/117/1/243.short https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1940161219895215 https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/russian-disinformation-campai… Sign-up: https://forms.gle/iYJRdk71X7CnFLCL6 Wednesday, August 5, 2020 9:30-10:30AM EST Influencers, Misinformation, and 'Under the Radar' Strategies Drawing on research from various interconnected projects on influencer cultures and vigilante activism in Singapore and the Asia Pacific between 2011 and 2020, this talk provides a vernacular framework for thinking about the role of social media influencers, their involvement in circuits of (mis)information ecologies, and their innovative 'under the radar' strategies of communication, amplification, and suppression. Dr Crystal Abidin is a socio-cultural anthropologist of vernacular internet cultures, particularly influencer cultures, online visibility, and social media pop cultures especially in the Asia Pacific. She is Senior Research Fellow & ARC DECRA Fellow in Internet Studies and at the Centre for Culture and Technology at Curtin University, and Affiliate Researcher with the Media Management and Transformation Centre at Jönköping University. Her books include Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online (2018), Microcelebrity Around the Globe: Approaches to Cultures of Internet Fame (co-editor Brown, 2018), Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures (co-authors Leaver & Highfield, 2019), Mediated Interfaces: The Body on Social Media (co-editors Warfield & Cambre, 2020), and tumblr: Curation, Creativity and Community. (co-authors Tiidenberg & Hendry, forthcoming). Crystal was listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia and Pacific Standard 30 Top Thinkers Under 30, and recently received the International Communication Association Popular Communication Early Career Scholar Prize and Isaac Manasseh Meyer Fellowship. Reach her at wishcrys.com. Sign-up: https://forms.gle/LitdTXTPk27iYnFw6 Should you have any questions or issues please direct to Lisette Child, Project Manager for the CCDS at ldchild(a)syr.edu<mailto:ldchild@syr.edu>, or Jeff Hemsley, co-director of the Center for Computational and Data Sciences, at jjhemsle(a)syr.edu<mailto:jjhemsle@syr.edu>.

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Social Networking and Communities @ HICSS: CFP EXTENDED to JULY 15
by Dan Suthers 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

The deadline for the Hawaii International Conference on the System Sciences had been extended to July 15th. The organizers expect to hold the conference on Kauai as planned, as it is known for its interdisciplinary interactions, and add that "if it becomes evident that convening in Kauai is not advisable, we will timely propose an alternate solution to preserve as much as possible the HICSS experience." Regardless of what happens, the HICSS proceedings are highly cited, and a good way for your work to reach diverse researchers. Consider submitting to our mini-track or a related Digital and Social Media track: ------------------------------------------------- CFP: HICSS Social Networking and Communities ------------------------------------------------- 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) January 5-8, 2021, Grand Wailea, Maui, Hawaii PAPERS DUE: JULY 15, 2020 (see http://hicss.hawaii.edu/authors/) We call for papers that investigate social networks and communities supported and/or complemented by social media and other social technologies for work, learning, socializing, or economic or political processes. Papers may address theory, design, practices, use or evaluation of social technologies. "Social networks and communities" refers broadly to social phenomena that may range from fully virtual to geographically based communities, and includes communities of inquiry, interest, or practice; epistemic communities and networked advocacy; as well as other collective phenomena emerging within networks of individuals. We solicit papers that examine relationships between social phenomena and technologies, including how social phenomena are embedded or emerge within technological settings, how communities use technologies to further their goals, or how technologies otherwise influence or are appropriated by social phenomena and entities. Individual actors as the unit of analysis may also be included provided that communities and technologies are explicitly involved in the analysis; e.g., how individuals relate to communities via technologies. We are particularly interested in papers that explore new models, theories and methods rather than re-applying and repeating established results. In order to leverage the interdisciplinary nature of HICSS and enable dialogue between social and technological disciplines, papers may be motivated by a broad range of theory-driven or data-driven perspectives and methods, including for example but not limited to social network analysis, content analysis, ethnographic investigations, and agent-based simulations. We particularly encourage papers that: • advance our understanding of social network growth, formation, structure and outcomes through social media; • explore how socio-technical affordances relate to social media use and outcomes; • interrogate entanglements of technology and culture in community settings; • examine how information and misinformation spread in social media and networks, and how algorithms, bots, and social media design affect this spread; • evaluate design of social media technologies and practices for effective community development and maintenance; and • develop theories, models and principles of social media design, use and outcomes. Papers that examine how social networking and media are used to take collective action on Covid-19 concerns or mitigate the impact of "social distancing" will be of particular interest this year. ABOUT HICSS The Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, in its 54th year, is one of the longstanding scientific conferences and is highly ranked among information systems conferences. Diverse disciplines unified by a focus on information technologies are woven together in a matrix structure of tracks and themes. By attending HICSS you are not only reaching the audience of your track and mini-track; you also have the opportunity to learn about what is happening in related fields and meet leaders in those fields. Other mini-tracks within the Digital and Social Media track are particularly relevant: see https://hicss.hawaii.edu/tracks-54/digital-and-social-media/#social-network… and related pages for this and other minitracks. Covid-19: The organizers expect to hold the conference on Kauai as planned, as it is known for its interdisciplinary interactions, and add that "if it becomes evident that convening in Kauai is not advisable, we will timely propose an alternate solution to preserve as much as possible the HICSS experience." Minitrack Co-Chairs: Dan Suthers (Primary Contact) Professor, Information and Computer Sciences University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Honolulu, Hawaii +1(808) 956-3890 Email: suthers(a)hawaii.edu Twitter: @dan_suthers Ravi Vatrapu Loretta Rogers Research Chair in Digital Enterprise Professor of Computational Social Science Department of Information Technology Management Ryerson University Toronto, Canada Email: vatrapu(a)ryerson.ca Twitter: @vatrapu -- Dan Suthers Professor and Graduate Program Chair Dept. of Information and Computer Sciences University of Hawaii at Manoa 1680 East West Road, POST 309, Honolulu, HI 96822 (808) 956-3890 office Personal: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~suthers/ Lab: http://lilt.ics.hawaii.edu/ Department: http://www.ics.hawaii.edu/

