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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for MediaWell
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T235959
DTSTAMP:20261005T203023
CREATED:20260413T203148Z
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UID:516022-1777507200-1777593599@mediawell.ssrc.org
SUMMARY:Call for Contributions: Search Engines and Society Annual Conference (SEASON 2026)
DESCRIPTION:On behalf of the Search Engines and Society Network (SEASON)\, we invite submissions for the 2026 edition of the Search Engines and Society Annual Conference (SEASON 2026)\, to be held at HAW Hamburg\, Germany\, from 15–17 September 2026. \nFollowing the success of SEASON 2025\, which brought together an engaged and diverse international community of researchers\, practitioners\, and students\, SEASON continues as a dedicated conference series for critical and interdisciplinary research on search engines and their societal implications. \nSEASON explores the multifaceted role of search engines in today’s culture and society. The conference fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration to deepen our understanding of search engines as cultural\, societal\, political\, and technical artifacts\, as well as their role in everyday practices. \nWe invite submissions for: \n\nLong presentations\nShort presentations\nInteractive sessions (e.g.\, panels and workshops)\nPosters\n\nTopics of interest include\, but are not limited to: \n\nSocial and cultural aspects of relevance  \nEpistemic implications of search engine use  \nSearch engines and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)  \nSearch engines and information disorders (e.g.\, disinformation\, data voids)  \nAI and changing patterns of search engine use  \nSearch engines and environmental crises  \nPolitical economy of search \nAccountability and responsibility of search engine providers  \nSearch engine bias and fair search  \nEthical and affective dimensions of search  \nMedia and information literacy  \nSearch engines in everyday life and educational settings  \nSearch engines and specific communities  \nMethods and data collection for search engine research  \nComparative and historical studies of web search  \nApproaches to opening the “black box” of search engine rankings  \n\nWe welcome conceptual and empirical contributions from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds\, including the humanities\, social sciences\, and technical disciplines. Interdisciplinary approaches\, work in progress\, submissions from practitioners\, and student contributions are especially encouraged. \nClick here to learn more\, or here to submit your proposal. The submission deadline is April 30\, 2026. 
URL:https://mediawell.ssrc.org/event/call-for-contributions-search-engines-and-society-annual-conference-season-2026/
CATEGORIES:Call for Paper or Proposal,Conference
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T235959
DTSTAMP:20261005T203023
CREATED:20260413T204418Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260413T204418Z
UID:516027-1777507200-1777593599@mediawell.ssrc.org
SUMMARY:"AI\, Algorithmic Media\, and Digital Governance: Power\, Control\, and Technological Transformation" | Call for Papers for Special Issue
DESCRIPTION:We are pleased to announce a Call for Papers for a forthcoming special issue titled “AI\, Algorithmic Media\, and Digital Governance: Power\, Control\, and Technological Transformation\,” to be published in the journal Global Media and China.\n\nThe accelerating integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into digital infrastructures represents a profound transformation in contemporary media environments and governance systems. AI-driven platforms\, algorithmic recommendation systems\, and automated content moderation increasingly shape how information circulates\, how public discourse is structured\, and how political authority is exercised across different societies. These developments raise important questions about algorithmic governance\, digital sovereignty\, media regulation\, and the broader political implications of AI-mediated communication.\n\nThis special issue seeks to advance interdisciplinary scholarship examining the evolving relationships between AI technologies\, media systems\, and governance practices. We welcome contributions that critically explore how algorithmic systems influence media production\, platform governance\, public communication\, and political power across diverse institutional and geopolitical contexts.\nWe invite empirical\, theoretical\, and methodological contributions from scholars working in communication and media studies\, political science\, digital governance\, sociology\, science and technology studies\, and related disciplines. Submissions may focus on China\, or adopt comparative and transnational perspectives.\n\nPossible topics include\, but are not limited to:\n\nAlgorithmic governance\, digital statecraft\, and political authority\nAI-driven propaganda\, information manipulation\, and computational misinformation\nState-led AI governance and digital surveillance regimes\nPlatform politics and the political economy of algorithmic systems\nPublic perceptions of AI and the politics of digital rights\nAI infrastructures\, technological sovereignty\, and global asymmetries in digital power\nSmart cities\, Internet of Things systems\, and algorithmic governance in public administration\n\nKey dates\nAbstract submission deadline: 20 May 2026\nNotification of invitations for full papers: 1 June 2026\nFull paper submission deadline: 30 October 2026\n\nPlease submit an abstract of up to 500 words to the guest editors with the subject line “GMAC Special Issue Submission.”\n\nFull details for the Call for Papers can be found here.
