Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Telematics and Informatics 

How Is Social Media Changing China? 

Guest Editor: Junhao Hong 

Telematics & Informatics invites scholars from all of the major social sciences and humanities disciplines to submit research papers for a special issue on “How Social Media Is Changing China.” Telematics & Informatics is a leading SSCI journal devoted to studies on new media/communication/information technology and its impact on social development and change.   

Background

Social media, either as a communication vehicle for social networking or a mass medium for news and information dissemination by any users, has been – in various ways and to various extents – overtly or covertly yet fundamentally changing societies and people worldwide. In countries of all political systems and structures, social media has caused a variety of changes, ranging from the overthrow of regimes or leadership to the transformation of political systems/structures, from re-balance or shift of discourse power among social groups to the emergence of a public sphere,  virtual democracy and civil society, from new approaches of business operations to new ways of thinking, new attitude formations and life style changes, and from having an impact on state media to influencing the public opinion. More importantly, the changes caused by social media seen today are just a beginning. As social media is growing in an increasingly rapid way, it is doubtless that social media will become even more intrusive and penetrative and thus more influential and powerful both at the macro/societal level and the micro/individual level especially in the next few years to come.

Social media plays a particularly important role in China and its ongoing transformation due to a number of unique factors. First, the country not only has the world’s largest populace, but it also has the world’s largest number of social media users. Second, Chinese society is experiencing an unprecedented historical change, and social media is an indispensable and irreplaceable catalyst of change. Third, both social media in China and the Chinese socio-political and cultural context have many significantly unique characteristics. Fourth, the continuing fast growth of social media use and the constant, yet unpredictable social change taking place in China simply but clearly mean that in the “Era of Social Media” the country is and will be confronted everyday with more new and tough challenges. 

Each of these factors complicates the subject of social media and social change in China, thus ensuring this subject to deserve special attention and studies. 

Suggested Topics

Submissions of qualitative, quantitative, and comparative research as well as case studies are all welcome. Any topics that are closely related to these theme are also welcome. Whatever the approach and topic may be, the goal of this special issue is to select manuscripts that can scholarly demonstrate and reflect the profound impact of social media on China’s social transformation and to deepen our conceptual and theoretical understanding of social media and their impact on social change. 

            The following topics are particularly encouraged, though not limited to:

·         The history, development and scope of different types of social media in China and their “respective social contributions” and implications

·         The various kinds of roles, functions and impacts social media has had and will have on China’s social changes

·         The “positive” and “negative” aspects of social media in the Chinese societal context

·         Social media and public discourse and engagement in China

·         Social media and “public journalism” in China

·         Social media and “social justice” in China

·         Law, policy and regulatory issues on China’s social media

·         Social media ethics issues in China

·         Use of social media for crisis and emergency management by authorities in China

·         Economic impact of China’s social media

·         Cultural impact of China’s social media

·         Impact of social media on traditional media in China

·         Impact of social media on classical media theories and concepts

·         User measurement and other methodological issues in studying social media

·         Other related topics.

 Submission Guidelines

Authors are invited to prepare original manuscripts of 6,000 – 8,000 words (excluding references), adopting the guidelines defined on the Telematics and Informatics website, including the use of APA format (please see http://ees.elsevier.com/tele/ and ref: Social Media in China). Please follow the instructions given on this site. It is important that authors select SI: Social Media in China when they reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process.

Please make sure your submission contains the following:

·         Paper title

·         Author name, institution and contact information

·         An abstract (150-200 words)

·         Should be written in English and, if you must use jargon or Chinese expression, clearly explain its meaning in English

·         Length is 6,000-8,000 words

·         Citation should be in APA style

·         Submit using Microsoft Word, Font Times New Roman, 12 point, and use plain text without formatting.

               Submitted papers should NOT have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. All submitted papers will be refereed through a blind peer review process. 

Submission Deadline

Deadline for submission of full papers: September 30, 2015.

This special issue will be published in 2016.

For more information or inquiries, please contact Junhao Hong at jhong@buffalo.edu. (Please note manuscript submissions should NOT be emailed to the quest editor of this special issue.)