Call: DEVIANCE 2021 Workshop on Deviant Activities on Social Media

DEVIANCE 2021, Workshop on Deviant Activities on Social Media 

In conjunction with the 2021 IEEE Conference on BigData (IEEE BigData 2021) 

Event Schedule: December 15-18, 2021 @ Florida, USA (due to COVID-19 the workshop will be held virtually). 

Workshop page: http://cosmos.ualr.edu/workshops/deviance/2021/  

Submission page: https://wi-lab.com/cyberchair/2021/bigdata21/scripts/submit.php?subarea=S06&undisplay_detail=1&wh=/cyberchair/2021/bigdata21/scripts/ws_submit.php  

Papers Formatting Instructions: https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates.html  

DEVIANCE 2021: 

With the proliferation of smart devices, mobile applications, and social network platforms, the social side effects of these technologies have become more profound, especially in social and political disintegration. Several journalistic and academic investigations have reported that modern communication platforms such as social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, and the “deep web” channels) are strategically used to coordinate various deviant activities such as cyber propaganda campaigns. Several researchers have studied these deviant activities and identified various tactics, techniques, and procedures used by various online deviant groups, e.g., online propagandist groups, terrorist groups sympathizers, black-hat hacker groups, and internet trolls. Various social media platforms utilized the research findings to detect and curb some of these deviant activities. However, the techniques that are used by the aforementioned deviant groups evolve and adapt to go on undetected. This is a growing problem on social media that needs to be explored and solved. 

In this workshop, our aim is to have a scientific discussion among the experts who study deviant activities on social media, including but not limited to, detection of deviant/disruptive behaviors on social media; misinformation detection, identification, and dissemination; case studies of misinformation; etc. This includes, but is not limited to, the following topics: 

* Misinformation detection 

* Misinformation dissemination tactics such as misdirection, hashtag-latching, smoke screening 

* Multiple platform orchestration (cross-platform dissemination strategies) 

* Algorithmic manipulation such as exploiting recommendation algorithm bias manipulation 

* Deviant behaviors on social media platforms such as cyberbullying, organized hacking 

* Spamming, spear-phishing through social media channels 

* Coordination strategies and detection 

* Mobs such as cyber flash mobs, smart mobs, deviant cyber flash mobs, automated deviant mobs 

* Coordinated inauthentic behaviors 

* Machine-driven communications (bots, botnets, social bots, etc.) 

* Troll detection and strategies 

* Hate speech (toxic, polarizing, or disruptive content) 

* Narratives analysis during misinformation online campaigns 

* Stance detection and intent classification 

* Policy implications 

**In the light of recent elections worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic, and covid-related deviant behaviors such as anti-lockdown campaigns, vaccine hesitancy, etc., we also solicit papers focused on disinformation and misinformation being disseminated related to these events.** 

Important Dates: 

Submission Deadline: September 10, 2021 

Notification to Authors: October 29, 2021 

Camera Ready Due: November 12, 2021 

Venue Information: 

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, it is decided that the IEEE BigData conference and the DEVIANCE 2021 Workshop will be held virtually. Further information will be provided closer to the workshop. 

Submission Info: 

Full paper manuscripts must be in English with a maximum length of 10 pages (using the IEEE two-column template). Submissions should be in PDF and include the title, author(s), affiliation(s), e-mail address(es), and abstract on the first page. Workshop papers can be submitted through the submission portal. 

Papers should be formatted to IEEE Computer Society Proceedings Manuscript Formatting Guidelines (see the URL to "formatting instructions" above). 

All papers accepted for the workshop will be included in the Conference Proceedings published by the IEEE Computer Society Press. 

Special Issue: 

Selected presentations will be invited to submit extended studies to Springer’s Social Network Analysis and Mining (SNAM) special issue on Deviant Behaviors on Social Media. 

Workshop Chairs: 

Esther Ledelle Mead 

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, COSMOS Center, UA Little Rock 

elmead@ualr.edu 

Muhammad Nihal Hussain 

Lead Data Scientist, Equifax Inc. 

mnhussain@ualr.edu 

Kiran Kumar Bandeli 

Data Scientist, Walmart Inc. 

KiranKumar.Bandeli@walmart.com 

Samer Al-khateeb 

Assistant Professor, Creighton University 

SamerAl-Khateeb1@creighton.edu 

Nitin Agarwal 

Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Chair & Distinguished Professor 

Director, COSMOS Center, UA Little Rock 

nxagarwal@ualr.edu 

Web Chair: 

Thomas Marcoux 

Computer & Information Science PhD candidate - COSMOS Center, UA Little Rock