From Passive Consumption to Critical Engagement: Rethinking Social Media in the Post-Truth Era

Mini Track Chair: Christiana Varda, UCLan Cyprus

We invite scholarly contributions that critically examine the evolving relationship between social media, information consumption, and societal trust. In an era often characterized by the diminishing role of gatekeepers, social media deregulation, and the proliferation AI-generated “slop”, concerns for online misinformation has heightened. The presence of online misinformation often serves a polarizing function, and can be amplified by social media algorithms in a bid to increase platform engagement. Understanding how individuals engage with digital content on social media, and how to best support critical engagement, is paramount. We seek proposals that explore the shift from passive reception of social media narratives to active, critical evaluation. One of the challenges of studying how people critically engage with online misinformation is concerned with the ecological validity of studies that take place in simulated contexts. Therefore methodological reflections on how to advance knowledge in this area are welcome. Additional topics include—but are not limited to—research on media literacy initiatives, the development of critical thinking skills in online environments, strategies for fostering responsible digital citizenship, and collective social media imaginaries (i.e., the shared beliefs and perceptions of what social media is and can be) for a critically engaged citizenry. We encourage interdisciplinary approaches from fields such as Communication Studies, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Education, and Computer Science. Contributions can be conceptual, empirical, methodological or can focus on practical interventions. The goal is to illuminate pathways toward a more informed and discerning public capable of navigating the complexities of the contemporary information landscape.  Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• The impact of AI-Generated Content on Critical Thinking and Trust
• Developing/Evaluating Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship Learning Interventions
• Cognitive Processes of Online Critical Evaluation on Social Media
• The Role of Gatekeepers and Regulation in Redefining Social Media’s Role
• Algorithmic Amplification and the Shaping of Social Media Imaginaries

Social Media Challenges for Human Security

Mini Track Chair: Professor Maria-Magdalena Popescu, Carol I National Defense University, Bucharest, Romania

Technological progress has caused an increase of unconventional weapons that have raised the threat level for individuals and society. This has been amplified by the uncertainty generated by managing words and images, through AI algorithms and through social engineering techniques. Also, the rapid growth of social media has allowed for the information to be disseminated and identified in a reckless manner. Deepfakes, centred on economic or political attacks, and fake news, acting on democracy and social systems, are the products that state and non-state actors use, aimed at weakening security in general and personal security in particular. Moreover, deep fake and fake news have become main instruments for hybrid warfare and are important topics for security culture. In terms of human security, social media generates a series of advantages, yet whatever is developed through the hostile use of these networks generates a series of threats for societies. On the other hand, the globalisation of information, the volatilization of typographic texts and the infinity of dialogic possibilities along with the inordinate opportunities to reinvent ourselves generates alternative means of expression that co-exist with traditional ones, to meet gratification for an identity shaped out of social and professional interaction. The message, seen as a dynamic interaction environment, acts upon the whole architecture of ties and constructs relationships differently. Polarisation, syndicalisation and radicalisation are identity dynamics phenomena in a fluid environment. Starting from these aspects, the present mini track provides a stage for a general understanding on the implications that social media challenges have on human security.

•  cognitive warfare and the battles of strategic narratives
• technological progress – a threat to individuals and society
• weaponization of social media in the information warfare 
• hybrid warfare actions and actors use in social media
• polarisation and radicalisation as identity dynamics in a fluid environment 
• politics and international relations use of social media