[Air-L] CFP - Digital Communication and Social Practices under Algorithms: Challenges and Opportunities. BiD, Issue 57

[Fernanda Pires]

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite submissions for Issue 57 of BiD,  titled  *"Digital
Communication and Social Practices under Algorithms: Challenges and
Opportunities":*

Predictive artificial intelligence and personalization algorithms in
recommendation systems have become key mediators of everyday activities on
digital platforms. These systems process personal data to offer lists of
content that, in theory, adapt to citizens’ tastes and interests. By
shaping cultural and informational consumption, this process introduces
dynamics that are largely invisible to users, who often perceive it as
“useful” and “accurate” due to the high level of personalization.
This personalization, as part of the broader phenomenon of platformization,
has transformed the communication industry and altered sociocultural
habits, at times limiting the diversity of perspectives on issues such as
politics, culture, health, and lifestyles, among others. It also raises
questions about privacy and about how these technologies influence the ways
in which identities and communities are constructed.

This special issue section seeks contributions that critically analyze the
interactions between citizens and recommendation systems on digital
communication platforms, exploring how these algorithms shape experiences,
sociocultural practices, and creative processes. Beyond identifying risks,
it is essential to reflect on the capacities and tools that enable people
to interact with these technologies in a conscious and critical manner.
Understanding these dynamics requires studying the systems themselves, but
also strengthening algorithmic literacy as an essential competence for
questioning and managing the logics that govern personalization, avoiding a
passive relationship with systems that influence cultural, informational,
and social decisions.

We invite the submission of contributions that delve into the following
thematic axes. Nevertheless, research that goes beyond these points and
analyzes the social role of algorithms and predictive systems in practices
of cultural consumption and communication will also be considered.

*Proposed thematic axes:*

- Algorithmic literacy: the set of knowledge (formal, informal, and
non-formal) that users develop to interact and coexist with recommendation
algorithms, considering the actors involved in this learning process and
the competencies required.

-Tactics of evasion and algorithmic shaping:  analysis of the active
strategies that citizens use to interact with algorithms and influence the
content they receive, as well as to avoid exposure to unwanted content.

-Bias, discrimination, hate speech, and normalization of patterns: how
algorithms can reinforce social stereotypes or normative patterns (such as
canonical bodies or gender roles) and expose users to objectifying content
or hate speech, including racism, xenophobia, and LGBTIQphobia,
exacerbating discrimination and disadvantage in cases of intersectional
bias.

-Algorithms and migratory and ethnic experience:  understanding how
algorithmic personalization conditions the representation and sense of
belonging of migrants, as well as ethnic communities.

- Algorithms in opinion formation and polarization:  analysis of
algorithmic influence on the configuration of political and social
opinions.

-Modification of citizens’ everyday practices:  algorithmic influence on
consumption practices and habits, such as exercise and diets, as well as
fashion, brand consumption, the idealization of relationships, the
commodification of authenticity, personal vulnerability, among others.

-Creativity and algorithm-mediated cultural production: analysis of how
recommendation systems influence content creation, transform creative
processes, and redefine authorship in digital environments.

We warmly encourage colleagues across communication, internet studies,
media studies, digital sociology, cultural studies, and related fields to
submit their work and to share this call within their networks.

*Submission Process and Key Dates*
Full Paper Submission Deadline 30/09/2026 in the journal system:
https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/bid/about/submissions
No payment from the authors will be required.
This forthcoming special issue is open access, and welcomes original
research articles in English, Spanish, and Catalan.

Link to the journal full text of the CFP:
https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/bid/announcement/view/982

Please note that this invitation does not guarantee publication, all full
manuscripts will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process.

We look forward to your submissions.

The special issue editors,
Fernanda Pires (fernanda.pires at uab.cat - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
,
Celina Navarro (celina.navarro at uab.cat) Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Liana Pithan ( liana.pithan at gmail.com - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande
do Sul)