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WEBCAST TODAY: Importance of Internet Connectivity in Times of Pandemic: Case for Community Networks in Uganda
by Joly MacFie 28 May '20

28 May '20

It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, and it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil, let's hope that the upside of the pandemic is connectivity innovation. ISOC Live posted: "On Thursday 28 May 2020 from 12pm-1:30pm EAT (09:00-10:30 UTC) the Internet Society Uganda Chapter hosts a webinar: Importance of Internet Connectivity in Times of Pandemics. This webinar seeks to explore the importance of rural broadband connectivity in " [image: livestream] <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/isocug1>On *Thursday 28 May 2020* from *12pm-1:30pm EAT* (09:00-10:30 UTC) the *Internet Society Uganda Chapter <https://isoc.ug/>* hosts a webinar: *Importance of Internet Connectivity in Times of Pandemics <https://www.facebook.com/events/907438433103994/>*. This webinar seeks to explore the importance of rural broadband connectivity in times of pandemics and how community networks can play a role in connecting the unconnected. The webinar will explore policy solutions needed to strengthen community networks as alternatives to rural connectivity. Ultimately, the webinar seeks to promote the creation and growth of community networks in Uganda. *SPEAKERS* - *Massimiliano Stucci*, Regional Technical Advisor - Europe, Internet Society - *Irene Kaggwa Sewankambo*, Ag. Executive Director, Uganda Communications Commission (@UCC_ED) - *Steve Song*, Founder, Village Telco (@stevesong) - *Carloa Rey-Moreno*, Local Access Policy and Regulation Coordinator, Community Networks Project, APC (@CreyM) - *Josephine Miliz*a, Africa Regional Coordinator, Community Networks Project, APC (@Msmiliza) - *Solomon Okot Nono* (Technical Manager, BOSCO Uganda (@sokotnono) - *Lillian Achom*, Founding Partner, AccessPlus (@achom_lillian) *MODERATOR* - *Lilian Nalwoga*, President, Internet Society Uganda Chapter (@lilna) *LIVESTREAM: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/isocug1 <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/isocug1>* *SIMULCASTS: Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/pg/ISOCAfrica/videos/> | Periscope <https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/> | Twitch <https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive>* *PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM: https://bit.ly/3dda6YE <https://bit.ly/3dda6YE>* *TWITTER: @ISOCUg + #connectivity <https://bit.ly/2Xd6rot>* *Permalink* https://isoc.live/12116/ - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +2185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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CFP--ECRA Special Issue on Business Analytics for Social Good
by Kang Zhao 28 May '20

28 May '20

*Electronic Commence Research and Applications* *Special Issue on Business Analytics for Social Good* Special issue editors: Dirk Neumann (The University ofFreiburg, Germany), dirk.neumann(a)is.uni-freiburg.de. Junjie Wu (Beihang University,China), wujj(a)buaa.edu.cn. Kang Zhao (The University ofIowa, USA), kang-zhao(a)uiowa.edu. Platforms for electronic commerce, mobile commerce, and online social networking are making huge impact on our life in various ways. Meanwhile, data generated from these platforms has created tremendous value not only to the business but also to the society. In addition to leveraging the data for business objectives, eCommerce researchers and scholars also bear the responsibility of contributing to the benefits of the general public by analyzing such data. This special issue seeks data-enabled research that applies or develops computational and data science methods to address societal challenges in today’s interconnected world. We encourage research that analyzes publicly available data (e.g., from the Web or government agencies) or proprietary data (e.g., from business and organizations). Potential topics include, but are not limited to: · Discrimination and bias in social media · Vulnerable population in disaster relief and infectious disease control · (Mis)Information during emergency responses · Equality and privacy in eCommerce recommender systems · Social justice in law enforcement · Equal access to business or life opportunities · Disparities and inequality in health, health literacy and healthcare · Healthcare management during emergencies · Donations and fundraising for charity · Environmental protection and sustainability Authors are encouraged to email their papers’ abstracts to guest editors, so that the fit for this special issue can be evaluated, although this step is optional. Timeline · Initial submissions due: Sept 30, 2020 · First round of decisions: Jan 15, 2021 · Revisions due: March 15, 2021 · Final decisions: May 15, 2021 Submission guidelines: · Authors must submit all manuscripts through ECRA’s online submission portal https://ees.elsevier.com/ecra/default.asp, and choose "BASociaGood” as a special issue submission. · Submissions must follow author guidelines of ECRA ( https://www.elsevier.com/journals/electronic-commerce-research-and-applicat…) -- Kang Zhao, Ph.D. Tippie College of Business The University of Iowa Website: http://www.kangzhao.net

