Call for participation – #hashtag: A Global Conference
A novel conference taking place from Friday 15th January – Sunday 17th January 2016, London, United Kingdom
hashtag n. (on social media web sites and applications) a word or
phrase preceded by a hash and used to identify messages relating to a
specific topic; (also) the hash symbol itself, when used in this way.
Hashtags originated on, and are chiefly associated with, the social
networking service Twitter. (Oxford English Dictionary)
In an age where social media reigns supreme, the hashtag has emerged
as a powerful catalyst for human interaction. Hashtags drive activism
(#Occupy, #HeForShe, #BringBackOurGirls), mourning (#63NotOut,
#PhilipSeymourHoffman), celebrity-watching (#WhatJayZSaidToSolange,
#RoyalBaby) and product promotion (Taylor Swift’s #ShakeItOff
campaign, Toyota’s #WishGranted campaign). Hashtags foster dialogue
by providing a system of language with its own particular conventions
and etiquette. Naming ‘hashtag’ the Word of the Year in 2012, the
American Dialectic Society described it as a ‘ubiquitous phenomenon
in online talk’. Indeed, the ubiquitous nature of the hashtag was
confirmed when the term was officially added to the Oxford English
Dictionary in June 2014.
In practical terms, the hashtag – an octothorp (#) accompanied by
text – is simply a tool that supports communication on social
platforms by allowing users to start conversations, participate in
discussions, search for and organise tweets on a particular topic,
follow what’s trending and identify other users they wish to follow.
Though the hashtag originated on Twitter, its omnipresence as well as
the evolution of its usage have invested this cultural phenomenon with
social, political, cultural, ideological, aesthetic, linguistic,
technological and economic implications that warrant closer
examination. The #globalhashtagconference offers a platform for such
examination through a series of conferences, workshops, seminars and
publications aimed at exploring what the prominence and usage of the
hashtag says about society in the 21st century.
As the inaugural event of Inter-Disciplinary.Net’s Social Media
Project, the #hashtagglobalconference offers opportunities for
participants with an interest in the topic to join in discussions of
the issues and debates that have emerged around the meaning and
significance of the hashtag within and beyond the context of social
media. The organisers therefore invite proposals for presentations,
workshops, roundtable discussions, performances, installations,
panels, screenings and readings that explore:
# Why cataloguing and organising information matters and what is at
stake when hashtags assist in these activities
#Ideological implications around the creation of a hashtag (or the
failure for an event to generate a hashtag)
#Implications of ‘framing’ issues through hashtags
#Lifespan of hashtags and the consequences that result when hashtags
cease to trend
#Issues of authenticity, reliability, truthfulness of hashtags
#Archiving and assembling with hashtags
# Tangible meaning and significance of ‘trending’
#Methodologies for measuring, analysing and visualising data, hashtag
datamining
#Case studies of innovative approaches to generating trends
#Hashtags and monetisation (converting hashtags to action/sales)
#Analysis of unsuccessful hashtag campaigns
#Hashtags in advertising, marketing and public relations,
evergreen/forever hashtags
# How the hashtag has influenced the way we engage and communicate
with each other
#Hashtags and trolls, cyber-bullying and harassment, smear campaigns
(e.g. #GamerGate)
#Irony, wit and humour in hashtags,
#Hashtag games (e.g. #FiveWordsToRuinADate)
#Hashtag rap (e.g. Big Sean)
#Poetry and art with hashtags
#Impact of hashtags on altruistic and narcissistic impulses
#Hashtags as catalysts for groupthink and ‘hive mind’
#Rules, conventions and etiquette around hashtags
#Hashtag journalism, Breaking News
#Hashtag overuse and abuse, hashtag in spoken language (hashtag royal
wedding)
#Intercultural comparisons, how do Germans, British, Americans etc.
use hashtags (frequency, context, application, content)
#Hashtag wars (e.g. #OpCharlieHebdo, #OpFrance)
# How the hashtag informs the ways in which we experience and
understand emotions
#Hashtags as paralanguage
#Hashtags and ritualised mourning for public figures
#Issues of authenticity regarding feelings expressed in hashtags
# How the hashtag affects our relationship with technology
#Hashtags and virtual citizenship
#Hashtags and virtual communities
#Hashtags as tools for negotiating social media
# How the hashtag (dis)empowers us as consumers and producers
#User generated content and its value
#Hashtags and the promotion/rejection of consumption
#From hashtag to bashtag (e.g. #SochiProblems)
# How the hashtag impacts our relationship with institutional power
(e.g. media, government, corporate interests)
#Relationship between hashtag activism and offline activism
#Click activism: opportunities and limitations
#Hashtags in institutional politics (Get Out the Vote initiatives,
coverage of issues, reactions to political events and speeches)
#Effective strategies for hashtag activism (especially in the context
of grass roots movements, charities and NGOs)
#Hashtag hijacking, bashtag (i.e. using promotional hashtag to
critique the product rather than praise it) (e.g. #McDStories)
#Representation of hashtags in media and popular culture
#Hashtags and the formation of participatory communities
Please see
http://www.inter-disciplinary.
What to Send
300 word abstracts, proposals and other forms of contribution should
be submitted by Friday 14th August 2015.
All submissions be minimally double reviewed, under anonymous (blind)
conditions, by a global panel drawn from members of the Project Team
and the Advisory Board. In practice our procedures usually entail that
by the time a proposal is accepted, it will have been triple and
quadruple reviewed.
You will be notified of the panel’s decision by Friday 28th August
2015.
If your submission is accepted for the conference, a full draft of
your contribution should be submitted by Friday 11th December 2015.
Abstracts may be in Word, RTF or Notepad formats with the following
information and in this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in
programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of
proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.
E-mails should be entitled: #hashtag1 Abstract Submission
Where to Send
Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both Organising
Chairs:
Organising Chairs:
Petra Rehling: petrarehling@gmx.de
Rob Fisher: hashtag@inter-disciplinary.net
This event marks the launch of the Social Media inclusive
interdisciplinary research and publishing project.
http://www.inter-disciplinary.
It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to
share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and
exciting.
It is anticipated that a number of publishing options will arise from
the work of the project generally and from the meeting of #hashtag
stream in particular. Minimally there will be a digital eBook
resulting from the conference meeting. Other options, some of which
might include digital publications, paperbacks and a journal will be
explored during the meeting itself.
Ethos
Inter-Disciplinary.Net believes it is a mark of personal courtesy and
professional respect to your colleagues that all delegates should
attend for the full duration of the meeting. If you are unable to make
this commitment, please do not submit an abstract for presentation.
Please note: Inter-Disciplinary.Net is a not-for-profit network and we
are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or
subsistence.
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