Call for papers: Special issue of JCMC
for more info: http://faculty.washington.edu/thurlow/jcmc.html

JOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
SPECIAL ISSUE ON
Young People, Mediated Discourse and Communication Technologies

CALL FOR PAPERS
Guest Editor:
Crispin Thurlow
University of Washington

IMPORTANT DATES
Abstracts due: July 1, 2008
Full papers due: November 1, 2008
Publication: April 2009

ISSUE FOCUS
After cybersex and e-commerce, perhaps the most widely discussed CMC-related issue is so called 'cyberkids' and the 'net generation'. Almost on a daily basis there are stories in the media addressing adult concerns about young people's involvement with new communication technologies like instant messaging, text messaging and social networking sites. These popular representations are often speculative, anecdotal and exaggerated. Young people are typically caught in a no-win situation: on the one hand, they are depicted as being somehow naturally predisposed and automatically 'wired' to new technologies; on the other hand, they are viewed as being enslaved to technology, as either arch-consumers or tragic victims.

CMC and new media scholars know well that generalizations about technologically-mediated communicative practices are inherently problematic, conflating as they do important differences in the affordances and constraints of different technologies. By the same token, the homogenizing rhetoric of 'net generation' and 'cyberkids' conceals the diversity of young people's lives and their experiences with communication technology. Most popular discourse also overlooks those disadvantaged young people who cannot simply take the internet and more recent technologies for granted.

This special issue of JCMC seeks to answer a simple question: what are young people really doing with new communication technology? Papers are sought which examine children and teenager's mediated discourse - in other words, their actual language and communication practices. Papers should therefore be empirically grounded, situated and contextual (e.g. user- and use-specific). By no means exhaustive, papers might address the following types of research questions:

* how are young people reworking standard linguistic forms and practices?
* how do young people themselves talk about new technology and/or its role in their lives?
* how are new technologies seen to be supporting young people's interpersonal needs?
* how are young people using technologies for artistic, political and other creative purposes?
* how are new communication technologies connecting different groups of young people?

Papers reporting findings from diverse and under-represented social backgrounds are especially welcome.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION
Potential authors should submit a preliminary proposal of 500 to 750 words by June 1, 2008 to the guest editor Crispin Thurlow (thurlow @ u.washington.edu - please put "JCMC Special Issue" in the subject line). Proposals should include the central research question, the theoretical and/or empirical basis for the paper and preliminary findings, interpretations or insights. Those interested in submitting a proposal are also encouraged to contact the guest editor with their questions and ideas.

Authors whose proposals are accepted will be invited (by August 1, 2008) to submit for review a full paper of roughly 7,000-10,000 words by September 1, 2008. The JCMC is an interdisciplinary journal and so authors should plan for papers that will be accessible to non-specialists and try to make their paper relevant to this audience. Anticipated publication date for the issue is April 2009.

Final submissions should be emailed to the guest editor, Crispin Thurlow at thurlow @ u.washington.edu. Again, please put "JCMC Special Issue" in the subject line. The usual JCMC manuscript guidelines should be followed.

NOTE ABOUT "YOUNG PEOPLE"
There is no shortage of scholarly research on college-age people - a convenient and often captive audience! As a consequence, it sometimes feels as if we know more about this period of the lifespan than we do about any others (Thurlow, 2005). In an attempt to redress this imbalance and to give voice to a major new-media constituency, this special issue will give priority to papers which make the experiences of children and teenagers a central focus - in other words, young people under the age of twenty (to use an otherwise arbitrary cut-off point). Papers which focus on young, college-age adults are encouraged to situate their data/analysis with reference to the broader lifespan.

Posted by prolurkr at January 19, 2008 12:52 PM

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