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WEBCAST TODAY: Next Century Cities Member Call – How Local Leaders Can Influence State And Federal Policy
by Joly MacFie 27 May '20

27 May '20

This has just started. Although this session is primarily aimed at City managers in the USA, it should have lessons for anyone working on building community networks. ISOC Live posted: "Today Wednesday May 27 2020, at 1pm EDT (17:00 UTC) Next Century Cities hosts a member call 'How Local Leaders Can Influence State And Federal Policy' . Speakers Kathryn de Wit, Broadband Research Initiative, Pew Charitable Trust, and Jon Sallet, Senior F" [image: livestream] <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/localleaders> Today* Wednesday May 27 2020*, at *1pm EDT* (17:00 UTC) *Next Century Cities <https://nextcenturycities.org/>* hosts a member call '*How Local Leaders Can Influence State And Federal Policy' <https://nextcenturycities.org/event/members-only-may-27-member-call/>* . Speakers *Kathryn de Wit*, Broadband Research Initiative, Pew Charitable Trust, and *Jon Sallet*, Senior Fellow, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, will discuss how NCC members can expand digital opportunities for their residents. *LIVESTREAM: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/localleaders <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/localleaders>* *SIMULCASTS: Periscope <https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/> | Twitch <https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive>* *PARTICIPATE: https://nextcenturycities.org/event/members-only-may-27-member-call/ <https://nextcenturycities.org/event/members-only-may-27-member-call/>* *TWITTER: #localleaders + @NextCentCit <https://bit.ly/2XA4EbJ>* *Permalink* https://isoc.live/12112/ - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +2185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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WEBCAST AUJOURD’HUI: Le Forum sur le Peering d’Afrique Centrale – Webinaire sur l’Impact du COVID-19 sur le Peering
by Joly MacFie 27 May '20

27 May '20

This will be in French only. ISOC Live posted: "Aujourd'hui, mercredi 26 mai 2020 de 15h00 à 17h00 WAT ((14h00 - 16h00 UTC), le tout premier Forum de Peering en Afrique Centrale se déroulera pour discuter de la manière de continuer à développer l'interconnexion, le peering et la croissance Internet à t" [image: livestream] <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/capf>Aujourd'hui, *mercredi 26 mai 2020* de *15h00 à 17h00 WAT* ((14h00 - 16h00 UTC), le tout premier *Forum de Peering en Afrique Centrale <https://www.internetsociety.org/fr/events/le-forum-sur-le-peering-dafrique-…>* se déroulera pour discuter de la manière de continuer à développer l'interconnexion, le peering et la croissance Internet à travers la région pendant COVID-19. CONFÉRENCIERS - *Olivier Leloustre* - Président, NEWTELNET; *Luc Missidimbazi* - DRC; Amreesh Phokeer - R&D, AFRINIC; *Nico Tshintu* - Directeur des opérations, Internet Service Provider Association-RDC (ISPA-DRC) et de RDC-IX. MODERATEURS - *Landry Lingombe* -Secrétaire Exécutif, GABIX, et *Ghislain Nkeramugaba*,Internet Society (ISOC). *LIVESTREAM: http://livestream.com/internetsociety/capf <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/capf>* *FACEBOOK SIMULCAST: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ISOCAfrica/videos/ <https://www.facebook.com/pg/ISOCAfrica/videos/>* *PARTICIPER: https://www.internetsociety.org/events/central-africa-peering-forum/registr… <https://www.internetsociety.org/events/central-africa-peering-forum/registr…>* *TWITTER: **#CAPeeringForum <http://bit.ly/CAPeeringForum>* *Permalink* https://isoc.live/12107/ -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +2185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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Doctoral Colloquium - No paper req'd - iLRN 2020 Virtual Conf. on VR/AR/MR (XR) & Immersive Tech. for Learning
by Lee, Mark 27 May '20