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CfP: virtual conference - European Society for Social Drug Research, 24-25 September 2020
by Meropi Tzanetakis 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

Dear colleagues, The European Society for Social Drug Research (ESSD) is inviting abstract submissions for its 31st Annual Conference from 24-25 September 2020 at the University of Vienna. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will be held online. The 31st Annual Conference of the ESSD will focus on a variety of themes including drug related implications of COVID-19, new trends in drug use and digitisation of drug markets. Additionally, there will be presentations on theories and concepts for drug policy. Lastly, methods in drug research and ethical challenges in drug research will be discussed. Presentations should preferably include a European dimension, and/or theoretical analysis that draws inferences from the local to the global. Full Call for Papers available at: https://essd2020.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/k_essd2020/Call_for_Pap… Abstract submission deadline: 30 June 2020 Conference website: https://essd2020.univie.ac.at We look forward to your contributions. Best wishes, Meropi -- Dr. Meropi Tzanetakis Senior Postdoc Fellow (FWF - Erwin Schrödinger Programme) Department of Political Science University of Vienna Email meropi.tzanetakis(a)univie.ac.at Website homepage.univie.ac.at/meropi.tzanetakis Twitter @MeropiTzanet Skype meropitzanetakis PGP 013E EB43 74D3 B441 86ED 2B51 FB5F 9A3D 2DDB 2CA9 Recently published: New Book: Drogen, Darknet und Organisierte Kriminalität/ Drugs, darknet and organised crime (Nomos 2019) https://doi.org/10.5771/9783845282831 New articles: Doing Internet research with hard-to-reach communities: methodological reflections on gaining meaningful access (2020) Informal Governance on Cryptomarkets for Illicit Drugs (2019) Social Order of Anonymous Digital Markets. Towards an Economic Sociology of Cryptomarkets (2018)

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CfP for ACM AVI 2020 Workshop: "Data4Good: Designing for Diversity and Development"
by Neha Kumar 08 Jun '20

