2017 About

The International Conference on Social Media & Society is an annual gathering of leading social media researchers from around the world. Now, in its 8th year, the 2017 conference is being held in Toronto, Canada from July 28 to 30.

From its inception, the conference has focused on the best practices for studying the impact and implications of social media on society. Organized by the Social Media Lab at Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, the conference provides participants with opportunities to exchange ideas, present original research, learn about recent and ongoing studies, and network with peers.

The conference’s intensive three-day program will feature full papers, work-in-progress papers, panels, and posters. The wide-ranging topics in social media showcase research from scholars working in many fields including Communication, Computer Science, Education, Journalism, Information Science, Management, Political Science, Sociology.

Conference Organizing Committee

  • Philip Mai
    Conference Chair
    Co-Director of the Social Media Lab, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada
  • Anatoliy Gruzd
    Conference Chair
    Professor, Canada Research Chair and Director of Research at the Social Media Lab, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada
  • Jenna Jacobson
    Full Papers Chair
    Assistant Professor [Retail Management, Ted Rogers School of Management] | Research Fellow [Social Media Lab, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canada]
  • Jeff Hemsley
    Work-in-Progress(WIP) Papers Chair
    Assistant Professor [iSchool, Syracuse University, USA]
  • K. Hazel Kwon
    Poster Chair
    Assistant Professor, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University
  • Bernie Hogan
    Work-in-Progress(WIP) Papers Chair
    Research Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute

Conference Advisory Board

  • Caroline Haythornthwaite
    Advisory Board Member, 2018-2020
    Professor, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University
  • Susan Halford
    Advisory Board Member, 2017-2019
    Professor at the University of Bristol, UK | President, British Sociological Association 2018-20
  • Zizi Papacharissi
    Advisory Board Member, 2016-19
    Professor and Head, Dept. of Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA; Editor, Social Media+Society
  • Barry Wellman
    Advisory Board Member, 2016-19
    INSNA Founder, Director – NetLab Network
  • William H. Dutton
    Advisory Board Member, 2016-2018
    Professor of Media and Information, Director Quello Center, Michigan State University, USA; Founding Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, UK; Professor Emeritus at the Annenberg School at USC, USA

2017 Conference Staff

  • Priya Kumar
    Coordinator, Publications Team
  • Andrea Kampen
    Copy-Editor, Publications Team
  • Carlisle Kent
    Copy-Editor, Publications Team
  • Alyssa Torres
    Graphic Designer

Conference Program Committee

NameAffiliationCountry
Anabel Quan-HaaseUniversity of Western OntarioCanada
Anders Olof LarssonUniversity of OsloNorway
Andrea HunterConcordia UniversityCanada
Anita GreenhillUniversity of ManchesterUK
Ann PegoraroLaurentian UniversityCanada
Audrey LaplanteUniversité de MontréalCanada
Axel BrunsQueensland University of TechnologyAustralia
Ayoung YoonIndiana UniversityUSA
Bree McEwanDePaul UniversityUSA
Caroline HaythornthwaiteUniversity of British ColumbiaCanada
Christian RappZurich University of Applied SciencesSwitzerland 
Christine MoserVU University AmsterdamNetherlands
Christoph LutzNorwegian Business School, OsloNorway
Clément LevalloisEMLYON Business SchoolFrance
Daiji HarioSetsunan UniversityJapan
Daniel KreissUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillUSA
Diane Rasmussen PenningtonUniversity of StrathclydeUK
Donna SmithRyerson UniversityCanada
Ebrahim BagheriRyerson UniversityCanada
Elizabeth DuboisUniversity of OttawaCanada
Emad KhazraeeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUSA
Esther BraininRuppin Academic CenterIsrael
Frank KleemannUniversity of Duisburg-EssenGermany
Frauke ZellerRyerson University Canada
George VeletsianosRoyal Roads UniversityCanada
Guillaume Latzko-TothUniversité LavalCanada
Halvdan HaugsbakkenNorwegian University of Science and TechnologyNorway
Han Woo ParkYeungNam UniversityKorea
Heidi JulienUniversity at BuffaloUSA
Helen Wang HuaUniversity at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo) USA
Igor KanovskyMax Stern Academic College of Emek YezreelIsrael
Ilhem AllaguiNorthwestern University in QatarQatar
Ingmar WeberQatar Computing Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa UniversityQatar
Isabella PetersZBW - German National Library of EconomicsGermany
Jacquie BurkellUniversity of Western OntarioCanada
Jaigris HodsonRoyal Roads University‎Canada
James CookUniversity of Maine at AugustaUSA
Jana DiesnerUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUSA
Jean GawronSan Diego State UniversityUSA
Jeannette SuttonUniversity of KentuckyUSA
Jeffrey M KeeferNew York University / Pace UniversityUSA
John Bingham-HallUniversity College LondonUK
Joshua IntroneMichigan State SpartansUSA
Karine NahonInterdisciplinary Center (IDC) / University of WashingtonIsrael/USA
K. Hazel KwonArizona State UniversityUSA
Keith HamptonRutgers UniversityUSA
Kw FuUniversity of Hong KongChina
Luke SloanCardiff UniversityUK
Maral DadvarStuttgart Media UniversityGermany
Marc Esteve del ValleUniversity of GroningenNetherlands
Martin HandQueen's UniversityCanada
Mary CavanaghUniversity of OttawaCanada
Merlyna Lim Carleton UniversityCanada
Ming-Hsiang TsouSan Diego State UniversityUSA
Márcio SantosUFMA - Universidade Federal do MaranhãoBrazil
Nadia CaidiUniversity of TorontoCanada
Nicholas J ProferesUniversity of MarylandUSA
Olessia KoltsovaNational Research University Higher School of Economics Russia
Patricia RossiniSyracuse UniversityUSA
Raquel RecueroUniversidade Católica de Pelotas (UCPel)Brazil
Ravi VatrapuCopenhagen Business SchoolDenmark
Rob ProcterUniversity of WarwickUK
Rosa BorgeUniversitat Oberta de CatalunyaSpain
Seth LewisUniversity of MinnesotaUSA
Susan HalfordUniversity of SouthamptonUK
Tim HighfieldQueensland University of TechnologyAustralia
Wenhong ChenUniversity of Texas at AustinUSA
Xiao HuUniversity of Hong KongChina
Yimin ChenUniversity of Western OntarioCanada
Yunya (Céline) Song Hong Kong Baptist UniversityHong Kong, China