27 May '20

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ILRN 2020 VIRTUAL DOCTORAL COLLOQUIUM Paper and/or poster optional; FREE for students not presenting/publishing in the main conference. iLRN 2020: 6th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network June 21-25, 2020, Online and in Virtual Reality Technically co-sponsored by the IEEE Education Society, with proceedings to be submitted for inclusion in IEEE Xplore(r) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Website: http://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2020/dc Doctoral Colloquium Coordinators: * Andreas Dengel, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Germany * Tiago Martins Peres, Universidade Aberta, Portugal Join our Doctoral Colloquium at iLRN 2020, the 6th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network, which will be taking place online using a number of virtual reality and other digital collaboration platforms/tools from June 21 to 25, 2020. (Headset not required to participate.) This is the premier scholarly event focusing on advances in the use of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and other extended reality (XR) technologies to support learning across sectors and contexts. ### Benefits of Participation ### One day prior to the main conference, we offer you, the doctoral and master's students with a focus on VR/AR/MR (XR) and immersive learning research, a platform to: * Build your network: The Doctoral Colloquium will take place in a virtual platform that can host thousands of users simultaneously and includes a friend system with user profiles that one can even link, for instance, LinkedIn there. * Get feedback on your ideas and work: Feedback provided by graduate students, for graduate students. * Create early visibility for your research. Whether you are joining the main conference or not, we welcome you to participate in this friendly gathering of doctoral and master's students on June 22, 2020 (time TBA). ### Important Notes ### 1. We consider all submissions relevant to XR and immersive learning research. 2. You don't need a presentation or even to participate at the main conference to join the Doctoral Colloquium! 3. Presenters and participants must register for the conference, but may do so for free (unless you are a practitioner or presenter at the main conference, or if you want to have your Work-in-progress paper included in the proceedings). ### Types of Submission ### While everybody is welcome to participate and give feedback, we want to give you a fine selection of amazing doctoral and master's projects to hear and learn about. If you are interest in presenting your work at the iLRN 2020 Doctoral Colloquium, you have three options from which to choose: 1. Submit a "Work-in-Progress paper for Doctoral Colloquium" via EasyChair. If your paper gets accepted, it will be included in the proceedings (note that, in this case, you have to pay the Academic Author registration for the conference) AND submit a pre-recorded 3 to 7-minute video summarizing your work. 2. Submit a "Practitioner proposal for poster presentation" via EasyChair (this requires registration, but at the Practitioner Presenter rate-cheaper than the Academic) AND submit a pre-recorded 3 to 7-minute video summarizing your work. 3. JUST submit a pre-recorded 3 to 7-minute video summarizing your work. Regardless of whether you have a paper or proposal accepted for the conference, you can participate in the Doctoral Colloquium by submitting a video summarizing your project. We recommend the video is in 3-Minute Thesis (3MT), Video Abstract, or PechaKucha format. See the iLRN 2020 Video Presentation Guidelines (https://immersivelrn.org/ilrn2020/video-presentation-guidelines/ ). When you are ready, submit your video here: https://bit.ly/3guhGjY Once your submission has been reviewed and accepted, the Doctoral Colloquium Coordinators will send you a coupon code allowing you to register for the conference for free, provided you meet the aforementioned criteria. Questions and inquiries regarding the Doctoral Colloquium may be directed to andreas(a)immersivelrn.org . (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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HICSS Deadline Extension: July 15
by Alexander Halavais 27 May '20

