CALL FOR PAPERS
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-58) - https://hicss.hawaii.edu
January 7-10, 2025, Hilton Waikoloa Village, Big Island, Hawaii, USA
MINI-TRACK: Bright and Dark Side of Social Media in Marginalized Contexts
DESCRIPTION
At its best, social media connects individuals worldwide to facilitate learning, the spread of creative ideas, inclusivity, and access to resources. At its worst, however, social media marginalizes individuals and groups through manipulation, exclusion, and exploitation across all groups and demographics. Marginalized contexts refer to any situation or context in which certain individuals or groups are treated insignificantly and/or pushed to the margins of society and rendered powerless. Academic social media research in marginalized contexts is becoming increasingly important from both practical and theoretical perspectives. Research concerning both the "bright side" and "dark side" of social media for equity, inclusion, justice, and marginalized contexts is needed to help information systems research be an agent for social change. In this space, there are many important, yet unanswered, research questions. This mini-track invites papers on all types of social media, investigating their positive and negative aspects in marginalized contexts. Our goal with this mini-track is to facilitate a scholarly discussion of social media use in order to identify innovative approaches to maintain a safe and productive online environment that creates social well-being for the greater good. We encourage a broad definition of "marginalized contexts", by which, we refer to any situation or context with an unequal power dynamic or group membership. We welcome empirical, theoretical, or position papers.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Spread of hatred and racism on social media
- Biases associated with de-platforming and re-platforming on social media
- How social media may be used to promote or stifle sustainable initiatives through (un)civil discourse
- Spear phishing attacks and other security threats targeted towards vulnerable groups based on their social media activity
- The use of analytics on social media to hinder or facilitate digital (in)equity and social (in)justice
- The negative unintended consequences of using artificial intelligence on social media
- Social media use that facilitates or inhibits the spread of human trafficking
- Cyberbullying on social media and defense mechanisms
- The spread of gender inequities and gender equality on social media
- How social media provides emotional support for marginalized groups
- How perceived inequities in the judicial systems are communicated and discussed on social media
- Ethical, legal issues, and freedom of speech issues on social media
- How social media might spread social (in)justice
- Impact that social media has on law enforcement or other government agencies, which may be both positive and negative
- The role that social media plays in the dissemination of fake news, disinformation, and conspiracy theories
- Crowdfunding for marginalized groups and differential patterns of lending
- The role that social media plays in promoting or inhibiting the cancel culture
- How social media facilitates or inhibits different types of social movements
- The differential role that social media plays in depression, isolationism, and disconnectedness for under-represented groups
The above list of suggested topics is not an all-inclusive list. We encourage authors to define digital equity, social justice, and marginalized contexts broadly. We welcome all theoretical and methodological approaches.
SUBMISSION DETAILS
Papers must not exceed 10 pages (including references). All submissions must conform to the HICSS-58 submission template and will be peer-reviewed using a double-blind system. More details can be found at: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/authors/
IMPORTANT DATES FOR PAPER SUBMISSION
- April 15, 2024: Manuscript submissions begin
- June 15, 2024: Submissions are due at 11:59 pm HST
- August 17, 2024: Notification of acceptance/rejection
- September 22, 2024: Authors submit final manuscript for publication
- October 1, 2024: Deadline for at least one author of each paper to register for HICSS
MINI-TRACK CHAIRS
Tom Mattson
University of Richmond
tmattson@richmond.edu
Jie Ren
Fordham University
jren11@fordham.edu
Qin Weng
Baylor University
qin_weng@baylor.edu
------------------------------
Thomas Mattson
University of Richmond
Richmond VA
------------------------------