08 Jun '20

*CALL FOR PARTICIPATIONACM AVI 2020 Workshop* *Data4Good: Designing for Diversity and Development* https://sites.google.com/view/data4good/home September 28th-October 2nd Island of Ischia, Italy ***Remote attendance will be facilitated*** OVERVIEW Even as computing makes transformative advancements in data-driven sub-disciplines such as AI and ML, and we witness unprecedented datafication of the society we live in, there is also growing awareness that emergent applications are systematically discriminating against many populations. A major driver of the bias is data, or the lack thereof. As long as the data are drawn using methods that align with a Western, universalist approach, gender, ethnic, racial, and cultural biases are likely to persist. Zou and Schiebinger (2018) have noted that over 45% of Imagenet data, which computer vision research draws from significantly, comes from the United States (US), where only 4% of the world's population resides. India and China together contribute only 3% of Imagenet data, while representing 36% of the world's population. The result is that a photograph of a traditional US bride is annotated accurately, while a photograph of a North Indian bride is recognized as 'performance art' and 'costume'. Given this lack of representation in data, problems related to the robustness and representativeness of data infrastructures become more pressing. For data to be meaningful, they must be collected, stored, understood, analysed, and visualised, all from a holistic and contextually appropriate perspective. There may be challenges encountered in each of these stages; these challenges are exacerbated when we consider the cultural, technological, and/or infrastructural specificities of multilingually diverse and resource-constrained regions across the world. This is true for parts of the Global North as well as the Global South. In many application domains such as global health, education, gender equality, agriculture, and others, the data burden is borne by workers from socio-culturally and economically diverse backgrounds. Low digital expertise and different vantage points can mean that these workers lack the kind of data literacies required of them by their employers. Data-driven approaches can benefit from integration of a more human-centered orientation before being used to inform the design, deployment, and evaluation of technologies in various less-served contexts. These are some of the important conversations that our workshop seeks to advance. CONTRIBUTIONS We invite researchers and practitioners in interdisciplinary domains intersecting HCI, AI, ML, design, STS, and/or global development to engage in dialog on the topics above. A key priority of our workshop will be to invite submissions from an intellectually diverse and global group of participants to further discussions on how appropriate human-centered design can contribute to addressing data-related challenges among marginalised and under-represented/underserved groups around the world. In particular, we solicit participation across more and less technical researchers in HCI who are motivated to address the list of topics below, including but not limited to: *Interfaces and visualization:* - Novel interfaces for deriving qualitative/quantitative insights from data - Interfaces to support data literacy in multilingual contexts - Information visualization tools and techniques for data literacy - Data literacy for end-users in under-resourced contexts *Data infrastructures for social good:* - Data collection and field research - Data quality - Data sharing - Privacy and transparency in data analytics *Human-centered design of data-driven approaches:* - Interfaces for explainable AI - User-centered evaluations, techniques, and methods for AI and social good - Study of public concerns with AI-based technologies *Data work in specific application areas, such as:* - Public/global health - Education - Agriculture - Gender equality - Refugee resettlement - and more. PARTICIPATION We invite submissions of position papers in the ACM CHI Extended Abstracts format, 2-4 pages in length. PDFs of submissions can be emailed to Luigi De Russis at luigi.derussis(a)polito.it <http://luigi.derussis@polito.it./>. These will be reviewed by all organisers based on relevance, originality, and overall quality. At least one author of each accepted paper is required to participate in our workshop. All workshop participants (including non-authors) are required by the conference to register for the workshop (not necessarily for the conference). We do plan to facilitate remote attendance. OUTCOMES Accepted and presented papers will be made available on CEUR Workshop Proceedings, while workshop results will be published on our website. Notifications will be mailed to the authors within 15 days of receipt (and no later than the dates reported above). Workshop results will be summarized and submitted as an article or blog post in Interactions or Communications of the ACM. DATES *July 28th: Submission deadlineAugust 6th: Notification of acceptanceAugust 21st: Camera-readies and registration dueSeptember 28th: Half-day workshop, from 14:00 to 18:00September 28th-October 2nd: AVI 2020 (main conference)* ORGANISERS Luigi De Russis, Politecnico di Torino, Italy Neha Kumar, Georgia Tech, USA Akhil Mathur, Nokia Bell Labs & University College London, UK

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Re: [Air-L] A good way to respond to a query from a student about activism?
by Natalie Rock 07 Jun '20

