WebSci21 – Video Vault No 10 – The Post-API Age Reconsidered

In this talk, Deen Freelon talks about research data sourced from social media platforms to support computational research approaches in social science .

Keynote 5

Notes

Despite its brevity, the essay “Computational research in the post-API age” (Freelon, 2018) sparked an interdisciplinary discussion about options for collecting and analyzing social media data at a time when platforms were imposing tight restrictions on their formerly open APIs or closing them altogether. This keynote will explore some of what has and has not changed in the ensuing three years for computational researchers interested in social media data. In particular, it will focus on three key issues that have increased greatly in prominence since 2018: (1) the process of collaborating directly with social media companies on research projects, (2) the ethics of hacked and leaked datasets, and (3) ethno-racial and gender inequities in web- and computational social science.

Freelon, D. (2018). Computational research in the post-API age. Political Communication, 35(4), 665-668.

Summary


Deen Freelon talks about research data sourced from social media platforms to support computational research approaches in social science and whether both accessibility and representation have changed in the intervening period since his influential 2018 paper.

About the Video Vault Series

In partnership with the ACM we are pleased to be able to release a series of videos from the most recent Web Science Conference (ACM WebSci’21) that were previously only available to attendees of the conference.

The series will be released fortnightly and will include a selection of Keynote talks and Spotlight panel discussions.

Copyright / Links

This video is (c) 2021 provided under license from the ACM.

 

WebSci’22 Registration is open

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14th ACM Web Science Conference 2022 (WebSci’22)
26-29 June, 2022
Hybrid conference: Barcelona, Spain, and online (co-located with Hypertext 2022 and UMAP 2022 )
https://websci22.webscience.org/

This year, the ACM Web Science Conference will run in hybrid mode. Both online and in-person presentations will be streamed, and most of the activities will be set up to increase the experience for in-person interaction.

The WebSci’22 conference organizers seek to foster an accessible and inclusive conference. They recognize that ACM WebSci’22 attendees have differing abilities to pay, and have instituted a tiered pricing program to accommodate different financial needs.

For more information and to register go to

https://websci22.webscience.org/registration/

WebSci21 – Video Vault No 9 – Global Digital Infrastructure in a Post-Pandemic World

In this talk, Jennifer Zhu Scott talks about the need to create global inclusive data infrastructures and processes to address global issue

Keynote 4

Notes

Technology has become a transformative force in almost every aspect of our lives. It permeates our personal, economic, and political life. However, large for-profit tech companies or a handful of tech-savvy governments dominate the vast majority of digital services and solutions. Such a reality of our current data economy means highly concentrated data control and ownership.

The global pandemic is both a global public health and economic crisis. However, it also exposes the painful absence of a global digital infrastructure to provide critical services such as COVID-related data interoperability between countries to accelerate safe reopening. Billions of people are being vaccinated and tested for COVID. How should they prove and record their testing and vaccination data? Who should have access to and control such data? As the world reflects on a more responsible and inclusive data economy, how can we take the opportunity to build a global digital infrastructure that belongs to people from all countries?

This talk discusses the technical as well as the governance considerations for a viable global solution, and what might be the future implications to the global data economy.

Summary


Jennifer Zhu Scott talks about the need to create global inclusive data infrastructures and processes to address global issues such as Pandemics and future global opportunities. She notes that whilst individual businesses and governments must necessarily be part of solution, the benefits of such global systems should lie with the public (humanity) at large rather than only privately to a small number of mega-corps.

About the Video Vault Series

In partnership with the ACM we are pleased to be able to release a series of videos from the most recent Web Science Conference (ACM WebSci’21) that were previously only available to attendees of the conference.

The series will be released fortnightly and will include a selection of Keynote talks and Spotlight panel discussions.

Copyright / Links

This video is (c) 2021 provided under license from the ACM.

 

WebSci21 – Video Vault No 8 – Directions in Digital Government

This panel will tackle the ambitious challenge of examining the intersection of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technology and the production of news media in an online environment.

