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International Journal on Media Management

Special Issue: Call for Papers

SOCIAL MEDIA, THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION, AND THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA

Today  social  media  applications such  as Twitter,  Instagram, or Foursquare, which   did  not  even   exist   a  decade  ago,   form  an  essential  part  of  the media   and  communications landscape.  Wikipedia,  created in  2001,  now has  approximately 30 million  articles  in 287 different  languages. Facebook, launched in 2004, connects more than 1.3 billion  members all over the world and  is thus bigger  in population size  than  Europe  and  North America  com- bined.  YouTube,  founded in 2005,  processes more  than  3 billion  searches per month, which  makes  it the second  biggest  search  engine behind  industry giant  Google,  who  happens to be its owner  as well.

All of this  makes   it reasonable to say  that  social  media  is  no  longer limited  to Generation Y or Z. They  affect  everyone, consumers as  well  as organizations, and  there  are few companies which  are not impacted by this digital  metamorphosis. Business executives, consultants, and decision takers alike, all try to understand and decrypt how  to make  best use of the various applications which  exist  in the marketplace. In politics,  the power  of social media  communications became obvious  when  Barack  Obama’s  campaigning led to his first election in 2008. Many states and public  administrations make use  of  Facebook, Twitter,  and  co.,  including the  European   Union  which aims to create  a feeling of European  identity  amongst  its citizens  via the help of social  media. Entire  sectors,  such  as  higher  education, might  be  close to disruption due  to the  arrival  of massive open  online  courses  (MOOCs) and  small  private  online  courses  (SPOCs)  and  generally the  increasing use of social  media  to facilitate  teaching, encourage learning, and  engage  stu- dents  in  universities across  the  globe. Within  the  entertainment industry, stars such  as Britney  Spears  built  their  communications strategy  completely around  social  media. And in many  firms,  the increasing availability of data from social  media  applications, such as corporate or user generated content, user profiles  and habits,  and intriguing information as geo-locations, has led to a variety  of opportunities and new  challenges.

The  aim  of  this  special issue   is  to  take  these  possibilities and  ana- lyze  the  impact  of  social  media   on  a  variety   of  media   business subjects within  a  broad  number   of  perspectives ranging from  finance, marketing, and  strategy  to innovation and  entrepreneurship, and  covering a multitude of sectors  related  to media  and  communications. The above  represent only some  ideas  and  directions of the  variety   of possible areas  to  closer  look at in the  scope  of this  special issue  dedicated to the  dynamic and  quickly moving  world  of social  media. All types  of research, disciplinary or interdis- ciplinary, conceptual or empirical (qualitative or quantitative), are welcome. Some  exemplary questions that this special issue  intends  to answer include but are not limited  to:

●   Social media landscape: state of the art and practice of social media within the media and communications industry

●   Acceptance, adoption, and diffusion: integration of social media into the creation, promotion and distribution of media products

●   Implications for marketing and media   marketplaces:  social   media   and brand equity of media products; integration of social media into the design of “traditional” products

●   Social media research methods: innovative ways of data collection (e.g. netnography in the social media  context), challenges in the  analysis and interpretation relevant to decision making processes in media  companies

●   Social media  and  media  consumers: influence of social  media  on  Word-of-Mouth  (WoM)  and  viral  marketing; cultural  differences within  a social media  strategy; fostering  user creativity and entrepreneurial spirit

●   Social media and public  interest:  changing notion  of public  interest  and public  media  governance

●   Return-on-Social media: tools of measurement and investment appraisal in social media

●   Legal and ethical considerations: privacy, safety, and security issues

●   Public policy: tools and public policy  instruments around  the world

Submission Instructions

If authors  have  any  questions regarding the suitability of their work  for this special issue,  whether topical  or methodological, they should  not  hesitate to contact  guest  editor  Andreas  Kaplan  at kaplan@escpeurope.eu, or journal  editor  Bozena  Mierzejewska jmm-journal@unisg.ch. Prospective authors should  prepare and submit their manuscript according to the guidelines published at: http://bit.ly/1v8PvX8.

Articles will be evaluated on their general merit, contribution to new knowledge, and  relevance to the topic  “Social media, the digital revolution, and  the business of media.”  Manuscripts that meet  the scope  of this special issue  will  be peer-reviewed by two to three reviewers. All submissions must conform to academic standards, be original, and not be published nor under review elsewhere. Submissions must be in English and  should  be no longer than  6,000  words.  Articles  must  be  submitted via  the electronic submission system  at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hijm.

Submission deadline: June 30, 2015