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new guide for research design of online talk
by trena paulus 14 Jun '19

14 Jun '19

Dear colleagues, We are thrilled to share the news that our book *Looking for Insight, Transformation and Learning in Online Talk <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.routledge.com_Look…> *is now officially available from Routledge. We wrote the book to offer researchers a comprehensive guide for analyzing digital interactions in formal and informal online spaces. It provides a clear framework for addressing major challenges that have arisen as social exchanges, meaning-making, and knowledge-building increasingly take place through social media, discussion forums, and digital communities. We hope you and your students find it a useful tool for planning and conducting studies using online talk as a data source. Read more <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__qualpage.com_2019_04_1…> about *Looking for Insight, Transformation and Learning in Online Talk*. Order a copy <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.routledge.com_Look…> of *Looking for Insight, Transformation and Learning in Online Talk*. Best wishes, Trena Paulus, Ph.D. *Professor of Qualitative Research Methods at the University of Georgia* Alyssa Wise, Ph.D. *Associate Professor of Learning Sciences & Educational Technology and Director of the Learning Analytics Research Network at New York University*

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Published: IEEE TLT Special Issue on Early Prediction and Supporting of Learning Performance
by Lee, Mark 14 Jun '19

14 Jun '19

Dear colleagues, Some of you—especially those with an interest in predictive learning analytics and educational data mining—might be interested to know that the April-June 2019 issue (vol. 12, no. 2) of the IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies (TLT) has now been published. This is a themed special issue on "Early Prediction and Supporting of Learning Performance,” guest edited by Prof. Cristóbal Romero and Prof. Sebastian Ventura of the University of Córdoba, Spain. The Guest Editorial to the special issue is free to download at https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2908106 and provides an overview of the 11 articles that constitute the issue. The full issue is available through IEEE Xplore at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=4620076 (Click on the "Current Issue" link). Most university libraries have subscriptions to TLT via the IEEE Xplore Digital Library, so you should have access if you are using a device connected to your campus network. For your convenience, a listing of the issue's contents is appended below. Our next special issue, which will likely be published in early 2020, is on the topic “Data Capture and Analysis for Supporting Learning Engagement.” The Guest Editors of that issue are Dr. Ilaria Torre of the University of Genoa, Italy; Dr. Olga C. Santos of UNED, Spain; and Prof. Abelardo Pardo of the University of South Australia. Please feel free to share this message with others who might be interested, both individually and through the networks and associations of which you are a part. Happy reading! Kind regards, Mark J. W. Lee Editor-in-Chief IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies *** IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies Special Issue on Early Prediction and Supporting of Learning Performance *** Guest Editorial: Special Issue on Early Prediction and Supporting of Learning Performance (OPEN ACCESS) Cristóbal Romero, Sebastian Ventura https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2908106 Improving Predictive Modeling for At-Risk Student Identification: A Multistage Approach Jui-Long Hung, Brett E. Shelton, Juan Yang, Xu Du https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2911072 Developing Early Detectors of Student Attrition and Wheel Spinning Using Deep Learning Anthony F. Botelho, Ashvini Varatharaj, Thanaporn Patikorn, Diana Doherty, Seth A. Adjei, Joseph E. Beck https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2912162 A Quest for a One-Size-Fits-All Neural Network: Early Prediction of Students at Risk in Online Courses David Monllaó Olivé, Du Q. Huynh, Mark Reynolds, Martin Dougiamas, Damyon Wiese https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2911068 How Widely Can Prediction Models Be Generalized? Performance Prediction in Blended Courses Niki Gitinabard, Yiqiao Xu, Sarah Heckman, Tiffany Barnes, Collin F. Lynch https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2911832 Interpretable Multiview Early Warning System Adapted to Underrepresented Student Populations Alberto Cano, John D. Leonard https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2911079 Multiview Learning for Early Prognosis of Academic Performance: A Case Study Georgios Kostopoulos, Stamatis Karlos, Sotiris Kotsiantis https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2911581 Predicting the Risk of Academic Dropout With Temporal Multi-Objective Optimization Fernando Jiménez, Alessia Paoletti, Gracia Sánchez, Guido Sciavicco https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2911070 Feature Extraction for Next-Term Prediction of Poor Student Performance Agoritsa Polyzou, George Karypis https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2913358 An Early Feedback Prediction System for Learners At-Risk Within a First-Year Higher Education Course David Baneres, M. Elena Rodríguez-Gonzalez, Montse Serra https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2912167 >From Lab to Production: Lessons Learnt and Real-Life Challenges of an Early Student-Dropout Prevention System Alvaro Ortigosa, Rosa M. Carro, Javier Bravo-Agapito, David Lizcano, Juan Jesús Alcolea, Óscar Blanco https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2911608 Pedagogical Intervention Practices: Improving Learning Engagement Based on Early Prediction Han Wan, Kangxu Liu, Qiaoye Yu, Xiaopeng Gao https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2911284

