Mobile Politics

Dear Colleagues,

We navigate an increasingly complicated information environment with and on our mobile devices. Mobile devices have disrupted how we interact with information, changing the way news is produced, the way we interact in the public sphere, and our perceptions of proximity and relevance. We argue that the shift to mobile has profoundly influenced our politics and communication from the way information is consumed to the way information is produced, with consequences for the public. However, while these changes represent one of the most significant developments in communications in this century, the study of mobile is often narrowly focused on technology or access. At the same time, those that study politics rarely consider how or where people access news and information. Separating the study of mobile and the study of politics in this way unnecessarily delimits knowledge building and misses the important implications of mobile proliferation. We propose the study of mobile politics as a way to unify these fields of research under a heading that takes seriously both technology and its effects. The goal of this Special Issue is to create a venue for researchers to tease out what mobile politics means in the context of political, communication, and journalism research.

We consider both mobile and politics broadly and invite scholars from all disciplines in both areas to contribute. Questions may range from how politics is conducted on mobile devices to the ways mobile media shape political interactions. For example, scholars may consider the effects of mobile devices and mobile network coverage on information processing, participation, perceptions, behaviors, and groups. On the other hand, studying the way mobile devices change interpersonal interactions, public space, and news production is also a relevant line of inquiry. We also welcome scholarship focusing on the ways in which mobile media producers and audiences think about and engage with one another, as well as examinations of the types of analytic and measurement data used to shape perceptions of mobile media users and producers. Finally, considering how mobile technology has affected media production and consumption, we also encourage work on the ways in which things have not changed to better understand why, during times of technological transitions, certain conditions remain the same.

Importantly, multiple and diverse modes of inquiry are welcomed and encouraged, as are pieces that speak to the theme and are more theoretical in nature. We hope that this Special Issue can be a catalyst for a more robust scholarship unifying the study of mobile and politics.

Potential topics for submission include but are not limited to:

• Mobile news production
• Mobile news usage
• Mobile media effects
• Mobile audience research
• Mobile news verification
• Mobile information processing
• Mobile network coverage effects
• Mobile policy making
• Mobile communication in political systems
• Mobile inequalities
• Mobile and elections
• Mobile politicians
• Mobile publics
• Mobile participation
• Mobile protest and activism
• Mobile citizenship and refuge
• Mobile surveillance
• Mobile privacy
• Mobile and political polarization
• Mobile audience engagement
• Mobile analytic data
• Mobile methods to study politics

Dr. Jacob Nelson
Dr. Jakob Ohme
Dr. Kathleen Searles
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.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journalism and Media is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access Special Issue will be waived. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.