Social Media Future Explored at ACM's Computer-Human Interaction Conference
VANCOUVER, BC -- (May 2) Leading researchers and practitioners of human-computer interaction will assess the role of social media on a broad spectrum of society at ACM’s Conference on Computer-Human Interaction, (CHI 2011) http://www.chi2011.org/ May 7- 12, at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Papers, panels, workshops, and plenary presentations will focus on topics that include activism in the age of social media and challenges to parents of teens using social media. The conference also features exhibits, a design competition and a job fair for attendees.
CHI 2011’s opening session features Howard Rheingold, an acknowledged authority on mobile communications, discussing the evolution and future of social media in teaching and learning. Rheingold, the author of Smart Mobs, innovator, and Stanford University lecturer, explains, "use of social media in higher education teaching sessions can provide opportunities for innovative and meaningful interactions that extend far beyond the traditional face-to-face classroom experience."
Also addressing the conference is Harvard University’s Ethan Zuckerman, exploring the idea that the spread of social media has put powerful publishing tools in the hands of people around the world; depending on how the tools are used, they can either broaden or narrow world views. “The democratization of publishing makes it possible to encounter news and perspectives from far beyond our national borders,” Zuckerman explains, “but social media also encourages us to pay attention to what friends find interesting and compelling, which often reinforces our existing prejudices and preconceptions.” Zuckerman is also a fellow at MIT's Center for Future Civic Media, and his work focuses on the distribution of attention in both mainstream and new media, the use of technology for international development, and the use of new media technologies by activists.
About CHI
The annual conference on Computer-Human Interaction (www.chi2011.org) is the premier worldwide forum for exchanging information on all aspects of how people interact with computers. Workshops and sessions explore the future of computer-human interaction with researchers, practitioners, educators and students. Presentations will address the concerns of design, engineering, management and user experience professionals. This year's conference additionally highlights research on child-computer interaction, entertainment, health and sustainability.
More than 2,500 professionals from over 40 countries are expected at CHI 2011, which is sponsored by ACM’ s Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction (SIGCHI). The conference marks 29 years of research, innovation and development of the Computer-Human Interaction community. Financial support for the conference is provided in part by Bloomberg; eBay; Google, Inc.; Microsoft Corp.; SAP and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
About SIGCHI
The ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (www.sigchi.org) is the world’ s largest association of professionals in the research and practice of computer-human interaction. SIGCHI serves as a forum for ideas on how people communicate and interact with computer systems. This interdisciplinary group of computer scientists, software engineers, psychologists, interaction designers, graphic designers, sociologists, and anthropologists is committed to designing useful, usable technology which has the potential to transform individual lives. SIGCHI has more than 60 local chapters for HCI professionals across five continents, publishes the SIGCHI Bulletin quarterly, and co-sponsors conferences and workshops to advance the field of computer-human interaction.
About ACM
ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery (www.acm.org), is the world’ s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession’ s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.