URL:https://mediawell.ssrc.org/event/ai-algorithmic-media-and-digital-governance-power-control-and-technological-transformation-call-for-papers-for-special-issue/
CATEGORIES:Call for Paper or Proposal
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260430T235959
DTSTAMP:20261005T203023
CREATED:20260413T204817Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260413T204817Z
UID:516029-1777507200-1777593599@mediawell.ssrc.org
SUMMARY:Synthetic Social Media: Studying Platform-Embedded AI | Call for Proposals
DESCRIPTION:Social media platforms are increasingly shaped by the integration of generative AI alongside long-standing analytical and predictive models. Today’s algorithmic systems are moving from the background infrastructure to the forefront of digital social life – where autonomous AI agents operate in coexistence with (or independently of) human users.  They intervene in the content feeds as conversational agents like xAI’s Grok\, reshape identity play through synthetic likenesses of OpenAI’s Sora-2\, and expand the social ecosystem itself through experimental projects like Butterflies AI and Moltbook. As these developments rapidly outpace existing research frameworks\, the need for mixed critical methodologies to explore the nested integration of GenAI into platforms grows more urgent. \nThe 2026 Autumn School edition of the CRC “Media of Cooperation” explores these developments by focusing on generative AI as an infrastructural\, cultural\, and regulated component of social media platforms across three intersecting dimensions: At the cultural level of everyday use\, it refers to the routinized practices of prompting or interacting with platform-embedded generative systems through multimodal inputs. Infrastructurally\, it signals a shift in agency\, as platforms keep multiplying affordances that nudge us into co-producing synthetic outputs. Finally\, it foregrounds research techniques for probing AI models in their entanglements with the platform governance and moderation regimes. \n\nThe deadline for submissions is April 30\, 2026.  \nThis event will take place on September 22-25\, 2026\, hosted by the CRC Media of Cooperation\, University of Siegen. \nFull details can be found here.
URL:https://mediawell.ssrc.org/event/synthetic-social-media-studying-platform-embedded-ai-call-for-proposals/
CATEGORIES:Call for Paper or Proposal
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260430T143000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Helsinki:20260430T153000
DTSTAMP:20261005T203023
CREATED:20260413T161209Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260413T162548Z
UID:515956-1777559400-1777563000@mediawell.ssrc.org
SUMMARY:Look What You Made Me Do: How FIMI Actors Weaponize Pop Culture
DESCRIPTION:What if viral cultural moments were not just entertainment\, but strategic entry points for influence? \nHigh-visibility events\, from major entertainment events to viral online controversies\, are increasingly used within the information environment as opportunities for influence and narrative shaping. \nThis webinar explores how Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) actors exploit these moments to inject geopolitical narratives\, and influence public discourse. From coordinated engagement around events\, such as Eurovision\, to the amplification of polarising online trends\, these dynamics reveal a shared playbook combining narrative seeding\, meme-driven framing\, and cross-platform amplification. \nJoin Rachele Gilman (Principal) and Zoé Fourel (Senior Analyst) from Cardigan Collective as they unpack how these strategies operate in practice\, how they intersect with domestic dynamics\, and how to distinguish between organic and orchestrated trends. \nClick here to learn more and register to attend. \nNote: Event details are listed in Central European Summer Time (CEST\, UTC+2). 
URL:https://mediawell.ssrc.org/event/look-what-you-made-me-do-how-fimi-actors-weaponize-pop-culture/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Webinar
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