Scope

Social Networks publishes rigorously peer-reviewed research that explores how new media and networking platforms affect society. The section offers insight into the emerging patterns of social networks and welcomes submissions that contribute to a new understanding of the social mechanisms behind online behaviors, taking an approach that tackles the challenges and big questions of social networks head-on.

The number of people active on social media is rapidly growing and social networking platforms are fundamentally redefining how we make friends, find partners and think about wider society. They also affect how we cooperate with strangers, resulting in phenomena such as open collaboration, collaborative society and peer production. These collaborations have resulted in paradigm shifting social developments such as Wikipedia, the expansive free online encyclopedia, and Linux, an influential and free-to-use open operating system. 

Whilst providing many societal benefits, it has been shown that social networks and their associated social phenomena also have a darker side such as platform capitalism and the gig economy. Similarly, it is possible that social networking platforms advance alienation: we are spending increasing amounts of time on social media, and less with other people in face-to-face settings. We can also observe the rapid growth of misinformation and disinformation online, in areas such as politics, health or the environment, to mention just a few. Many of these negative effects are fostered by non-human actors. Many others, however, are side effects of echo chambers, filter bubbles and new group dynamics: social networking sites are streamlining and dividing users.

Social Networks welcomes contributions coming from a wide array of fields, including but not limited to information studies, new media, journalism, sociology, psychology, organization studies, economics, anthropology, computer and data science or internet studies. We also welcome contributions founded upon quantitative or qualitative research, ranging from AI and Big Data studies to digital ethnography.

Submission

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