July 13-15, 2026
Glasgow, UK
Deadlines: January 26/February 16/March 13
Conference format: In person
Submission Dates:
Papers (extended abstracts):
- What: 1000-1500 words
- Due date: January 26, 2026
- Notification of results: March 2
Panels
- What: 2000-3000 words
- Due date: February 16, 2026
- Notification of results: March 9
Workshops & Tutorials
- What: 1000-3000 words
- Due date: February 16, 2026
- Notification of results: March 9
Posters (extended abstracts)
- What: 1000-1500 words
- Due date: March 13, 2026
- Notification of results: March 27
We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the 2026 International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety)! #SMSociety will return as an in-person event at the University of Glasgow, Glasgow UK from July 13th to 15th. The 2026 conference is co-organized by the Digital Cultures and Economies Research Hub at the University of the Arts London (UAL), the University of East Anglia (UEA), and the hosts at the Division of Urban Studies and Social Policy at Glasgow University.
The conference’s three-day program will feature panels and paper presentations, workshops, tutorials, networking events, and a poster session.
In keeping with the conference’s inter- and transdisciplinary focus, we welcome both quantitative and qualitative scholarly and original submissions that crosses disciplinary boundaries and expands our understanding of current and future trends in social media research across many fields including (but not limited to): Communication, Computer Science, Critical Data Studies, Education, Journalism, Information Science, Law, Management, Political Science, Psychology, Public Policy, Public Administration, Science and Technology, Sociology, Urban Studies, among others.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
#SMSociety is a biennial gathering of leading social media researchers from around the world. It is the premier venue for sharing and discovering new peer-reviewed interdisciplinary research on how social media affects society. #SMSociety provides participants with opportunities to exchange ideas, present original research, learn about recent and ongoing studies, and network with peers.
TOPICS OF INTEREST (the list is not exhaustive)
- Affordances
- AI and LLMs
- Algorithms
- Computational, digital and data methods
- Creators and Influencers
- Cyberbullying, Trolling and Antisocial Behavior
- Digital Education
- Digital Intimacies
- Discourse and Public Opinion
- Health and Wellbeing
- Infrastructures, platformisation and datafication
- Marketing and Promotional Social Media
- Misinformation and Disinformation
- Online and Offline Communities
- Platform Cultures
- Platform Governance and Regulation
- Emerging and Established Social Technologies, Apps and Platforms
- Politics, Policy, and Regulation
- Privacy, Security and Trust
- Social Media Cultures and Everyday Life
- Use and Users
- Vibes, memes and trends
SUBMISSION DETAILS
Submission types and guidelines: You can submit an extended abstract for a paper or poster presentation, and/or propose a panel, workshop or hands-on tutorial.
How to create or log in to CMT to submit a paper or poster (extended abstract).
PUBLICATIONS:
Publication of Pre-prints and Datasets: To promote your work during and after the conference, authors of accepted papers (extended abstracts) are encouraged to share their work as a pre-print via a public repository of your choice. Preprint will be accessible via the conference online program and other channels. If you have a dataset to share, you can also upload it to one of many data repositories such as Dataverse or figshare. Authors of accepted papers will have an opportunity to provide a link to their pre-print and/or dataset for inclusion in the conference program.
Journal Publications: We hope that feedback received from other scholars during the review process and the Q&A part of your presentation will help you refine your ideas and develop your work into a full paper after the conference. Once ready, you are encouraged to submit your full paper to a journal of your choice.
All #SMSociety conference presenters will also receive an exclusive invitation to submit their work as an expanded full paper for consideration in an open access, conference thematic issue of Platforms & Society.
#SMSociety was founded by Anatoliy Gruzd and Philip Mai in 2011.
For #SMSociety 2026, the Microsoft CMT service is and will be used for managing the peer-reviewing process. This service was provided for free by Microsoft and they bore all expenses, including costs for Azure cloud services as well as for software development and support.
