[Commlist] Call for abstracts: Doing Family with Digital Platforms

*Call for Abstracts: Doing Family with Digital Platforms*

**

Families are increasingly connected through digital platforms and are 
currently living in what has been referred to as ‘the platform society’ 
(Erstad et al., 2024; van Dijck et al., 2018). In the platform society, 
state and commercial platforms influence the organization of our lives. 
These new forces create new possibilities and challenges for families 
that must learn to use and navigate platforms as part of their family 
life; a life that is “increasingly structured according to platform 
logics” (Mannell et al., 2025, p. 95). Importantly, platformization and 
the family are ongoing mutually constitutive processes (p. 96).

In this special issue of MedieKultur: Journal of media and communication 
research, we invite researchers from across the globe to propose 
articles combining the study of digital platforms with the study of the 
family. As argued by van Dijck et al., (2018) understanding the platform 
society “requires a thorough analysis of the ecosystem’s dynamics and 
the techno-economic and sociocultural practices through which they take 
shape” (p. 5). Consequently, we ask that researchers submit 
contributions combining analyses of 1) techno-economic and/or 
sociocultural practices of digital platforms as well as 2) how ‘doing 
family’ in a platform society manifests itself, is under change, or 
interpreted.

The question of ‘doing family’ refers to how families are constantly 
created and recreated through daily interactions and routines. This 
perspective emphasizes that family is not just a static unit defined by 
structural or biological ties, but rather a social construction that is 
actively maintained through people's actions and relationships (Morgan, 
1996; Finch & Mason, 1993). Bringing this sociological perspective on 
family practices and ‘doing family’ in contact with perspectives on 
digital platforms may provide a framework for understanding how family 
practices and relationships are developed and maintained in digital 
spaces, understanding the dynamics of family relationships in a digital 
age, as well as understanding how technology alters and sometimes 
enriches the ways families connect and interact.

We invite the contributions to go into dialogue with the research agenda 
proposed by Julian Sefton-Green and co-editors in a recently published 
book drawing up a research agenda for “The Platformization of the 
Family” (Sefton-Green et al., 2025). Specifically, we would welcome 
contributions focusing on “what platforms mean for family life” (Mannell 
et al., 2025, p. 104), “what families mean to platforms” (Mannell et 
al., 2025, p. 105) and/or “other forms of power at play in the 
platformization of the family” (Mannell et al., 2025, p. 106).

While we invite contributions focusing on various aspects of family life 
and platforms, we encourage articles that study novel and less 
represented aspects in the literature, such as multigenerational 
families, diverse families, or studies focusing on the grandparent (or 
great grandparent) generation.

We welcome theoretical, methodological, or empirical contributions. For 
inspiration, we encourage topics including but not limited to the following:

  * How various platforms afford family doings and relational practices
  * Parenting and/or grandparenting through digital platforms
  * Media generations or other perspectives with a temporal focus
  * Multigenerational families and digital platforms
  * Being a grandparent/parent/child in the platform society
  * Family care through digital platforms
  * The design of platforms to meet family needs and/or wants
  * The reshaping of family traditions through or with digital platforms
  * Ethical aspects of platforms’ commercial profit from families’ behavior

The focus of the contributions can be on various platforms, or it can be 
on one or one certain kind of platforms (including but not limited to 
streaming platforms, gaming platforms, health platforms, communication 
platforms, social media platforms, shopping platforms, genealogy/family 
DNA platforms, education platforms, travel platforms, banking platforms, 
care platforms, and surveillance platforms).

Please submit a non-anonymized abstract of maximum 500 words (excluding 
references) by 14 May 2025 on MedieKultur’s website: 
http://www.tidsskrift.dk/mediekultur <http://www.tidsskrift.dk/mediekultur>

Authors will be notified of their acceptance by 1 June 2025. The 
deadline for submission of full anonymized papers is 30 January 2026.

Articles that are accepted for further process by the editors will go 
into peer-review. Please note that this entails that abstract acceptance 
by the editors does not automatically imply that the full paper will be 
accepted as well.

MedieKultur is an open access journal with no publishing fees.

The special issue will be published no later than December 2026.

Editors for this special issue are: Maja Nordtug (University of Oslo), 
Antonio Membrive (Universitat de Girona), Anette Grønning (University of 
Southern Denmark), and Kristinn Hegna (University of Oslo).

See the full call here: 
https://tidsskrift.dk/mediekultur/announcement/view/1255 
<https://tidsskrift.dk/mediekultur/announcement/view/1255>

Questions about the call may be sent to Maja Nordtug: 
maja.nordtug[at]iped.uio.no

References

Erstad, O., Hegna, K., Livingstone, S., Negru-Subtirica, O., & Stoilova, 
M. (2024). How digital technologies become embedded in family life 
across generations: scoping the agenda for researching ‘platformised 
relationality’. /Families, Relationships and Societies/, /13/(2), 
164-180. https://doi.org/10.1332/20467435Y2024D000000023 
<https://doi.org/10.1332/20467435Y2024D000000023>

Finch, J., & Mason, J. (2003). Negotiating Family Responsibilities. 
Routledge.

Mannell, K., Sefton-Green, J., & Erstad, O. (2025). Conclusion: Towards 
Further Research into the Platformization of the Family. In J. 
Sefton-Green, K. Mannell, & O. Erstad (Eds.), /The Platformization of 
the Family: Towards a Research Agenda/ (pp. 93-109). Springer Nature 
Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74881-3_6 
<https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74881-3_6>

Morgan D. H. J. (1996). /Family Connections: An Introduction to Family 
Studies/. Cambridge: Polity Press

Sefton-Green, J., Mannell, K. & Erstad, O. (2025). /The Platformization 
of the Family: Towards a Research Agenda/. Palgrave Macmillan. 
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74881-3 
<https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74881-3>

van Dijck, J., Poell, T., & de Waal, M. (2018). /The Platform Society/. 
Oxford University Press. 
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190889760.001.0001 
<https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190889760.001.0001>

van Dijck, J., Poell, T., & de Waal, M. (2018). The Platform Society. 
Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190889760.001.0001

---------------
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
---------------