Call for Papers

WebSci’23 – 15th ACM Web Science Conference
April 30 – May 1, 2023
Austin, Texas, USA (co-located with The Web Conference)
https://websci23.webscience.org/
Important Dates

Wed, November 30, 2022 Paper submission deadline
Tue, January 31, 2023 Notification
Tue, February 28, 2023 Camera-ready versions due
Sun-Mon, April 30 – May 1, 2023 Conference dates

About the Web Science Conference

Web Science is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to understanding the complex and multiple impacts of the Web on society and vice versa. The discipline is well situated to address pressing issues of our time by incorporating various scientific approaches. We welcome quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research, including techniques from the social sciences and computer science. In addition, we are interested in work exploring Web-based data collection and research ethics. We also encourage studies that combine analyses of Web data and other types of data (e.g., from surveys or interviews) and help better understand user behaviour online and offline.
2023 Emphasis: Inequalities in the Face of Concurrent Crises

Web-based technologies promise to lower the entry barrier for geographically-dispersed individuals to participate in everyday life. Especially in the aftermath of the pandemic and growing international tensions, such technologies have become critical to our lives. Yet, disparities between groups exist across digital spaces, including digital news, social media, and peer production. Research documenting inequities in representation, engagement, visibility, and success is essential to understand how, for example, various racial, ethnic, and gender groups rebound from multiple concurrent crises. This year’s conference especially encourages contributions documenting differential uses of online spaces and discussing ways to address emerging differences. Additionally, we welcome papers on a wide range of topics at the heart of Web Science.

Possible topics across methodological approaches and digital contexts include but are not limited to:

Understanding the Web

Trends in globalisation, fragmentation, rejoining, and Balkanisation of the Web
The architecture and philosophy of the Web
Automation and AI in all its manifestations relevant to the Web
Critical analyses of the Web and Web technologies

Making the Web Inclusive

Issues of discrimination and fairness
Intersectionality and design justice in questions of marginalisation and inequality
Ethical challenges of technologies, data, algorithms, platforms, and people on the Web
Safeguarding and governance of the Web, including anonymity, security and trust
Inclusion, literacy and the digital divide

The Web and Everyday Life

Social machines, crowd computing and collective intelligence
Web economics, social entrepreneurship, and innovation
Legal issues, including rights and accountability for AI actors
Humanities, arts, and culture on the Web
Politics and social activism on the Web
Online education and remote learning
Health and well-being online
Social presence in online professional event spaces
The Web as a source of news and information

Doing Web Science

Data curation, Web archives and stewardship in Web Science
Temporal and spatial dimensions of the Web as a repository of information
Analysis and modelling of human vs automatic behavior (e.g., bots)
Analysis of online social and information networks
Detecting, preventing and predicting anomalies in Web data (e.g., fake content, spam)