Spotlight Panel 5

Notes

Worldwide, there are vast disparities in the ways in which digital government is enacted. The ‘splinternet’, or Balkanisation of the internet, heralds deep shifts in how people in different regions can engage digitally (see: O’Hara and Hall, The Four Internets). At the same time, approaches may vary quite drastically even within smaller regions, i.e. Estonia’s digital-first approach as compared with other European countries. This panel brings together practitioners from industry and government to share their expertise and experiences with digital transformation. Topics will include best and worst practices, what exactly the web enables for government, and, of course, the impact of Covid. We encourage audience participation in this panel, which promises to highlight opportunities as well as challenges as digital government continues to evolve.

Summary


Chair, Jay (Clare) Hooper, leads panellists, Honey Dacanay, Cyd Harrell, Gordon Ross, and Nigel Shadbolt in a discussion around the impact of diversity in regional government policy concerning access to the Web for their constituents and in delivering government via the Web.

About the Video Vault Series

In partnership with the ACM we are pleased to be able to release a series of videos from the most recent Web Science Conference (ACM WebSci’21) that were previously only available to attendees of the conference.

The series will be released fortnightly and will include a selection of Keynote talks and Spotlight panel discussions.

Copyright / Links

This video is (c) 2021 provided under license from the ACM.

 

WebSci21 – Video Vault No 7 – The Future of News on the Web

This panel will tackle the ambitious challenge of examining the intersection of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technology and the production of news media in an online environment.

Spotlight Panel 4

Notes

The assembled panellists represent a diverse range of perspectives, from industry to academia, and an array of professional backgrounds. The speakers on this panel will address critical questions about how tools for automation and AI impact the production of news media, how an increasing reliance on technology has affected the battle against misinformation, and how COVID-19 and shifts to alternative work arrangements has impacted news media production in this context. Panellists will also examine the specific technologies that are changing the production of news today, delving into the technical challenges facing modern newsrooms.

Summary

Chair, Matthew Weber will lead panellists, Andrea GuzmanCameron HickeyRory Cellan-Jones, and Amanda Stent to discuss the new affordances and capabilities as well as new risks and challenges that are confronting news media through the increasing levels of automation, filtering, and the use of AI in a modern Web context.

About the Video Vault Series

In partnership with the ACM we are pleased to be able to release a series of videos from the most recent Web Science Conference (ACM WebSci’21) that were previously only available to attendees of the conference.

The series will be released fortnightly and will include a selection of Keynote talks and Spotlight panel discussions.

Copyright / Links

This video is (c) 2021 provided under license from the ACM.

 

WebSci’22 Deadline Extended

We thank everyone who submitted their papers to this year’s ACM Web Science Conference. While the paper submission deadline has passed, it is still time to submit proposals for workshops or tutorials, to be held on site in Barcelona or online. The deadline for workshop and tutorial proposals has been extended to February 28 (23:59 anywhere on earth).

