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

MCFP  Special Issue - Digital Communication and Social Practices under 
Algorithms: Challenges and Opportunities. BiD, Issue 57

We are pleased to invite submissions for the Special Issue of BiD, an 
open access journal with no article processing charges (APCs). This 
issue is 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, 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 
<https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/bid/about/submissions>
-No payment from the authors will be required, as the journal has no 
article processing charges (APC).
-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 
<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.


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 COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------