Abstracts Submission

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.

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.