07 Jun '20

Apologies, I didn’t actually see it had posted (weirdly??). Link is below: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0xP3H7bBSqeWLwMWUa9dqQ Sent from my iPhone > On 7 Jun 2020, at 10:06, Joly MacFie <joly(a)punkcast.com> wrote: > > > If you dig deeper you'll see I was asking the same question of Natalie, who originally posted the notice. > > joly > > > >> On Sun, Jun 7, 2020 at 12:26 PM Lynn Schofield Clark <Lynn.Clark(a)du.edu> wrote: >> Hello Joly, >> Thank you for your contribution to the Air-List. I'm glad to learn of the webinar on campus policing. Unfortunately the link didn't come through. Could you please send it to me? Thanks! >> >> Lynn Schofield Clark, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) >> Professor, Chair & Director, >> Estlow Center for Journalism & New Media >> Department of Media, Film & Journalism Studies >> University of Denver >> And >> President, international Association of Internet Researchers <http://aoir.org/> >> LynnSchofieldClark.com >> >> In the spirit of healing, I acknowledge and honor the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, and all of the original Indigenous peoples of the land upon which University of Denver stands. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On 6/6/20, 11:46 PM, "Air-L on behalf of Joly MacFie" <air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org on behalf of joly(a)punkcast.com> wrote: >> >> > Now we bring you a new, no-cost webinar about campus policing and activism: >> > Race Relations, Student Activism, and Community Policing >> > on College & University Campuses >> > July 9, 4-6 pm EST >> > Join us for a national dialogue on community policing, race, campus >> > climate, and student activism in the academy. The webinar will feature a >> > panel of committed scholars and leaders that bring a depth of knowledge on >> > systemic racism, policing, and are all deeply committed to achieving >> > inclusive excellence in the academy. >> > Register Here >> >> >> 1) Possibly EDT not EST >> >> 2) link? >> >> >> -- >> -------------------------------------- >> Joly MacFie +2185659365 >> -------------------------------------- >> - >> _______________________________________________ >> The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list >> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://aoir.org__;!!NCZxaNi9jForCP_SxBKJCA!GOV5… >> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoi… >> >> Join the Association of Internet Researchers: >> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.aoir.org/__;!!NCZxaNi9jForCP_SxBKJCA… >> >> > > > -- > -------------------------------------- > Joly MacFie +2185659365 > -------------------------------------- > -

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iLRNFuser 2020 Online Game Jam on Immersive Learning - Call for Student & Recent Graduate Participation
by Lee, Mark 07 Jun '20

