Eurograd message

                Dear Eurograd-community,
<br>
<br>the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and the
<br>Weizenbaum-Institute for the Networked Society are jointly hosting an
<br>International Conference:
<br>
<br>Automating Communication in the Networked Society​: Contexts, Consequences,
<br>Critique
<br>November 6-8, 2019 in Berlin
<br>Keynote by Shoshana Zuboff
<br>
<br>This is the annual conference of the German Communication Association’s
<br>Division “Digital Communication”. The theme speaks to a broad set of
<br>issues, including the dynamics of innovation, actors and strategies, digital
<br>methods and their critical reflection, and theoretical contributions. Please
<br>find the Call for Papers below and at the conference website:
<br>https://www.digikomm2019.de
<br>
<br>Deadline for abstracts submission is July 15, 2019. Don’t hesitate to
<br>contact me if you have questions.
<br>
<br>Best,
<br>Christian Katzenbach
<br>
<br>Senior Researcher, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society,
<br>Berlin
<br>http://www.hiig.de/staff/christian-katzenbach/
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>######
<br>
<br>AUTOMATING COMMUNICATION IN THE NETWORKED SOCIETY​:
<br>CONTEXTS, CONSEQUENCES, CRITIQUE
<br>
<br>November 6-8, 2019 in Berlin
<br>Keynote by Shoshana Zuboff
<br>
<br>A defining—yet understudied—feature of digital communication is
<br>automation: the
<br>production of content, the distribution of information and messages, the
<br>curation of media
<br>use and the governance of content are all increasingly shaped and influenced
<br>by
<br>automated processes and automated actors.
<br>
<br>
<br>Algorithms automate the production of content, algorithms operate the
<br>selection and
<br>filtering of information in news, news feeds and search engines, they
<br>attribute relevance
<br>and popularity, perform content moderation and fact-checking. Automated actors
<br>such as
<br>social bots participate both in organizational communication such as customer
<br>service
<br>and, as a potential force of manipulation, in election campaigns. While
<br>communication
<br>scholars have focused their attention on algorithms in diverse areas of the
<br>field, they can
<br>be studied as a means of the broader process of automating social relations
<br>and public
<br>communication.
<br>
<br>
<br>Because automation takes place in hybrid media systems, automation is not
<br>restrained to
<br>social media platforms or apps, but also plays a role in journalism and legacy
<br>media, as
<br>well as in interpersonal communication. Algorithms write simple news articles,
<br>rank mostread articles, and shape what journalists find relevant or
<br>newsworthy. Networked
<br>societies rely on permanent connectedness, all of which takes place in
<br>strongly automated,
<br>curated environments of data gathering, sharing, liking, commenting:
<br>monitoring complex
<br>actor-networks, self mass-communication, or organizing protest through
<br>connective
<br>action.
<br>
<br>
<br>The story of automating communication has two sides: the few who are shaping,
<br>designing,
<br>programming and implementing algorithms and other technologies, and the many
<br>who are
<br>using and are impacted by automated communication. In this regard, automation
<br>raises
<br>questions of power and power relations. Automating core features of democracy
<br>such as
<br>the assignment of relevance and legitimacy to issues, actors, and specific
<br>content, based on
<br>data and algorithms controlled and operated by a few private companies,
<br>challenges
<br>notions of transparency, due process, and legitimacy. What are the regulatory
<br>measures to
<br>curb this power? And are automation, algorithms, and artificial intelligence
<br>really
<br>meaningful answers to social problems?
<br>
<br>Submissions may cover one or several of the following aspects:
<br>
<br>
<br>1. Theoretical innovations
<br>The process and consequences of automating communication challenge
<br>theoretical
<br>concepts. Are bots actors? Are algorithms institutions? Are software
<br>developers
<br>communicators? Does automated communication cause dissonance and disrupted
<br>public
<br>spheres, and how? Are concepts around consonance and deliberation really
<br>“out of touch
<br>with reality” (Pfetsch & Bennett 2018)? How does automated communication
<br>affect media
<br>use and media effects? How can we theoretically model automated
<br>communication?
<br>
<br>
<br>2. Dynamics of communication
<br>Algorithms are at the core of automation, because automation works through
<br>algorithms.