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Ethics Guidelines Working Draft
by William Wolff 14 Jun '19

14 Jun '19

Hello! I’m writing to see if anyone has a copy of the AOIR Ethics Guidelines Working Draft they could share that was distributed at, I believe, AOIR2018. I saw it referenced on the list a month or so ago. Thanks! Bill __________________________________________ Bill Wolff Associate Professor of Communications and Digital Media Saint Joseph's University http://williamwolff.org @billwolffsju

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Call for Expressions of Interest: ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award 2021
by Jean Burgess 13 Jun '19

13 Jun '19

QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) is calling for Expressions of Interest from outstanding early career researchers (up to 5 years post-PhD) who are considering applying for an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award<https://www.arc.gov.au/grants/discovery-program/discovery-early-career-rese…> (DECRA), for submission in March 2020 and commencement in January 2021. We will offer assistance to applicants whose work is aligned with our mission to undertake world-leading research for a creative, inclusive and fair digital media environment and with our existing projects and priorities. Our structured, expert assistance covers all aspects of the DECRA application, including alignment of track record and project, concept, disciplinary contribution, method, impact and benefit, and budget. Applicants to the DECRA scheme may be from Australia or overseas. Please study the DMRC site (https://research.qut.edu.au/dmrc/) to acquaint yourself with our people, priorities, and projects. EOIs will be assessed in two stages: Stage 1. Please send us a full CV by 1 July, 2019, outlining your publication and research track record in detail. Stage 2. We will invite the most competitive candidates to forward a more detailed expression of interest, including a two-page project proposal, by 29 July, 2019. Following a second stage of assessment, a small number of applicants will be invited to work with us to develop a full application to the ARC by March 2020. Questions and expressions of interest should be sent to dmrc(a)qut.edu.au<mailto:dmrc@qut.edu.au>

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Digital Modern Languages mailing list and seminar (25 June 2019)
by Spence, Paul 13 Jun '19

13 Jun '19

*With apologies for cross-posting* We are delighted to announce the launch of a new mailing list called 'Digital Modern Languages' which is intended to provide a forum for research and teaching across Modern Languages which engages with digital culture, media and technologies. We hope it will allow for communication across different languages and language-related disciplines, with a primary focus on languages other than English. You can subscribe to the list here: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=DIGITALMODERNLANGUAGES We invite you to use the list to share announcements about your own events and initiatives, and hope it will provide the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences across the languages community. ---------- Second Digital Modern Languages seminar ----------- Following the successful launch of the Digital Modern Languages seminar series, we are also delighted to announce below the details of the next seminar on Tuesday 25 June, with Mandana Seyfeddinipur (Director of the SOAS World Languages Institute and Head of the Endangered Languages Archive). Tuesday 25 June 2019 - Mandana Seyfeddinipur (SOAS) - Two Sides of the Same Coin: Why the Digital is Blessing and Curse for Endangered Languages 6-8pm, Tuesday 25 June, Bush House Lecture Theatre 2, King's College London https://digitalmodernlanguages.wordpress.com/2019/05/14/tuesday-25-june-201… Abstract: Globalisation, urbanisation and climate change are affecting people's lives all over the world drastically. Languages are falling silent at an alarming rate because people migrate to cities and give up their languages for more prestigious major language promising social and economic mobility. Linguists estimate that half of the world's 7000 languages spoken today will be gone by the end of this century. And with these languages humanity's knowledge about our own history, the local knowledges about flora and fauna and medicine, about social systems and cosmologies. At the same time the advent of digital technology has allowed linguists all over the world to record these disappearing languages and to preserve them in digital archives around the world. But while the internet held the promise of democratising access to knowledge, it is also the demise for linguistic diversity as the knowledge represented is heavily skewed towards the knowledge of the usual subjects and is only accessible in English or Chinese. The youth who are the hope for the survival of small languages wants to participate in the modern world and for that their small languages are not effective. Revitalisation and maintenance interventions try to utilise digital tools, games and phone apps but also their effects are limited. A digital multilingual and linguistically diverse world is the desire but the reality of it is complicated. The seminar will be followed by a wine reception. The lecture theatre is located on the Fourth Floor of Bush House (R on the campus map). Please register in advance at: https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/19928 Paul Spence (King's College London) and Naomi Wells (Institute of Modern Languages Research) ------------ Paul Spence Senior Lecturer, Department of Digital Humanities King's College London | Strand | London | WC2R 2LS About: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/person.aspx?id=86f6979a-0322-46d3-996b-77323ee… Twitter: @dhpaulspence

