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

[Laura Niebling]

I am away until 22/02/26. Your mail will not be read or forwarded. In urgent cases, please get in touch with the DIMAS secretariat at: dimas at ur.de.

Am 03.02.2026 um 09:33 schrieb Fernanda Pires via Air-L <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>:

> 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)
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> 
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/