Join us on July 22–24, 2020 for the 11th annual International Conference on Social Media and Society (#SMSociety). The conference is an interdisciplinary gathering of leading social media researchers, practitioners, and analysts from around the world. The 2020 conference is hosted by the College of Communication, Studio Chi and the College of Computing and Digital Media at DePaul University in Chicago, USA.

Until a decade and a half ago, large media companies and governments lorded over an oligopoly controlling the means for communicating with the masses. That oligopoly was (temporarily?) broken by the introduction of social media with its revolutionary promise to democratize civil discourse and civil society. It has offered diverse groups the opportunity to connect to one another and form communities of practice that ultimately can serve to strengthen their voice. However, in recent years, we have also discovered that connecting the world via social media leads to new challenges. When so many diverse voices are brought together on a massive scale, conflict is common. Interpretation of this conflict is itself diverse: do we see a rise of incivility or freedom from moral policing? Extremism or idealism? Distrust or critique? The very same digital tools that amplify voices of the marginalized can also be used to silence diverse voices online through online harassment, doxing, trolling, and other measures. 

In this context, the International Conference on Social Media & Society invites scholarly and original submissions that explore key questions and central issues related (but not limited) to the 2020 theme of “Diverse Voices: Promises and Perils of Social Media For Diversity.” We welcome research from a wide range of methodological perspectives employing established quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods as well as innovative approaches that cross disciplinary boundaries and expand our understanding of the current and future trends in social media research.

The IECA is announcing a call for applications to form an “educator fellows” team for 2020 and 2021. The team will be comprised of up to five IECA members who teach or support environmental communication courses or programs. Team members receive complementary IECA memberships for 2020 and 2021.

ELIGIBILITY: Team members must be current IECA members. Applicants can come from K-12 or college/university settings, or work in a teaching capacity in non-profits or company settings. Applicants can include faculty members or graduate students.