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Call for Paper
by Hakikur Rahman 12 Jun '19

12 Jun '19

International Journal of Information Communication Technologies and Human Development (IJICTHD) Description Information and communication technologies are directly influencing the way human beings are engaging themselves in their routine activities. The governance including socio-economic environment needs a catalyst for social change for human development. Currently, technologies are required to play the role of a catalyst to bring this social change for human development. The *International Journal of Information Communication Technologies and Human Development (IJICTHD)* will compile theoretical and empirical works that significantly contribute to the still unexplored field of how ICTs can make a difference in the lives of human beings and contribute to human development. Topics Covered - ICTs and citizen participation - ICTs and commerce - ICTs and culture - ICTs and education - ICTs and ethics - ICTs and gender equality - ICTs and governance - ICTs and health - ICTs and human empowerment - ICTs and human rights - ICTs and international cooperation - ICTs and political development - ICTs and poverty alleviation - ICTs and rural development - ICTs and social change - ICTs and social media - ICTs and social networks - ICTs and socio-economic development - ICTs and the environment - ICTs and urban development - Knowledge for human development - Policy making with regard to ICTs for development Mission and ScopeThe mission of the *International Journal of Information Communication Technologies and Human Development (IJICTHD)* is to bring improvement in governance including the socio-economic political environment of society. IJICTHD identifies potential processes, tools, techniques, and applications for the development of human beings and provides insightful analysis about those factors (also contextual and institutional ones) that affect ICTs for human development initiatives. Proposing strategies to both governance and international cooperation organizations for moving forward, this journal also addresses future challenges. For more information, please visit: www.igi-global.com/ijicthd

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CHANTS 2019 – abstract submission deadline (JUNE 14) - 14th Workshop on Challenged Networks – co-located with ACM Mobicom 2019 - Los Cabos, Mexico
by Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou 12 Jun '19

