TRUST/DISTRUST AND ENGAGEMENT/DISENGAGEMENT
International Communication Association Annual Conference, Prague, Czech Republic
Thursday May 24, 2018, 0930-1600
Deadline: December 18, 2017
Keynote Speaker Mark Deuze (University of Amsterdam): “The Straitjacket of Participatory Culture”
This ICA preconference marks the anniversary of the participatory turn: a decade ago, there was widespread optimism about the creative, economic and democratic potential of audience participation in the media. New technology and increased competition pressured established media to rethink their relationship with audiences, while internet and social media opened unprecedented participatory possibilities. In the passing decade, both positive and negative implications of the participatory turn have come to the forefront of media debate and scholarship. The participatory turn has led not only to increased engagement and involvement, but also to participatory fatigue, disengagement and resistance.
This preconference explores how participation as a concept, strategy and practice has developed over the last decade, and engages participants in a dialogue concerning contradictions and dilemmas.
We welcome contributions emphasising one or more of the following dimensions:
– Concepts, theories, approaches: How is participation in mass and social media understood and conceptualized within various approaches? In what ways are issues of trust and distrust, engagement and disengagement linked with popular participation in the media?
– Organisation, production and the construction of participatory spaces: What characterizes the different formats and roles for audiences in media production? How is audience participation and ordinariness constructed and negotiated in media content?
– Disappointment, distrust and resistance: How have missed opportunities and disappointment with the implications of the participatory turn resulted in lack of trust, disengagement and resistance?
