Abstracts Submission
The following issues are currently accepting abstract submissions:
Digital Resilience Within a Hypermediated Polycrisis
Academic Editors: Marc Esteve Del Valle (University of Groningen), Ansgard Heinrich (University of Groningen), and Anabel Quan-Haase (University of Western Ontario)
- Submission of Abstracts: 1-26 May 2025
- Submission of Full Papers: 15-30 September 2025
- Publication of the Issue: January/June 2026
As the world faces a state of interwoven and overlapping crises—Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and ongoing wars with global scope—referred to as “polycrisis” (Morin & Kern, 1999, p. 74), the role of media, and in particular of online social networks (boyd & Ellison, 2007), in affecting people’s resilience to withstand these crises remains understudied (Craig et al., 2015). This is problematic, as people’s extensive engagement with online social networks intertwines resilience to these crises with their practices on these digital platforms (Esteve-del-Valle et al., 2022).
This thematic issue aims to discuss how digital resilience (Tomkova, 2020) can be (re)defined within a state of polycrisis that—thanks to increased global connectivity through digitization—can be characterized as “hypermediated” (Hepp, 2020). It aims to bring together theoretical, conceptual, and empirical contributions examining how digital resilience can help counter digital threats such as mis/disinformation, conspiracy theories, malicious bots, or deep fakes (among others). The editors welcome proposals that focus on both individual countries and comparative studies employing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches.
We welcome proposals that address (yet are not limited to) potential questions/themes such as:
- How can digital resilience be (re)defined within the current hypermediated polycrisis?
- How can digital resilience be conceptually integrated with digital literacy?
- What strategies can be employed to enhance digital resilience in countering misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms?
- How can digital resilience help mitigate current polarizing and radicalizing narratives in online social networks?
- What measures can be taken to build digital resilience against polluted online environmental discussions?
- What role can journalists play in increasing digital resilience against the so-called crisis of trust in media?
We particularly seek contributions that employ interdisciplinary approaches and strive for a balanced representation of gender and non-Western viewpoints.
Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.
Innovating Social Media Research in a Paid-API Era
Academic Editors: Jacob Groshek (Institute for Representation in Society and Media / Kansas State University) and Todd Vogts (Institute for Representation in Society and Media / Sterling College)
- Submission of Abstracts: 1-15 June 2025
- Submission of Full Papers: 15-30 October 2025
- Publication of the Issue: January/June 2026
By this point, it is well known that social media data is increasingly hard to source as free APIs are mostly locked down by exorbitant paywalls and may also require technological expertise to access and analyze data. This situation has become more dire in recent months and has further bifurcated social media researchers into data “haves” from data “have nots”—and our field is currently adrift as to what the most viable portals and best practices for acquiring social media data are, which has resulted in isolated data vaults and fragmented efforts.
This thematic issue invites proposals from visionaries working in this turbulent space, whether they are media scholars, data vendors, or technological experts looking to help others not only access social media data but also create innovative ways to store, model, and share this data.
Development of historical and contemporary datasets are welcome, as are collaborative enterprises that cross disciplines, regardless of for-profit or non-profit statuses. Indeed, as the days of “free data” have come to a close for many (if not all) social media platforms, the most potent and viable solutions may well originate with industry and market research.
We don’t place parameters on submissions, but some starting points may include, but are not limited to:
- Who is capable of not only sourcing data, but also analyzing data once acquired—Does everyone need to learn Python, SQL, R, or other coding languages?
- What sources of data are available for various social media platforms, and which tools or vendors can be used to access that data?
- Where can we store social media data so that it is at once shareable for academic research but still respectful of privacy and safety concerns?
- When does data speak for itself? When is enough data enough, and when is it possible to move research into the 21st century with AI and machine learning automations in real time?
- How do interfaces work—Are they text or image based, and how can our tools leverage what is available to make a contribution to various cognate areas?
Non-ethical issues are paramount here, and while we can all appreciate the ability to problematize the collection and hyper-personalization of exploitative marketing through social media data, we are seeking solutions to existing problems. Essays or thought pieces that don’t advance tangible steps for the collection and analysis of large-scale social data are not the emphasis of this particular thematic issue as we attempt to move at the pace of data to overcome an existential crisis in our field.
Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.
Exploring Engagement With Complex Information: Perspectives on Generative AI as an Information Intermediary
Academic Editors: Monika Taddicken (TU Braunschweig), Esther Greussing (TU Braunschweig), Evelyn Jonas (TU Braunschweig), Ayelet Baram-Tsabari (Technion—Israel Institute of Technology), Inbal Klein-Avraham (Technion—Israel Institute of Technology), and Shakked Dabran-Zivan (Technion—Israel Institute of Technology)
- Submission of Abstracts: 1-15 May 2025
- Submission of Full Papers: 1-15 September 2025
- Publication of the Issue: January/June 2026
The thematic issue aims to facilitate a multi-perspective reflection on the intricate relationship between generative AI and public engagement with complex information. With the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, generative AI has emerged as a new intermediary for information, reshaping the dynamics of information flow within society. Occupying a unique position, generative AI functions both as a channel or tool and as a communicator, actively generating and disseminating information.
In the realm of public engagement with complex information, the thematic issue aims to understand how and for what reasons people use generative AI. The focus shall be on the potential benefits offered by generative AI to diverse audiences—evident in enhanced information access, personalized content experiences, and efficiency—and the corresponding risks of misinformation, reinforced biases, polarization, and the erosion of traditional structures of knowledge production. As such, generative AI introduces new complexities that complicate the public’s engagement with information and may challenge conventional notions of well-informed democratic discourse.
The thematic issue thus aims to advance our understanding of how generative AI affects the way complex information is generated, disseminated, and received in society. Generative AI might elevate the issue of the digital divide to the next stage. In the era of generative AI, the source credibility of information becomes critical, particularly when dealing with complex information of high social relevance, where misinformation can yield far-reaching consequences. Therefore, implications for information literacy should also be reflected, along with strategies to empower individuals in navigating the rapidly changing digital information landscape. Moreover, the use of generative AI in different countries, cultures, or languages should be elucidated from various levels and perspectives.
Contributions may: cover individual or societal perspectives; apply national or particularly comparative approaches; be theory-based or empirical; and focus on specific generative AI systems or functionalities, or use a wider perspective.
Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.