12 Jun '19

CALL FOR PAPERS The 14th Workshop on Challenged Networks (CHANTS 2019) http://conferences.ece.unm.edu/chants2019/ colocated with ACM Mobicom 2019, the 25th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking Oct 21-25, Los Cabos, Mexico Scope and Overview Challenged networks comprise those situations where communication is desired, but traditional Internet architectures fail to provide it effectively. Such networks may be characterized by intermittent connectivity, a heterogeneous mix of nodes, frequent nodal churn, and widely varying network conditions. The applications of challenged networks range from time-critical communications such as for disaster relief to delay-tolerant transmission in poorly connected regions or where censorship should be counteracted. However, challenged networking has also found many applications in everyday settings, for which they were not initially conceived, such as opportunistic networking supporting data-centric communications, traffic offloading from cellular networks, mobile cloud/edge computing, opportunistic and participatory sensing as well as challenged IoT. CHANTS builds on the success of the thirteen previous CHANTS workshops and WDTN 2005, and aims to stimulate research on the most novel topics of challenged networking research. This year’s edition encourages submission of theoretical and experimental work (including studies of real deployment), with a primary interest in new directions of challenged networking in concrete application scenarios and demonstrators in areas such as autonomous driving, underwater robots, emergency response operations, underground mining, interplanetary missions, polar research and unmanned aerial vehicles. The workshop seeks original work presented in the form of research papers describing new research approaches and results, as well as demo and poster submissions. Highly disruptive work-in-progress and position papers are also welcome, provided they focus on particularly innovative solutions or applications for challenged networks. All papers shall be forward-looking, describe their relationship to existing work, and shall argue their impact and implications for ongoing or future research. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: ● Delay/disruption-tolerant networks (DTNs), opportunistic communication and computing ● Modeling and analysis of challenged networks and protocols for challenged networks ● Communication systems and networks for underground mining ● Underwater communication systems and networks ● Security/trust/privacy concerns and solutions in challenged networks ● Networking in polar regions ● Millimeter Wave Networking ● Challenged networking techniques for mobile cloud computing and mobile data offloading ● Challenged networking techniques for participatory and opportunistic sensing ● Challenged networking in the Internet of Things and in Cyber-Physical Systems ● Energy-efficient communication in challenged networks ● User behavior modeling and Quality of Service provisioning in challenged networks ● Space-terrestrial networks, lunar networks as well as interplanetary networks ● Information-centric and content-centric networking in challenged networks ● Real-world mobility trace collection, analysis, and modeling for challenged environments ● Network coding in challenged networks ● Real deployment and case studies in various stages of use ● Configuration, management, and monitoring of challenged networks ● Disrupted scenarios for challenged networks (e.g., disaster relief and emergency management) ● User Interfaces and interactive applications optimized for Challenged Networks ● Test and simulation tools for evaluating challenged network systems Program Committee Chairs Suzan Bayhan (TU Berlin, Germany) Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou (University of New Mexico, USA) Workshop Web Chair Estefanía Coronado (FBK CREATE-NET, Italy) Publicity Chair Gürkan Gür (ZHAW, Switzerland) Jim Plusquellic (University of New Mexico, USA) Steering Board Kevin Almeroth (UC Santa Barbara, USA) Kevin Fall (Carnegie Mellon University, USA) Stephen Farrell (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) Jörg Ott (TU München, Germany) Andrea Passarella (IIT-CNR, Italy) Important Dates Abstract Registration: June 14th, 2019 Submission Deadline: June 21th, 2019 Acceptance Notification: July 31st, 2019 Camera-ready: August 12th, 2019 Workshop: October 25th, 2019 Paper Format and Submission Instructions General Paper Format Submitted papers must be no longer than 6 pages, and should adhere to the standard ACM conference proceedings format. All submissions must be written in English. Authors must register the abstract 1 week prior to the full paper submission. Demo/Poster Format Demo and poster proposals (to be published as part of the proceedings) must not be longer than 2 pages, for demos plus 1 page description of the precise setup and requirements (the 1-page setup description will not be published in the proceedings). Submission Reviews will be single-blinded. Papers should neither have been published elsewhere nor being currently under review by another conference or journal. Editorial Follow-Ups Extended versions of the selected workshop papers will be considered for possible fast track publication in well-known journals, e.g., Computer Communications (Elsevier) or the ACM GetMobile. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou Assistant Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM, 87131 Office: 235D Tel.: (505)-277-5501 Email: eirini(a)unm.edu<mailto:eirini@unm.edu> Website: PROTON Lab<http://ece-research.unm.edu/tsiropoulou/index.html> PROTON Lab’s News: @PROTON_Lab<https://twitter.com/PROTON_Lab>

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*DEADLINE APPROACHING* - YECREA seminar on “Alternative scholarly communication for young scholars” at the University of Helsinki, 21-22 October 2019
by Sofia Caldeira 12 Jun '19

