[Air-l] CFP: C&W 2005, Stanford

[Samantha Blackmon]

Here is the CFP you've all been waiting for: Computers and Writing
Online 2005! Complete details can be found at
http://kairosnews.org/cwonline05/cfp

When Content Is No Longer King: Social Networking, Community, and
Collaboration

David Reed explains that in the early stages of a network's formation
and growth, that "content is king," that there are a "a small number of
sources (publishers or makers) of content that every user selects from"
(qtd in Rheingold Smart Mobs 61). As the network scales, "group-forming
networks" occur, and the value of the network increases exponentially in
relationship of the number of users, otherwise known as Reed's Law,
privileging the social interaction over content.

We can see this change in network valuation in today's Internet. The
increased valuing of social interaction in large scale networks is
reflected in the new technologies that place emphasis on social
communication and community over content. These technologies, often
dubbed "social software" are applications that, as Clay Shirky explains,
"support group interaction."

We invite proposals from scholars, graduate students and others who have
an interest in computers and writing and social interactions and are
working on projects in gestation, in progress, near completion, or at
any stage in between, whether a thesis or dissertation, article, book
project, or just want to preview and fine-tune your conference
presentation for Computers and Writing Conference hosted by Stanford
University. This is a unique opportunity for extended discussion of your
ideas before heading to Palo Alto. Conference organizers are
particularly interested in presentations that address, but are not
limited to, the following concerns:

--Internet "social software" technologies such as blogs, wikis, RSS,
social networks (orkut and friendster), and social bookmarking
(del.icio.us). 
--Mobile technologies such as wi-fi and smart phones.
--More traditional social, community communication spaces of email,
discussion forums, newsgroups, listservs, and MOO's.

As an acknowledgment of the value of social networks in creating
discourse of and about scholarly work, CWOnline 2005 will follow a
submission process using weblogs whereby participants will submit
abstract proposals for public review and feedback within the Kairosnews
site. Final versions of presentations will be made available online on
Kairosnews. 

-- 
Samantha Blackmon, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN
http://www.sla.purdue.edu/blackmon
http://joe.english.purdue.edu/blog - blog
**Please change my email in your address books to sblackmon at cla.purdue.edu**