<br>But how do they change and challenge the dynamics, the processes, and
<br>structuration of
<br>communication? How do search engines impact on public communication and
<br>information
<br>retrieval? How does the curation of news feeds work and how do they affect how
<br>media
<br>users receive information? What causes and influences the viral distribution
<br>of content?
<br>How do hate speech and “fake news” travel in networks of social media
<br>platforms and
<br>legacy media? Do algorithms cause filter bubbles and echo chambers? What is
<br>the impact
<br>of the increasing automatic detection of content deemed illegitimate (e.g.,
<br>hate speech,
<br>copyright violation, nudity) in social media and comment section? What is the
<br>role of
<br>datafication for automated and automating communication?
<br>
<br>
<br>3. Actors and strategies, accountability and governance
<br>Automating communication affects and involves a variety of actors: when
<br>algorithms
<br>produce content, this changes the effort and role of journalists. How do media
<br>actors work
<br>with algorithmic content production? Are journalists “gaming” the
<br>algorithms of platforms,
<br>and how? Who creates the tools and affordances that automate
<br>communication—and
<br>under which conditions? What happens when low-wage employees execute highly
<br>automated tasks, partly in order to mimic algorithms and artificial
<br>intelligence
<br>(“fauxtomation”)? New and (semi-)automated actors such as trolls,
<br>connected activist, and
<br>social bots alter the strategies of campaigning and the way parties and other
<br>organizations
<br>plan their activities. Who can be held accountable for automated
<br>communication? What
<br>are challenges and possible solutions for regulation and media policy?
<br>
<br>
<br>4. Methods and critical reflection of methods
<br>Studying automated communication often involves computational methods and
<br>trace data.
<br>But qualitative methods such as ethnography, interviews or observations can
<br>also help to
<br>understand how algorithms are created, platforms are shaped, and actors use or
<br>make
<br>sense of automated communication. Particularly research focusing on social
<br>media
<br>platforms faces severe challenges of data access and data management nowadays,
<br>dealing
<br>with data protection regulation, privacy issues, and proprietary data.
<br>Analyses of
<br>automated actors, such as bots, rely on black-boxed tools and call for
<br>interdisciplinary
<br>approaches. We thus also invite submissions with a critical perspective on
<br>research
<br>methods, revisiting research ethics and quality standards.
<br>
<br>
<br>5. Open call
<br>In addition to topic-specific submissions, there is an open call for current
<br>research on
<br>digital communication. We also welcome submissions that are not directly
<br>related to the
<br>conference theme but address pertinent issues of the research field. This must
<br>be noted in
<br>the submission.
<br>
<br>Submissions
<br>Extended abstracts (4,000 to 5,000 characters, exclusive bibliography and any
<br>appendices)
<br>can be submitted by 16 June 2019 in electronic form (*.docx, *.rtf or *.odt;
<br>not *.pdf) as email
<br>attachments to submissions@digikomm2019.de The abstracts must be made
<br>anonymous by means of a separate cover page and the removal of all
<br>identifying
<br>information from the text and document settings.
<br>
<br>
<br>All submissions will be evaluated in a peer review according to the following
<br>criteria
<br>customary in the German Communication Association: theoretical foundation,
<br>relevance of
<br>research questions, method/procedure, novelty/originality, clarity and
<br>conciseness of
<br>presentation. The results of the review process will be announced by
<br>mid-August 2019.
<br>
<br>
<br>Organization
<br>The conference will take place from November 6-8, 2019 in Berlin. The event is
<br>hosted by
<br>the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society (FU Berlin) and the
<br>Alexander von
<br>Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society. More information will be added on
<br>the
<br>website, such as location, program, and social events: www.digikomm2019.de
<br>
<br>
<br>Hosts and contact
<br>German Communication Association, Digital Communication Division
<br>Christian Katzenbach, katzenbach@hiig.de
<br>Christian Pentzold, christian.pentzold@uni-bremen.de
<br>
<br>
<br>Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society/FU Berlin and Alexander von
<br>Humboldt
<br>Institute for Internet and Society
<br>Ulrike Klinger, ulrike.klinger@fu-berlin.de
<br>Christian Katzenbach, katzenbach@hiig.de
<br>
<br>[demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type application/pdf which had a name of DigiKomm_2019_CfP-ver2.pdf]
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