07 Jun '20

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CALL FOR PARTICIPATION iLRNFuser 2020 Online Game Jam Open to university/college students and recent graduates (graduated within the last 12 months) http://immersivelrn.org/iLRNFuser ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ iLRNFuser is the official Online Game Jam series of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN at http://immersivelrn.org) The series provides opportunities for university/college student teams from around the world, participating remotely from their own physical locations, to engage in a hackathon-style game-development marathons. Founded in the spirit of global solidarity and cooperation, iLRNFuser brings together people representing diverse backgrounds, interests, and skill sets to creatively express themselves as well as promote shared understanding through the universal medium of video games. Each Jam in the series addresses a theme linked to one or more the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (see https://immersivelrn.org/ilrnfuser/#un-sdgs) The inaugural iLRNFuser 2020 Game Jam will be held in conjunction with the iLRN 2020 Virtual Conference (http://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2020) with the Jam itself taking place the week before the conference (June 14 to 21, 2020). The theme will be announced via the iLRN website on Sunday, June 14, and teams will have one week to design and produce their games addressing the theme. More information about the upcoming Jam and how to participate can be found at: http://immersivelrn.org/ilrnfuser/ilrnfuser-2020 Awards will be presented to the winning (first place) and runner-up (second place) teams. All teams that submit a game will receive certificates of participation. *** "Any individual can learn to play and design games, but it takes a real team to achieve success" *** ### Important Dates ### - Team registration deadline: June 12, 2020 (participants must also register for the iLRN 2020 conference by this date, which they can do for free if not already presenting at the conference) - Kickoff and theme announcement: June 14, 2020, 9:00am US Pacific Time (iLRN website) - Game submission deadline: June 21, 2020, 9:00am US Pacific Time (itch.io website) - Games on display at iLRN 2020 Virtual Conference; voting open: June 22 to 24, 2020 (iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by VirBELA) - Finalist showcase and announcement of winners: June 24, 2020 (iLRN Virtual Campus, powered by VirBELA) ### Important Links ### 1. Submit team details to the iLRNFuser2020 team. Compete the Team Registration Form here: https://forms.gle/aACxV5u9VYP3pcMh7 2. Register and create your team's itch.io page here: https://itch.io/register 3. Join/Follow the iLRNFuser2020 itch.io page here: https://itch.io/jam/ilrnfuser2020 4. Join the #ilrnfuser-game-jams channel on the iLRN Discord server here: https://discord.gg/yvHN58 ### Contact ### Inquiries may be directed to the iLRNFuser Director, Markos Mentzelopoulos (University of Westminster, UK) at iLRNFuser(a)immersivelrn.org . If you would like to receive updates about future iLRNFuser Game Jams and other iLRN activities, please consider joining iLRN to be added to our network and mailing list. Basic individual membership is free of charge: https://immersivelrn.org/get-involved/membership/ (Sent to air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org) | ALBURY-WODONGA | BATHURST | BRISBANE | CANBERRA | DUBBO | GOULBURN | MELBOURNE | ORANGE | PORT MACQUARIE | SYDNEY | WAGGA WAGGA | LEGAL NOTICE This email (and any attachment) is confidential and is intended for the use of the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must not copy, distribute, take any action in reliance on it or disclose it to anyone. Any confidentiality is not waived or lost by reason of mistaken delivery. Email should be checked for viruses and defects before opening. Charles Sturt University does not accept liability for viruses or any consequence which arise as a result of this email transmission. Email communications with Charles Sturt University may be subject to automated email filtering, which could result in the delay or deletion of a legitimate email before it is read at Charles Sturt University. The views expressed in this email are not necessarily those of Charles Sturt University. Charles Sturt University in Australia The Grange Chancellery, Panorama Avenue, Bathurst NSW Australia 2795 (ABN: 83 878 708 551; CRICOS Provider Number: 00005F (National)). TEQSA Provider Number: PV12018 Consider the environment before printing this email.

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Re: [Air-L] Elevating critical race and internet studies
by Lynn Schofield Clark 07 Jun '20

