Note: Althought there is no requirement to first submit abstracts for approval, you are welcome to submit such an abstract and get some feedback. Thierry.Nabeth(@)insead.edu
The social web refers to an important constituent of the latest Internet revolution (also termed Web 2.0), which is the result of the transformation of the Internet from an information space into a social space. In this new context, passive users have become full actors in a participatory ecosystem in which everybody contributes to the creation and exchange of knowledge using a variety of new tools and processes (social networking, blogs, wikis, social bookmarking, voting and opinion systems, etc.). Key to this social process is the development the online identity of the participants that consists of a patchwork of information of diverse origins and quality and which includes both the information explicitly provided by the users (in their home pages, social networking profile), information that can be inferred from their actions (people can express their opinion, and leave traces that are easily available), or generated by others explicitly (for instance when they provide an opinion) or implicitly (when people “vote with their feet” in favour of something or someone).
In this new world, identity correlates to reputation and trust, and the construction of a good identity will translate into successful online experience: “socially proclaimed” experts are more heeded online, and impact on the beliefs of others; the vendors with the best reputation make more sales; the participants of dating sites (or more prosaically of a job search site) who project the best image attract more dates (or have more appointments), etc. But also, people with weak or inadequate identity, are excluded, or simply ignored. In short, a situation not so different from what exists in the off-line world.
This online Identity is also less and less “virtual” in its consequences, with people spending an increasing amount of their time online, and this activity becoming an increasingly important part of their real life, when it is not “colliding” directly with their off-line life (for instance people have been fired for posting on a blog).
Given the growing importance of this online identity, we would like in this special issue of JIDIS to investigate the identity aspects related to this social web.
In particular we would like to explore certain topics that have raised questions related to identity in the context of the social web such as:
In all the above topics, we are seeking analysis and theorisation of the new developments and not simply descriptions. As a multidisciplinary journal, Identity in the Information Society, also requires transparency, clarity and accessibility in each contribution, so that different disciplines can benefit from each other’s specialist concerns and methods.