The Integration of Digital and Social Systems
A special issue of Information (ISSN 2078-2489). This special issue belongs to the section "Information and Communications Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2021) | Viewed by 11993
Special Issue Editors
Interests: social media analysis; distributed social networking
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: social media analysis; artificial intelligence
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The pervasiveness of digital media and systems is having a large impact on human society. Sensors provide detailed data on human activities, and additional information on patterns of behavior can be extracted from the analysis of videos and images. Mobile devices bring many of these data directly into the hands of people during their daily activities. This trend paves the way for the realization of smart environments at different scales, including offices, homes, and shops, but also hospitals, airports, and streets. This way, people can both find information quickly and use services more comfortably, from anywhere, and in a collaborative way. However, these kinds of sociotechnical systems also pose multiple challenges, as technology complexity intertwines with the organizational and procedural complexity of the application domain, requiring to take into account both the technological and human/organizational aspects from the earliest stages of development.
On the other hand, many kinds of activities, regarding both the recreational and working spheres, are performed directly through various kinds of online social networks and platforms for online collaboration. In fact, this phenomenon has been exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which led many governments to impose severe lockdown restrictions on entire states. The diffusion and pervasiveness of social media in the life of everyone who has access to the digital world has created new opportunities and new scenarios in the self-presentation processes, and now, digital identity and social reputation have reached the same levels of importance as their traditional counterparts.
At the collective level, on the other hand, an example may be the difficulties encountered in attesting to the “credibility” of the information available on the Internet. One may think that the ease of finding information from social media could help to develop more democratic forms of power in different sectors from politics to the economy. However, after an initial enthusiasm toward social media, we are witnessing today a progression of negative or skeptical feelings, and we wonder about fake news sites and the use of these tools by trolls or users who can influence and radicalize political positions and/or marketing in a new war between powers based on information and on its manipulation. Recently, social media have played a crucial role in spreading information and disinformation on news related to the COVID-19 health emergency—a set of information that, just like the coronavirus pandemic, has spread on a global scale creating a real infodemic. This situation is bound to further change the relationship between society and social media and the way we work, study, and move.
Potential topics for this Special Issue include but are not limited to the following:
- Ambient intelligence;
- Smart environments;
- Smart mobility;
- Sociotechnical systems;
- Digital citizenship and participation;
- Online social networks;
- Social data analysis;
- Computer-supported collaborative work;
- Internet trolls;
- Fake news.
Prof. Dr. Michele Tomaiuolo
Prof. Dr. Monica Mordonini
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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Keywords
- Sociotechnical systems
- Digital citizenship and participation
- Online social networks
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