07 Jun '20

Thanks so much to Sarah for her query, and to everyone for widening the discussion to a conversation about how we can both support our students and also how the Association of Internet Researchers as an organization can respond at this time. Thanks also to those who have made suggestions and I hope that this will continue as we all grapple with responding to and caring for our students, our young people, and to those of all ages in our immediate circles and wider communities. As President of the organization, I appreciate the very real desire for responses and for places of discussion. On a personal note, I am incredibly thankful for the contributions critical race and digital studies scholars have made to this Association over the years through their insights in their writing, their work with students, and through their contributions in roundtables, fishbowls, keynotes, and in other conference venues both formal and informal. This is an important time to elevate the work in this area. The Executive Board has been working on creating a list of resources for research, teaching and active responses to be shared on our website soon. Mostly, we want to direct people to the incredible resources that others have already collated in this area. If anyone wants to contribute to this task, please reach out to anyone on the Exec. Just so you know, we also discussed donations, which our legal status does not allow, but we know that many in our membership and on the Exec have been donating to bail and mutual aid funds. We are also exploring other avenues for making material contributions, such as supporting the publication efforts of those working in these spaces. Members of the Executive Board of the Association of Internet Researchers also have been seeking input from several Black and critical race scholars who have played leadership roles in this organization in the past. We are very mindful of the unprecedented demands on critical race scholars and our Black colleagues at this time, and are incredibly grateful for their help. Instead of making a statement, too curbed by legal demands to be meaningful, the organization’s current leadership wants to seek insights from these scholars and take the organization toward structural change that addresses the many challenges we are facing as scholars, educators, and as human beings. Among the Exec, we’re discussing your past suggestions, scholarship, and interventions and we also welcome further suggestions. We also acknowledge that we as an international organization must respond to injustices across the world and did not respond to, for example, recent protests in Hong Kong or genocide in Xinjiang. As an international organization we also must be mindful of the ways that the Black Lives Matter movement is localized in particular ways, such as with the issue of Indigenous Deaths in Custody in Australia, a topic addressed in Bronwyn Carlson’s outstanding 2019 AoIR keynote in Brisbane. Our members and contributors have addressed and continue to address these issues in important ways. As a Board, we have committed to examining and addressing how our organization participates in reproducing systemic injustice. We are also interested in exploring how the upcoming virtual conference may provide spaces for discussions about race. Please contact anyone on the Board if you’d like to participate in this discussion on elevating critical race in internet studies at AoIR and you’ll get connected to others who have the headspace to devote to this, either right now, or later on. Thanks again to all who want to use this list to think through responses at this challenging and transformative time. Lynn Schofield Clark, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) Professor, Chair & Director, Estlow Center for Journalism & New Media Department of Media, Film & Journalism Studies University of Denver And President, international Association of Internet Researchers LynnSchofieldClark.com On 6/4/20, 4:04 PM, "Air-L on behalf of Sarah Ann Oates" <air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org on behalf of soates(a)umd.edu> wrote: Dear AOIRers, I wanted to ask this great list a question for our times. See the message below from a student I taught in an online social media and society course, in which we had a module on #BlackLivesMatter. Can you think of a better way to respond than just with a list of campus groups and a note that I was impressed that she wanted to commit to activism for her beliefs? That's what I did, but I'd like to help a bit more because it's heartening both to see students wanting to put their scholarship into action. Thanks in advance. BTW, I asked her if I could ask the list and she said that was great. Here is her message: As a young black woman, I am struggling to cope with all that is happening in our country right now. Looking at social media I am further saddened to see images of Black men being murdered and their deaths reposted and reposted for all to see. I fear people will become desensitized to these images and names like George Floyd will just become another hashtag and forgotten victim of a corrupt system. *... I was wondering if you had any advice or resources for action beyond social media. I know the Black Lives Matter module discussed the sort of "wind tunnels" we create where like-minded people swirl ideas among mutual followers, but little action is taken beyond likes and retweets. I want to do something that goes beyond liking a post or ranting about it on Twitter. If you have any ideas or resources regarding the potential to leverage social media for positive social change I'd love to learn more about them!* Sarah Oates Professor and Senior Scholar Philip Merrill College of Journalism University of Maryland College Park, MD 20457 Email: soates(a)umd.edu Phone: 301 455 2332 https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.media-politics.com__;!!NCZxaNi9jForC… Twitter: @media_politics *Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name… > today. * _______________________________________________ The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://aoir.org__;!!NCZxaNi9jForCP_SxBKJCA!D8Z4… Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoi… Join the Association of Internet Researchers: https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.aoir.org/__;!!NCZxaNi9jForCP_SxBKJCA…

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Re: [Air-L] A good way to respond to a query from a student about activism?
by Sugar, Benjamin Nathan 06 Jun '20

06 Jun '20

Steve, Thank you for a very thought provoking posting. I can’t overstate my appreciation that you did respond and did so with the urgency it deserved. You’ve given me an opportunity for introspection in a place I hadn’t even thought was there to be introspected. All the different types of responses you list have different dynamics. I’d very much like the opportunity to respond to them (and Sarah’s question as well, stay tuned!) but I don’t have the time to at this moment. While it is only due to your having responded so quickly that we are now able to reflect upon it, I’d like to leave a bit of space on the timing aspect for people who have won’t have an opportunity to respond until later. Speaking for myself, had I not seen this weekend, I probably would have felt that I "missed the moment” and not responded. Which (correct me if I’m wrong) is the opposite of your larger point: timing wouldn’t be an issue if there was a conversation continually occuring throughout time. With gratitude for the inspiration, Benjamin

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COVID-19 Twitter dataset (>524 million) for research
by Muhammad Imran 05 Jun '20

