Colleagues, I am posting the following workshop announcement on behalf of Filippo Dal Fiore, who is organizing this for the upcoming Communities and Technologies 2007 Conference. with best regards, Charles Steinfield ------- Workshop for 3rd Annual Communities&Technologies Conference (June 28-30, 2007, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI) - The paradox of communication. Towards a society of inattention? - Abstract (full description on website: https://ebusiness.tc.msu.edu/ cct2007/page4i.html) The overabundance of communication opportunities inside and outside the workplace, through e-mails, instant messages and mobile connectivity, can be detrimental to their degree of reflectiveness and care. People are often unable to properly deal with an excess of communications; their continuous partial attention could lead to a more superficial and disrupted approach, in some cases resulting in digitally amplified problems. Implications are still unclear, both on the level of accuracy with which decisions are taken and initiatives are managed as well as on social capital. This workshop is aimed at exploring this issue and its relevance in the social and organizational sciences. Without denying the many positive sides of hyper-connectivity and multi-tasking, it will prioritize empirical research findings on the topic. How to participate The proposed full-day workshop will be open to scientists and practitioners of all disciplines, prioritizing empirical research focussed on the conditions under which the depicted society of inattention scenario is true and the ones under which it is not. The final objective will be that of shaping a multi-disciplinary research agenda on the topic as well as enucleating recommendations on how to build digital systems that protect users’ attention and how to design educational initiatives explicitly dedicated to proper use of new media. Participants will be recruited through a call for extended abstracts. 10 to 15 scholars will be selected to present their work and participate into a structured debate. Expressions of interests and extended abstracts should be sent to: Filippo Dal Fiore - dalfiore@mit.edu - by May 11, 2007. Important dates · Deadline for submitting extended abstracts: May 11, 2007 · Communication of acceptance: May 18, 2007 · End of early registration to workshop and/or conference: May 25, 2007 · Workshop date: June 28, 2007 Workshop homepage: https://ebusiness.tc.msu.edu/cct2007/page4i.html Conference homepage: http://ebusiness.tc.msu.edu/cct2007/ Workshop Organizer: Filippo Dal Fiore, M.I.T. and University of Salzburg, dalfiore@mit.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------