12 Jun '19

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION YECREA seminar on “Alternative scholarly communication for young scholars” * at the University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland * * * The Young Scholars Network of ECREA (YECREA) is happy to invite all young scholars - doctoral students, post-docs, junior scholars, and other early-career scholars - to participate in two seminar sessions, organised as part of the joint conference on ‘Infrastructures and Inequalities: Media industries, digital cultures and politics’ in Helsinki. This is a joint initiative of three YECREA Sections: Communication and Democracy; Digital Culture and Communication; and Media Industries and Cultural Production. * * Details: Date: 21-22 October 2019 Location: Metsätalo, University of Helsinki Two parallel sessions (1.5 hours each) The deadline for applications is 15 June 2019 * * Topics this workshop will cover: - Strategies for building researchers networks - exploring research communities, the potential of digital platforms - Broadening scholarly communication - engaging with social media * Seminar description: Scholarly communication is undergoing significant changes and evolutions, particularly in today’s shifting media landscape. For young scholars and early career researchers in particular, issues of disseminating our research on social media platforms, creating alternative communication forms, and establishing sustainable researcher communities are particularly relevant. The shift towards a more diverse array of scholarly communication has already begun. Scholars now share their research and connect with each other on platforms such as Academia.edu, ResearchGate and LinkedIn. As well as these outlets, the traditional article format is being altered by including blog posts, interactive graphics and video. And perhaps most significantly, scholarly conversations are now taking place on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. These seminars aim to help young scholars navigate the process of sharing their research within this digital media environment. * 21 October 2019 The first seminar, facilitated by Professor Kirsi Pyhältö, explores the issue of "How to build and sustain researcher networks”. This workshop, intended for PhD students and young career scholars, aims to facilitate use of researcher communities as a resource for doctoral research and career development, by analyzing the potential of these communities, exploring one’s own communities, and discussing them with peers. The workshop addresses the function of researcher communities in early career researchers’ daily lives, and their role as a central resource for their careers after a doctoral degree. * 22 October 2019 The second seminar, facilitated by Dr. Salla-Maaria Laaksonen, explores the topic “Why bother? Expert communication on social media”. This seminar addresses the issue of the growing diversity of digital platforms for research dissemination, scholarly conversation, and alternative academic networking. It explores how early career researchers can engage with social media, the opportunities and also the pressures that these digital platforms afford, inquiring how young scholars and researchers can benefit from them. * * Please submit a brief expression of interest (max. 200 words) providing a short description of your research interests and why you are interested in attending the seminars. Additionally, please provide a short bionote stating your name, email, affiliation and position, and country. Please be aware that participants commit to attending both seminars. Please send in your expressions of interests and personal information, no later than 15 June 2019, to: Ally.Mccrowyoung(a)hum.ku.dk AnaSofia.PereiraCaldeira(a)ugent.be Giulia.Manica(a)nottingham.ac.uk Selected participants will be notified by the 15th of July 2019 * Participation in these seminar sessions is free of charge. * The organising team: Ally McCrow-Young (YECREA representative of Communication and Democracy Section) Giulia Manica (YECREA representative of Media Industries and Cultural Production Section) Sofia Caldeira (YECREA representative of Digital Culture and Communication Section) ________________________________ * PLEASE NOTE: Participants who have received their acceptance notification for the main conference, and are interested in the YECREA seminars, please feel free to email us with your bio details and a brief expression of interest by 12 August. * For more information, please consult the conference website: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/infrastructures-and-inequalities

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Call for abstracts: Budapest Workshop on Philosophy of Technology 2019
by Mihály Héder 12 Jun '19

12 Jun '19

Dear All, please consider sending an abstract to the ** Budapest Workshop on Philosophy of Technology 2019 ** Main topics of this year's Workshop: Ethics of AI, Epistemology of Engineering, the Metaphysics of Artifacts, Fake News and Social Media. The workshop provides publication opportunity in a special issue of an open-access journal indexed by WoS SSCI and Scopus. Date of the workshop: 12-13 December 2019. Deadline for abstract submission: 31 July 2019. 23:59 UTC. Notification of acceptance/rejection: 31 August 2019. 23:59 UTC. Venue: Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary Details: http://budpt.eu/ Cheers Mihály

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CfP "Automating Communication", Keynote by Zuboff – Berlin, Nov 6-8, 2019
by Christian Katzenbach 12 Jun '19

