[Air-L] Reminder: Call for Papers on SOCIALBOTS

[Maria Bakardjieva]

Dear colleagues,

Robert Gehl and I would like to invite you to consider contributing to our
proposed *edited collection exploring the technological, social, cultural,
and ethical aspects of socialbots*. Please see the attached Call for Papers
and do not hesitate to contact us with questions, or to discuss the idea
further.

For those of you who are thinking of contributing, this is a reminder that
the deadline for abstracts is approaching:
* •    500 word abstracts due to socialbotbook at robertwgehl.org
<socialbotbook at robertwgehl.org>: October 15, 2014*
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Many users of the Internet are aware of the existence of bots: automated
programs that work behind the scenes to come up with search suggestions,
check the weather, filter emails, or clean up Wikipedia entries. A new form
of software robot has been making its presence felt in social media sites
such as Facebook and Twitter lately – the socialbot. Unlike more familiar
bots, socialbots are built to appear human. While a weatherbot will tell
you if it's sunny and a spambot will incessantly peddle Viagra, socialbots
will ask you questions, have conversations, like your posts, retweet you,
and become your friend. All the while, if they're well-programmed, you
won't know that you're tweeting and friending with a robot...

(read more in the attached CFP)
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Best,

Maria
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Dr. Maria Bakardjieva
Professor, Department of Communication and Culture
University of Calgary,
Canada