The International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety) is an annual gathering of leading social media researchers from around the world. Now, in its 8th year, the 2017 conference will be held in Toronto, Canada on July 28-30.

From its inception, the Conference has focused on the best practices for studying the impact and implications of social media on society. Our invited industry and academic keynotes have highlighted the shifting questions and concerns for the social media research community. From introducing media multiplexity and networked individualism with Caroline Haythornthwaite and Barry Wellman in 2010 and 2011, to measuring influence with Gilad Lotan and Sharad Goel in 2012 and 2013, to defining social media research as a field with Keith Hampton in 2014, to identifying our commitments as social media researchers in policy making with Bill Dutton in 2015, to exploring the future of social media technologies with John Weigelt in 2015, to highlighting the challenges of social media data mining in the context of big data with Susan Halford and Helen Kennedy in 2016.

Organized by the Social Media Lab at Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, the conference provides participants with opportunities to exchange ideas, present original research, learn about recent and ongoing studies, and network with peers. The conference’s intensive three-day program features workshops, full papers, work-in-progress papers, panels, and posters. The wide-ranging topics in social media showcase research from scholars working in many fields including Communication, Computer Science, Education, Journalism, Information Science, Management, Political Science, Sociology, Social Work, etc.