05 Jun '20

[Apologies for cross-posting] Dear Colleagues, This COVID-19 Twitter dataset might be of interest to you. We've released "GeoCoV19", a large-scale and multilingual dataset of 524 million tweets about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The dataset is annotated with location information, including country, state, county, and city. The following are some important stats about the dataset: - The dataset was collected over a period of 90 days from Feb 1st to May 1st without any gaps. We are still collecting new data, which will be released as well. - The 524 million tweets in the dataset are from over 43 million users. - The geographic coverage of the dataset spans over 218 countries and more than 47,000 cities around the world. - The dataset covers 62 languages. The top five languages are: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian. Paper link: https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3404111.3404114 <https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3404111.3404114> Dataset link: https://crisisnlp.qcri.org/covid19 <https://crisisnlp.qcri.org/covid19> Best, ----- Dr. Muhammad Imran Scientist Qatar Computing Research Institute Hamad Bin Khalifa University Doha, Qatar. Tel: +974 4454 1521 https://mimran.me/ <http://mimran.me/>

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Digital Existence III: Living with Automation POSTPONED until May 31st-June 1st 2021
by Matilda Tudor 05 Jun '20

05 Jun '20

Dear all, Due to the precariousness of our times, the conference Digital Existence III: Living with Automation, arranged by DIGMEX together with The Sigtuna Foundation, has been postponed until 31st May - 1st June 2021. New deadline for abstract submission TBA. ………………… Digital Existence III– a conference about artificial intelligence (AI), biometrics and the human condition. The Sigtuna Foundation 31st May – 1st June 2021 Digital Existence III (DE III) follows on from the Digital Existence conferences, but assumes the character of a two-day symposium by invitation. It is the first in a series of three planned symposia entitled “New Directions in Existential Media Studies” as part of the project “BioMe: Existential Challenges and Ethical Imperatives of Biometric AI in Everyday Lifeworlds” (2020-2024), headed by Amanda Lagerkvist. Keynote Speakers: N. Katherine Hayles, Benjamin Peters, Sarah Pink, Amanda Lagerkvist, Joanna Zylinska, Kelly Gates, Sun-ha Hong, Zach Blas. BioMe Panel: Amanda Lagerkvist, Matilda Tudor, Jacek Smolicki, Jenny Eriksson-Lundström, Charles M. Ess, Maria Rogg Call for engagement papers During our symposium there will be a slot for engagement papers by younger scholars (PhD students and postdocs). These papers should engage the young field of existential media studies in the timely contexts of biometric artificial intelligence. Please submit an abstract of 500 words to Matilda Tudor (matilda.tudor(a)im.uu.se<mailto:matilda.tudor@im.uu.se> ) New Deadline to be announced. For complete cfp: https://www.im.uu.se/digitalAssets/859/c_859916-l_1-k_digital-existence-iii… DIGMEX members The conference will also be open for DIGMEX network members without papers, at their own expenses. This will depend on availability. Please sign up for this by e-mailing Matilda Tudor at (matilda.tudor(a)im.uu.se<mailto:matilda.tudor@im.uu.se>) The conference is free of charge, but contact the Sigtuna Foundation directly for information about room prices and bookings. https://sigtunastiftelsen.se/en/ Description AI (artificial intelligence) is mounting on the human horizon, evoking both hopes and fears. Mapping itself onto almost every conceivable realm of human life and experience, AI is however not only a concern for the future: it is already here, at our fingertips. As AI is part of our most intimate lives, quantified self-imaginings, embodied perceptions, and our emergent practices of care and of law enforcement – especially via biometrics– our lives are increasingly ‘on automatic.’ But where did this world stem from – historically and ideologically? What founds it philosophically? How can it be (re)conceived, theoretically and artistically, in order for us to responsibly craft AI to serve human kind? What can we learn from attending to how we already live with automation – about risks and possibilities – and from how we have lived with its imaginaries on our horizon throughout history, in fiction and techno-progressivist discourse and practice? What are the existential needs and necessities that face us anew with AI? And can we now harness, as scholars in the humanities, those rich sources of insight and wisdom about the human condition, that remain our footing, while mobilising them creatively and critically for a new era with ‘responsible AI’ (Dignum 2019)? This symposium is motivated by the fact that in increasingly conspicuous ways, leading AI alignment collaborations to develop philosophically robust notions of “benign AI”, are almost entirely absent of any in-depth engagement with humanistic knowledge, whether philosophical, historical, artistic or anthropological. Because