12 Jun '19

Dear AoIR-colleagues, do you remember #AoIR2016 in Berlin? The following might get as close as possible to these wonderful days. So, please, return to Berlin in autumn this year! The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society and the Weizenbaum-Institute for the Networked Society are jointly hosting an International Conference: Automating Communication in the Networked Society: Contexts, Consequences, Critique November 6-8, 2019 in Berlin Keynote by Shoshana Zuboff This is the annual conference of the German Communication Association’s Division “Digital Communication”. We’ll have a great Berlin location, even a Ballhaus for the evening program just like that party at #AOIR2016. For the more serious matter, please find the Call for Papers below and at the conference website: https://www.digikomm2019.de Deadline for abstracts submission is July 15, 2019. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions. Best, Christian -- Dr. Christian Katzenbach Senior Researcher, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin http://www.hiig.de/staff/christian-katzenbach/ ###### AUTOMATING COMMUNICATION IN THE NETWORKED SOCIETY: CONTEXTS, CONSEQUENCES, CRITIQUE November 6-8, 2019 in Berlin Keynote by Shoshana Zuboff A defining—yet understudied—feature of digital communication is automation: the production of content, the distribution of information and messages, the curation of media use and the governance of content are all increasingly shaped and influenced by automated processes and automated actors. Algorithms automate the production of content, algorithms operate the selection and filtering of information in news, news feeds and search engines, they attribute relevance and popularity, perform content moderation and fact-checking. Automated actors such as social bots participate both in organizational communication such as customer service and, as a potential force of manipulation, in election campaigns. While communication scholars have focused their attention on algorithms in diverse areas of the field, they can be studied as a means of the broader process of automating social relations and public communication. Because automation takes place in hybrid media systems, automation is not restrained to social media platforms or apps, but also plays a role in journalism and legacy media, as well as in interpersonal communication. Algorithms write simple news articles, rank mostread articles, and shape what journalists find relevant or newsworthy. Networked societies rely on permanent connectedness, all of which takes place in strongly automated, curated environments of data gathering, sharing, liking, commenting: monitoring complex actor-networks, self mass-communication, or organizing protest through connective action. The story of automating communication has two sides: the few who are shaping, designing, programming and implementing algorithms and other technologies, and the many who are using and are impacted by automated communication. In this regard, automation raises questions of power and power relations. Automating core features of democracy such as the assignment of relevance and legitimacy to issues, actors, and specific content, based on data and algorithms controlled and operated by a few private companies, challenges notions of transparency, due process, and legitimacy. What are the regulatory measures to curb this power? And are automation, algorithms, and artificial intelligence really meaningful answers to social problems? Submissions may cover one or several of the following aspects: 1. Theoretical innovations The process and consequences of automating communication challenge theoretical concepts. Are bots actors? Are algorithms institutions? Are software developers communicators? Does automated communication cause dissonance and disrupted public spheres, and how? Are concepts around consonance and deliberation really “out of touch with reality” (Pfetsch & Bennett 2018)? How does automated communication affect media use and media effects? How can we theoretically model automated communication? 2. Dynamics of communication Algorithms are at the core of automation, because automation works through algorithms. But how do they change and challenge the dynamics, the processes, and structuration of communication? How do search engines impact on public communication and information retrieval? How does the curation of news feeds work and how do they affect how media users receive information? What causes and influences the viral distribution of content? How do hate speech and “fake news” travel in networks of social media platforms and legacy media? Do algorithms cause filter bubbles and echo chambers? What is the impact of the increasing automatic detection of content deemed illegitimate (e.g., hate speech, copyright violation, nudity) in social media and comment section? What is the role of datafication for automated and automating communication? 3. Actors and strategies, accountability and governance Automating communication affects and involves a variety of actors: when algorithms produce content, this changes the effort and role of journalists. How do media actors work with algorithmic content production? Are journalists “gaming” the algorithms of platforms, and how? Who creates the tools and affordances that automate communication—and under which conditions? What happens when low-wage employees execute highly automated tasks, partly in order to mimic algorithms and artificial intelligence (“fauxtomation”)? New and (semi-)automated actors such as trolls, connected activist, and social bots alter the strategies of campaigning and the way parties and other organizations plan their activities. Who can be held accountable for automated communication? What are challenges and possible solutions for regulation and media policy? 4. Methods and critical reflection of methods Studying automated communication often involves computational methods and trace data. But qualitative methods such as ethnography, interviews or observations can also help to understand how algorithms are created, platforms are shaped, and actors use or make sense of automated communication. Particularly research focusing on social media platforms faces severe challenges of data access and data management nowadays, dealing with data protection regulation, privacy issues, and proprietary data. Analyses of automated actors, such as bots, rely on black-boxed tools and call for interdisciplinary approaches. We thus also invite submissions with a critical perspective on research methods, revisiting research ethics and quality standards. 5. Open call In addition to topic-specific submissions, there is an open call for current research on digital communication. We also welcome submissions that are not directly related to the conference theme but address pertinent issues of the research field. This must be noted in the submission. Submissions Extended abstracts (4,000 to 5,000 characters, exclusive bibliography and any appendices) can be submitted by 16 June 2019 in electronic form (*.docx, *.rtf or *.odt; not *.pdf) as email attachments to submissions(a)digikomm2019.de The abstracts must be made anonymous by means of a separate cover page and the removal of all identifying information from the text and document settings. All submissions will be evaluated in a peer review according to the following criteria customary in the German Communication Association: theoretical foundation, relevance of research questions, method/procedure, novelty/originality, clarity and conciseness of presentation. The results of the review process will be announced by mid-August 2019. Organization The conference will take place from November 6-8, 2019 in Berlin. The event is hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society (FU Berlin) and the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. More information will be added on the website, such as location, program, and social events: www.digikomm2019.de Hosts and contact German Communication Association, Digital Communication Division Christian Katzenbach, katzenbach(a)hiig.de Christian Pentzold, christian.pentzold(a)uni-bremen.de Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society/FU Berlin and Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society Ulrike Klinger, ulrike.klinger(a)fu-berlin.de Christian Katzenbach, katzenbach(a)hiig.de

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