Hello all, Please excuse any cross posting. I am hoping to find others interested in constituting a panel based (broadly) on the theme of 'Social media, convergence, and commercialisation.' A description follows, but I am definitely open to adapting it depending on people's own research areas. *'Internet infrastructure has had commercial components since 1974, but the content was for a long time not subject to significant commercial influence. Now, however, advertising and the commercialisation of internet content may be argued to be the dominant force driving the internet. This panel will explore different facets of this development by taking a critical and empirical approach to aspects of social media in Asia, exploring the relevance of convergence both between online media forms and the on- and offline, as well as issues of privacy, digital literacy, and the transformation of 'free' labour.' *Please feel free to forward this to anyone you feel may be interested. Best regards, Julian ++++++++++ Dr Julian Hopkins Lecturer School of Arts & Social Sciences Monash University Malaysia www.sass.monash.edu.my Blog: www.julianhopkins.net Twitter: @julianhopkins