these automated technologies provoke immediate questions about privacy infringement, ethics and security, questions about/human value, well-being, trustworthiness and ethics in AI design are simultaneously raised globally. The European Commission for example recently proposed an approach “that places people at the centre of the development of AI (/human-centric/ AI)." To address these major transformations and broad global concerns the symposium Digital Existence III: Living with Automation will place the qualitative, philosophical and artistic modes of interpreting, creating, co-designing, critiquingand engaging the emergent automatedworld equally centrally. AI must be placed in historical sociopolitical contexts, yet their many exigencies and meanings also require looking backward to our history as scholars in the humanities, as much as looking forward and beyond its classic trajectories, to find novel and pertinent framings. >From the perspective of existential media studies (EMS), which revisits classic questions and themes in existential philosophy about ‘what it means to be human’ – while upgrading them to our contemporary technologized culture in conversation with posthumanist and new materialist debates – the stakes are foremost existential. Technologies define and redefine the human condition. Hence, automated data services are conceived as everyday “mundane data;” they co-condition our world and media are our material infrastructures of being (Peters 2015). Yet, automation is simultaneously theorized as a fresh source for embodied disharmony, friction, vulnerability and social injustice. /Not only do we use technologies; our lives are increasingly digitally “thrown”, to draw on the language of Martin Heidegger, into a highly connected, fast changing technological world that uses us, threatening to leave us displaced and ever more vulnerable (Lagerkvist 2016, 2017, 2019). In EMS human existence is consequently conceived as an ongoing moral project (Kierkegaard 1849/1989; Sartre 1956), stretched out in an anticipatory mode towards horizons of the possible, the contingent and the imperative. EMS thus maintains that/the towering existential and ethical task of our time is to reflect upon, and take responsibility for, the media technologies that we develop, use and embrace, and how that embrace simultaneously raises (as in de Beauvoir’s ‘ethics of ambiguity’, 1947) new affordances and limits; the new resources and risks of modern human life. This conference will thus take existential media studies in new directions, prompting a necessary interrogation of AI and biometrics from creative, imaginary, artistic, philosophical and historical angles, while anthropologically centring on experiences of living with automation in today’s world. The contributions to the symposium will be published in a themed issue of a peer reviewed journal. The symposium is an activity within the project “BioMe: Existential Challenges and Ethical Imperatives of Biometric AI in Everyday Lifeworlds” (2020-2024), headed by Dr. Amanda Lagerkvist (based in the Uppsala Informatics and Media Hub for Digital Existence: http://www.im.uu.se/research/hub-for-digtal-existence) and hosted by the Department of Informatics and Media at Uppsala University. This event is the first in a series of three planned symposia entitled “New Directions in Existential Media Studies”. It follows on from two conferences organized by DIGMEX (a network initiated by Amanda Lagerkvist in October 2014) in collaboration with the Sigtuna Foundation: “Digital Existence: Memory, Meaning, Vulnerability” (2015) and “Digital Existence II: Precarious Media Life” (2017). BioMe is part of the national research program WASP-HS: Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems Software Program – Humanities and Society: https://wasp-hs.org<https://wasp-hs.org/> <https://wasp-hs.org/> (2020-2030) financed by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation (MMW) and the Marcus and Amalia Wallenberg Foundation (MAW). The conference is co-organized by the DIGMEX network and the Sigtuna Foundation, and co-funded by MMW, MAW, Uppsala University and the Sigtuna Foundation. Matilda Tudor PhD, Research fellow, research assistant E-mail: matilda.tudor(a)im.uu.se Uppsala Informatics and Media Hub for Digital Existence Dept. of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University Box 513, SE- 751 20 Uppsala http://www.im.uu.se/research/hub-for-digtal-existence http://www.uu.se/en/research/infrastructure/digitalhumaniora/?languageId=1 <http://www.uu.se/en/research/infrastructure/digitalhumaniora/?languageId=1> När du har kontakt med oss på Uppsala universitet med e-post så innebär det att vi behandlar dina personuppgifter. För att läsa mer om hur vi gör det kan du läsa här: http://www.uu.se/om-uu/dataskydd-personuppgifter/ E-mailing Uppsala University means that we will process your personal data. For more information on how this is performed, please read here: http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/data-protection-policy

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