CALL FOR WORKSHOPS AND TUTORIALS
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The 14th ACM Web Science Conference (WebSci’22) is soliciting proposals for workshops and tutorials that address the way Web Science research can illuminate key contemporary issues and global challenges. Workshops should reflect the inter- and multidisciplinary nature of Web Science. Tutorials could cover a wide variety of Web Science approaches and methods, including but not limited to techniques for data collection, processing, analysis, as well as substantive interpretation, best practices, and ethics. Examples of potential WebSci workshop areas include but are not limited to:
* Misinformation and propaganda on the Web
* Online health and wellness (especially concerning the COVID-19 pandemic)
* Online mental health
* The interplay between AI and the Web
* Using Web Science for social good
* Collective intelligence, crowdsourcing
* Bias on the Web
* Data ethics and algorithmic accountability
* Digital inequalities: access, quality, and participation
* Information privacy and cybersecurity
* Learning and education on the Web
* Social connections and social influence on the Web
* Social inclusion and exclusion on the Web
* Internet politics and political participation
* Internet, Globalization and Cultural Identities
* The evolution of social media services
* The future of the Web
* Cybercrime and safety
* Digital Humanitarianism
* ICT for development
* Climate Change and digital carbon footprints
* Paid and unpaid work, the gig economy
* Aging and generations (different practices and attitudes towards the Web)
* Global south and globalization
* Gender and sexualities (the Web as safe/unsafe space, space for mobilization)
Workshops and tutorials can be either on-site or fully online. A “call for papers/contributions” is optional. Workshops/tutorials with alternative interactive modes such as e.g. round table discussions or design/co-creation sessions can also be proposed. You can propose a program committee (PC) with content experts for your event.
When accepted, make sure your event is held in a timezone amenable to the participants. Each workshop or tutorial should have a web address containing all information about the venue, call for contributions, deadlines, modality, language etc. Workshops and tutorials can be held in any language.

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PROPOSAL FORMAT
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* Proposals can be up to 3 pages long and should include the following information (please submit your proposal in English):
* Workshop/tutorial title.
* Workshop/tutorial summary (1-2 paragraphs).
* Workshop/tutorial description, including the motivation and goals of the proposal and its relevance to the field of Web Science.
* Workshop/tutorial schedule and activities, including the format, proposed activities (panels, sessions, interactive exercises, etc.), the invited speakers or panelists, the modality (on-site or online).
* Workshop/tutorial organizer information, including names, affiliations, emails, and personal websites. Please indicate who would be the primary contact person for the submission.
* Please indicate if the workshop has been run in the past.
* Target audience and audience size: the expected number and type of attendees and any information about the required skills or tools with which participants need to be familiar.
* The primary language(s) of the workshop/tutorial (i.e., English, Chinese).
* The desired time zone for the workshop/tutorial.
* The workshop/tutorial will be: (i) onsite in Barcelona or (ii) fully online?
* Special requirements or equipment, if any.

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PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS
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Proposals must be submitted to EasyChair by February 21, 2022, via: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=websci22

Workshop and tutorial proposals will be evaluated based on their relevance, timeliness, originality and the potential to address important questions and attract audiences from different disciplines. Relevance to the interdisciplinary field of Web Science is a prerequisite for all submissions. Workshop and tutorial notifications will be sent by March 7, 2022. If inviting peer-reviewed workshop papers, workshop organizers are requested to have the paper submission deadline in their workshops to be no later than April 9, 2022.

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PROCEEDINGS
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Workshop organizers are free to publish workshop proceedings. WebSci22 offers the possibility to include workshop papers as a companion collection of the ACM WebSci22 proceedings. In this case, workshop schedules must be aligned with the schedule for the publication of the overall proceedings, i.e. camera-ready papers need to be submitted to us by 12 May 2022. This is a strict deadline, and we will not be able to include any papers not received by this date.

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IMPORTANT DATES (Workshops & Tutorials)
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Feb 28, 2022: Workshop and Tutorial Proposal Submission Deadline (extended deadline, 23:59 anywhere on earth)
Mar 07, 2022: Notifications
Apr 09, 2022: Workshop Paper Submission Deadline
May 12, 2022: Camera-ready Deadline for the Companion Proceedings
Jun 26, 2022: workshop and tutorial day at WebSci’22 (Barcelona and online)

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ORGANISERS
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Workshop & Tutorial Track Chairs:
Anna Bon, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Srinath Srinivasa, International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, India
CONTACT
websci22-workshops-tutorials@easychair.org

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14th ACM Web Science Conference 2022 (WebSci’22)
26-29 June, 2022
26 June: Workshop and Tutorial day
Hybrid conference: Barcelona, Spain, and online (co-located with Hypertext 2022)
Deadline for proposing workshops + tutorials (extended): Feb 28, 2022 – 23:59 anywhere on earth
https://websci22.webscience.org/
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