27 May '20

Sorry I won't get to see the AIR crew in Dublin, but hopefully I can see some of you in Hawaii this January. The deadline for submissions to HICSS has been extended to July 15. The conference is still "on" for January, assuming that travel is possible at the start of the year. In any case, proceedings from HICSS are very highly cited. While we are certainly in a period of flux, I hope you will consider submitting and (hopefully) coming together in the new year. In particular, we hope you will consider submitting to our mini-track for Digital Methods: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/tracks-54/digital-and-social-media/#digital-method… There has been an explosion of research using social media data to study human behavior and social interaction in almost every domain of social science. While the body of literature using digital and social media data is growing at a staggering rate, accompanying methodological contributions about the process of conducting research with digital and social media data remains thin. The existing methodological literature is typically tool or technology driven, and not a result of empirical examination of the data collection process.This leaves researchers without an understanding of how to approach or evaluate the social media data collection process, and in turn, how to appropriately interpret findings from this type of research. As a result, researchers, practitioners, and students are left to continually reinvent the wheel by learning through a process of trial and error. This minitrack addresses this gap by providing a venue to discuss methodological issues and approaches to conducting research with digital and social media data. We welcome papers related to methodological challenges for researchers including, but not limited to: (1) the need for new methods for data collection and analysis, (2) adaptations of existing methods (3) issues of representation and sampling, (4) ephemerality of social media data, (5) holistic collection of digital social media data and associated content such as images/URLs/video, (6) preservation, archiving, and data sharing, and (7) impact of changing platform affordances, interfaces, designs, and APIs. Best, Alex -- // Alexander Halavais (he/him) @halavais alex.halavais.net/bio // Associate Prof. of Critical Data Studies - Director of MA in Social Tech // Arizona State University, New College, Social & Behavioral Sciences // "I want to see you not through the Machine," said Kuno. "I want to // speak to you not through the wearisome Machine."

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WEBCAST TODAY: Introduction to Configuration and Management of HPC Infrastructure
by Joly MacFie 26 May '20

26 May '20

As noted, this session will be conducted in Amharic. ISOC Live posted: "On Tuesday 26th May 2020 at 16:00 EAT (13:00 UTC) the Internet Society Ethiopia Chapter (ISOC ET) presents a webinar 'Introduction to Configuration and Management of HPC Infrastructure'. Presenter Addisu G. Semie, PhD of Addis Ababa University discuss the" [image: livestream] <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/hpc>On* Tuesday 26th May 2020* at *16:00 EAT* (13:00 UTC) the *Internet Society Ethiopia Chapter <http://www.internetsociety.et/>* (ISOC ET) presents a webinar '*Introduction to Configuration and Management of HPC Infrastructure <https://isoc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7pnhsrGxRlCJuSCFvhHReg>*'. Presenter *Addisu G. Semie*, PhD of Addis Ababa University discuss the basics of building, using, and managing high-performance computing (HPC) - the use of distributed computing facilities for solving problems that need large computing power. HPC generally requires low-latency interconnection networks. The webinar will be conducted in Amharic. *LIVESTREAM: http://livestream.com/internetsociety/hpc <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/hpc>* *FACEBOOK SIMULCAST: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ISOCAfrica/videos/ <https://www.facebook.com/pg/ISOCAfrica/videos/>* *PARTICIPATE: https://isoc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7pnhsrGxRlCJuSCFvhHReg <https://isoc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7pnhsrGxRlCJuSCFvhHReg>* *TWITTER: @isocethiopia + hpc <https://bit.ly/2A6wm80>* *Permalink* https://isoc.live/12103/ -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +2185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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Update - CfP: "Digital Ethnography: Revisiting Theoretical Concepts and Methodological Approaches"
by Monika Palmberger 26 May '20

