[ecrea] Call for Chapters: The Good and Bad of Internet Culture

Call for Chapters: Debates for a Digital Age: The Good, the Bad, and the 
Ugly of our Online World



Danielle Sarver Coombs (Kent State University, USA) and Simon Collister 
(University of the Arts London, UK) are soliciting brief proposals for 
essays to be included in an upcoming two-volume anthology that will be 
published through Praeger/ABC-CLIO.



Structured in two volumes, this anthology examines issues related to the 
digital age—both the good (Volume 1) and the bad (Volume 2) in our 
contemporary Internet culture. The chapter titles/topics included in the 
tentative table of contents below provide starting points for a given 
issue, but individual authors may adapt them to fit their research 
interests. We also encourage submission of new topics that are not 
currently included in the list below.



Final essays will be about 5,000 to 6,000 words in length and will be 
due November 15, 2014. Essays may be slightly longer with permission 
from the editors. We encourage authors to take provocative, 
thought-provoking points of view in their chapters. While your thinking 
and arguments must be grounded in evidence, readers should be 
entertained while critically engaging in the issues covered in these 
volumes.



If you are interested in participating, please send a proposed title, 
brief synopsis (around 500 words) including in which volume you intend 
to publish, and your CV to Danielle Sarver Coombs ((dcoombs /at/ kent.edu)) and 
Simon Collister ((s.collister /at/ lcc.arts.ac.uk)) by September 15. The 
editors will send a style guide and further information to authors after 
assignment.



Tentative Table of Contents:

Volume 1: The Good

Accessibility

1


New audiences, new markets: Accessing music, movies, art, and writing at 
your leisure

2


Anything you want to know, you can find out: A changing understanding of 
knowledge, memory, and learning in a world of constant access

3


Using the Internet and social media to draw attention to global issues 
[ASSIGNED]

4


News from a global perspective: accessing BBC, NY Times, and Le Monde 
from one desk

5


Exposure to new ideas (i.e. the cultural significance and spread of memes)

6


Avoiding awkward moments with check-out clerks, or how watching porn 
online has saved my reputation

Democratization

7


Leaks, whistle-blowers, and radical transparency: government 
accountability in the Internet Age

8


Rallying the virtual troops: Using the Internet to foster revolution and 
political activism

9


Democratizing the media: The rise of the bloggerati and it’s impact on 
political/news elites

10


Ground-up expert: everyday people and blogs

11


Self-promotion for All!: Selfies, internet “fameballs” and microcelebrity

12


Education for all: MOOCs, online ed, and the accessibility of higher 
education [ASSIGNED]

Community/(Globalization)

13


Remember when?: Reconnecting with old friends, colleagues, and lovers 
via social media

14


Aspiration and inspiration: Finding role models and building friendships 
online

15


Je t’aime, te amo, and I love you: Finding love online, no matter where 
the other person lives

16


Always someone to play: Gaming in a digital world

17


So I’m not the only one!: Communities and shared interests



Volume 2: The Bad and the Ugly

Always On, Always There

1


So what is copyright again? Rethinking ownership in the Internet age

2


Say goodbye to privacy: public access to personal information [ASSIGNED]

3


Constant access keeps me tied to work, or, how my Crackberry has ruined 
my life

4


Information overload: how do you figure out what is relevant?

5


Innocence lost: Naked pictures and embarrassing nicknames are there for 
sharing

6


How to make a bomb, or why having limitless information can be a 
dangerous proposition

Democratization

7


Are info leakers blowing a whistle or committing treason?

8


Are all sources really equal? Credibility and news/The shift from the 
age of deference to the age of reference

9


All politics are personal, but are politician’s personal lives fair game?

10


All the snark that’s fit to print: Cynicism, news, and the digital age

11


Famous for being famous: Living in the age of celebrity

12


Online education: Diploma mills and degree dumps [ASSIGNED]

Community/Globalization

13


Traveling down the Silk Road: Online communities and the underground 
drug trade

14


More friends online than in real life: Gaming, MMRPGs, and real-life 
isolation

15


Romance scams: Finding out the hard way that desire for money can trump 
desire for love

16


Recruiting without borders: Using the Internet to recruit people from 
around the world to extremist causes

17


Building communities around deviance: Sharing child porn, snuff films, 
and violence in an unfettered environment




Simon Collister

Senior Lecturer

London College of Communication

University of the Arts London

t: 0207 514 2324

m: 07971 612857

tw: @simoncollister




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