Call for Papers: Online social networks, communication practice, and public relations The social networking emerging online is now seen as one of the defining characteristics of Web 2.0 and beyond. From virtual worlds to microblogging, individuals and groups are forming diverse and sometimes apparently novel ways of building and maintaining social bonds. These mediated exchanges between individuals and groups who may never physically meet challenge our current understandings of friendship, communication, and belonging. For communication and public relations scholars and practitioners, such interactions pose a number of significant questions. How do researchers explore the nebulous social connections people forge in online spaces? How do we re-evaluate what it means to be an individual and part of a group in this context? Do these new channels of communication change the way we present ourselves and our ideas? This special 2010 edition of PRism online public relations and communication journal (http://praxis.massey.ac.nz/prism_on-line_journ.html ) seeks papers which discuss and explore ways in which to approach, study, and account for the diversity of online social experience, particularly in regard to communication practice and issues of public relations. Possible topics include: * methodological frameworks for studying online social behaviours * theory building (normative or critical) regarding the social web as part of communications or public relations practice * ways of conceptualizing the online self and society, such as; performance, identity, network theory, and their implications for organisational communication and public relations * issues and ethics in online data collection on social networking sites * case studies exploring the impact of multimodal (online/ offline) social ties in research * opinion pieces on using social networks in public relations * critically informed speculation on the future of communication practice in social media (beyond ‘Web3’) * multimedia submissions on a related topic Papers are welcome from all disciplinary areas. Full papers will be due by Friday 5th of February, 2009 and will be peer reviewed. Academic papers should be 5,000 words and practitioner papers between 2,500-3,000 words maximum. Style should follow house guidelines:http://praxis.massey.ac.nz/fileadmin/Praxis/Files/Journal_Files/Prism_House_... See also the PRism submission guidelines at:http://praxis.massey.ac.nz/sub_guide.html Enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Erika Pearson (erika.pearson@otago.ac.nz ). Erika Pearson Department of Media, Film and Communication University of Otago PO Box 56 Dunedin 9054 New Zealand Ph: 64 3 479 8680 Fax: 64 3 479 3932 PS In celebration of this upcoming special issue on social media, PRism is now on Twitter... see http://twitter.com/prism_journal You can sign up there for RSS feed so that whenever we load an article or review to the journal you’ll get a brief (140-character) message explaining what’s new.