26 May '20

Dear All, Due to the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vienna Anthropology Days 2020 will be organized online (Sept. 28- Oct. 1, 2020 https://vanda.univie.ac.at/) We warmly invite you to submit a proposal to our session "Digital Ethnography: Revisiting Theoretical Concepts and Methodological Approaches." The conference organizers have extended the deadline to July 1. For the details of our session, please see below. To submit a proposal, navigate to: https://vanda.univie.ac.at/call-for-papers/ Please let us know if you have any questions. Best wishes, Monika and Philipp Conference Vienna Anthropology Days (VANDA) 2020 Date & Venue 28 September - 1 October, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria Panel Digital Ethnography: Revisiting Theoretical Concepts and Methodological Approaches Organizers Philipp Budka (University of Vienna) Monika Palmberger (University of Vienna) Abstract Ethnographic research has the potential to dig deep into mediated personal relationships as well as into socio-technical relations in an increasingly digitized and digitalized world (e.g., Hjorth et al. 2017; Horst & Miller, 2012; Pink et al., 2016). In order to do so, ethnographers and anthropologists have engaged with a variety of digital and multimodal methods such as online ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation, digital storytelling, mobile and visual media elicitation, digital media biographies, and digital video re-enactments (e.g., Pink et al., 2016). Their research has opened up new knowledge horizons such as the changing emotional, normative or symbolic dimensions of complex social relations and cultural practices entangled with new digital media technologies. This session provides room for critical and ethical reflections on theory and methodology in the field of digital anthropology/ethnography, including, but not limited to, the following questions: Which theoretical concepts are particularly fruitful in the ethnographic and anthropological exploration of digital phenomena? How are such concepts entangled with methodological approaches and challenges, for example by reconsidering issues of collaboration, decolonization, confidentiality or intimacy? How can we do participant observation when communication and interaction are increasingly 'individualized' and veiled due to digital technologies, particularly the smartphone? Which forms of collecting, interpreting and representing empirical data do we aspire for? This session invites presenters to revisit previous discussions and critically reflect upon current relevant debates in anthropology and beyond. Papers may be empirically, methodologically or theoretically driven. Deadline & Submission Please submit your paper abstracts (max. 350 words) online via the conference system the latest by July 1, 2020: https://vanda.univie.ac.at/call-for-papers/ ----------- Dr. Monika Palmberger https://ksa.univie.ac.at/palmberger-monika https://kuleuven.academia.edu/MonikaPalmberger recent publications: Relational ambivalence: Exploring the social and discursive dimensions of ambivalence—The case of Turkish aging labor migrants. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 2019. 2019: Why alternative memory and place-making practices in divided cities matter Space and Polity, 2019.

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COVID-19 Seminar #6: Professor Ien Ang, Western Sydney University
by Thao Phan 26 May '20

26 May '20

*COVID-19 Seminar #6: Professor Ien Ang, Western Sydney University * ienang-seminar.eventbrite.com.au Please join us seminar #6 in the COVID-19 seminar series, co-hosted by the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship & Globalisation <https://www.deakin.edu.au/adi> (ADI) and the Science and Society Network <https://scienceandsocietynetwork.deakin.edu.au/> (SSN). *Date/time: *Tuesday 2nd June, 10am - 11:30am (Australian Eastern Standard Time, GMT+10) *Title:* Beyond the Crisis: Transitioning to a Better World? *Abstract:* As time passes it has become increasingly clear that the COVID-19 crisis is not just a short-term public health emergency. Instead, the situation we are in lays bare a broader and deeper organic crisis permeating all levels of society, both nationally and globally. For some, this organic crisis has resulted in a hope for a more just, peaceful and humane future, a humankind living in harmony among each other and with the planet. However, how could we work towards a transition to such a better world? In this talk, I will reflect on a number of political and intellectual barriers to such a desirable future, from the erosive role of human passions to the escalating new cold war between China and the West. To have a chance of a better world, we need to maintain a critical cosmopolitan horizon against the grain of self-interested closures and exclusions. *About the speaker:* Ien Ang is Distinguished Professor of Cultural Studies at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney, of which she was the director until the end of 2014. She is internationally recognised for her wide-ranging work focusing on the formation of audiences and publics; the politics of identity and difference; migration, nation and multiculturalism; and Australia – Asia relations in a global context. Her latest books are the co-authored Chinatown Unbound: Trans-Asian Urbanism in the Age of China (2019) and the co-edited Cultural Diplomacy: Beyond the National Interest? (2016). *Watch the seminar:* Seminar will be available to stream on YouTube live. Access using the live link: <https://youtu.be/eJsN8Ym85y4>https://youtu.be/S-p5_K9LsLI Date/time: Tuesday 2nd June, 10am - 11:30am (Australian Eastern Standard Time, GMT+10) Q&A with the speaker to follow. To send questions/participate in the chat, you'll need to sign-in using a YouTube account <https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-comment-on-youtube?r=AU&IR=T>. If you have any questions, please send to ssn-info(a)deakin.edu.au <ssn-info(a)deakin.edu.au> The talk will also be recorded and available on the SSN Youtube Channel <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVYFQV_UFX9CLreqpNzanVA>. Did you miss our last seminar? Watch it here! <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtH1AbnJ7AFApbhh29fL5kqjNFdD_0eID>

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CFP: Dead and Dying Platforms: The Poetics, Politics, and Perils of Internet History | Deadline Sept. 1
by Muira McCammon 26 May '20

26 May '20

Greetings! See below for information about a special issue on dead and dying platforms for *Internet Histories* that I am co-editing with Prof. Jessa Lingel. We're seeking abstracts (500 words maximum) by September 1, 2020. We especially welcome writing that explores platforms whose histories are rooted in understudied countries, areas, cultures, and digital communities. We particularly encourage submissions about platforms launched, used and/or remembered outside of Silicon Valley. Feel free to spread this call for papers (below) as widely as possible. The text is also available at the following URL: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/dead-and-dying-platforms/ Wishing you all health & equanimity, Muira McCammon A bit about my research here <https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/Penn-grad-student-studies-information-flow…> Ph.D. candidate, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania M.L. candidate, University of Pennsylvania Law School Twitter: @muira_mccammon <https://twitter.com/muira_mccammon> **-*-*- // with the usual apologies for crossposting // *-*-*-* *Dead and Dying Platforms: The Poetics, Politics, and Perils of Internet History* *Muira McCammon & Jessa Lingel (University of Pennsylvania)* *Rationale & Motivation* This special issue explores internet histories through the lens of “platform death” as a way of understanding how digital communities grapple with absence, invisibility, and disappearance. Collectively, the contributions in this issue will address the cultural, geopolitical, economic, and socio-legal repercussions of what happens when various corners of the Internet fail, decline, or expire. As a point of departure, we assume that platforms can bring together a wide set of actors, from politicians to parents, teens to technologists, spies to free speech activists; they can serve as a stage where people gather, argue, develop personal relationships, and jockey for divergent futures (Marvin, 1988; Pearce, 2011; Baym, 2015; Lee, 2017; Gillepsie, 2018). But what becomes of platforms when they fade, fail, or fall from public favor? What can dead and dying platforms tell us about the internet’s growth and stagnation, its present and futures? We seek to complicate, document, and build on the narratives of platform change, collapse, death, precarity, and frailty that scholars (Gehl, 2012; Chun, 2016; Belleflamme & Neysen, 2017; Gomez-Meijia, 2018; Helmond & van der Vlist, 2019) and tech journalists (Kircher, 2016) have highlighted over the past two decades. Recent scholarship has focused on the rise and resilience of certain tech enterprises, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter (e.g. Burgess & Green, 2009; Vaidhyanathan, 2018; Jackson, Bailey, & Foucault Welles, 2020), but much of this research has privileged big platforms over the small, surviving digital communities over the dead, and Silicon Valley-born-and-bred design thinking over that birthed outside tech hot spots. Studies imagining the demise of Big Tech platforms (Ohman & Aggarwal, 2019) and tracing consumer resistance to digital media (Katz & Aspden, 1998; Portwood-Stacer, 2013) have largely ignored both the values and frailties of Small Tech in great depth. While historical and contemporary research has addressed the themes of digital departure (Wyatt, 1999; Baumer et al., 2013), disappearing mediums (Gehl, 2012; Suominen et al., 2013; Ballatore & Natale, 2016), and user mortality (Leaver, 2013), it has largely left the theme of “platform death” to the wayside. Another key absence in this literature is attention to platforms and communities outside the U.S. and Europe. With the above gaps in the literature in mind, the impetus for this special issue came from a forthcoming panel in the Communication History Division at the May 2020 International Communication Association’s Annual Conference, “Dead and Dying Platforms: The Poetics, Politics, and Perils of Internet History.” When organizing the panel, over 20 different scholars in six countries writing on the histories of specific, bounded platforms expressed interest. Though not all could be included in the final panel, many articulated a desire to contribute to a special issue, such as this one, focusing on the promises and perils of single platforms through the lens of Internet history. This special issue seeks to bring together diverse thinkers and scholars with expertise in a range of dead and dying platforms. *Description of CFP Procedure* We aim to bring together contributors active in the fields of history, communication, media studies, law, economics, psychology, internet studies, library and information science, queer theory, journalism studies, and related scholarly domains. The topic of contributions may include, but are not limited to: - The rise and fall of specific platforms, including discussions on the challenges, factors, and policies responsible for their decline – and rebirth. - Archival techniques and theoretical frameworks for resurrecting and reimagining dead platforms - Comparative investigations of platform precarity - Explorations of the laws, economic forces, and social trends that underlie the historical analysis of platforms that have survived to the present day - Memory narratives and counter-narratives of platform users, designers, and advertisers - Media refusal, disconnection and techno-skepticism - The offline repercussions and cultural reverberations of platform death - Rhetorics and metaphors of the describe platform death and failures of platform governance (i.e. kill switches) - The ethnographies, pre-histories, and afterlives of dying digital communities - Quantitative and qualitative methodologies that can operationalize platform collapse - Interconnections between the frailties of Small Tech and the failures of Big Tech - Ways in which the rise and fall of certain platforms are geographically asymmetrical and asynchronous - Media change, materiality, everyday experience, and nostalgia - The ontological and epistemological challenges of considering platforms as dead, dying, or alive - Historiographies of platforms created, used, and/or dismantled outside the United States - Studies of platforms whose deaths have not received significant Anglophone press coverage - Analysis of the implications of platform death for international and global discussions of Internet pasts and futures Although papers do need to be written in English, we especially welcome writing that explores platforms whose histories are rooted in understudied countries, areas, cultures, and digital communities. We particularly encourage submissions about platforms launched, used and/or remembered outside of Silicon Valley. *Submissions & Time Schedule* Abstracts (500 words maximum) should be emailed to deadplatforms(a)gmail.com by September 1, 2020. Any questions about the CFP can be sent to the co-editors, Muira McCammon (muira.mccammon(a)asc.upenn.edu) and Jessa Lingel ( jessa.lingel(a)asc.upenn.edu) Notification about acceptance to submit an article will be sent out by 1 October 2020. Authors of accepted abstracts are invited to submit an article by 1 February 2021. Final versions or articles are asked to keep within a 6,000 word limit. Please note that acceptance of abstract does not ensure final publication as all articles must go through the journal’s usual peer review process. — 1 Sep 2020: due date for abstracts — 1 Oct 2020: notification of acceptance — 1 Feb 2021: accepted articles to be submitted for review — Feb 2021-May 2021: review process and revisions

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