WELCOME TO THE SOCIAL MEDIA, COMMUNITIES & NETWORKS 2026 CONFERENCE WEBSITE
Welcome to the Social Media, Communities & Networks 2026 Conference Website hosted and organised by students in the Digital and Social Media degree program through Curtin University (Bentley and Malaysia) and Open Universities Australia.
We respectfully acknowledge the Elders and custodians of the Whadjuk Nyungar nation, past and present, their descendants and kin. The Curtin University Bentley Campus enjoys the privilege of being located on the site where the Derbal Yerrigan (Swan River) and the Djarlgarra (Canning River) meet. The area is of great cultural significance and sustains the life and well being of the traditional custodians past and present. We are proud to honour the Nyungar people and value this place of shared learning. We recognise the impacts of colonisation on Indigenous Australians and are committed to moving forward together in a spirit of mutual honour and respect.
SMCN XVII (11 May – 22 May 2026) has been filled with insightful discussions and constructive debates surrounding the conference papers, creating a vibrant and enriching online academic community. Congratulations to all conference promoters, organisers, presenters, and attendees. Thank you for making this conference a resounding success. Your dedication, thought-provoking insights, and collaborative spirit have truly made a difference in fostering knowledge exchange and advancing academic discourse.
The conference has now come to a close and no longer accepting comments.
However, the conference papers are still available for those who are interested in reading and exploring the research and ideas presented. Feel free to revisit the papers and continue your intellectual journey beyond the conference.
THIS YEAR THERE ARE FIVE CONFERENCE TOPICS
Our conference interrogates the question “How do People Form Connections and Communities Through social media?” by looking at five separate topics.
FAN CULTURE
Fandom has been a contested field where people form communities, develop subcultures and collective actions, and engage in conflicts. Papers in this topic address various issues around online fandom, discussing possibilities and limitations facilitated by online connectivity.
QUEER
Many LGBTQ+ people turn to online spaces to find community, exchange information, and build forms of intimacy and support. Papers in this topic discuss how online communities and networks can continue to serve as a safe place for queer people, challenging social stereotypes.
YOUTH
Social media and online communities have become a new playground for young people, but their voices are often dismissed in public debates. Papers in this topic pay attention to such hidden voices, practices, and agency of young people by looking at their cultures of social media, communities, and networks.
DISABILITY
Online spaces offer various ways to engage with society beyond physical limitations, particularly useful for people with disabilities. Papers in this topic look at how social media enable them to talk about their disability, raise social awareness, and forge connections.
TRANSNATIONALITY
Social media connects people across the globe. Papers in this topic explore such transnational and global connectivity cultivated by social media, communities and networks, and how people develop digital diaspora.
We hope that by exploring the topics, you will gain a deeper understanding of the way digital and social media can be used to create forms of social life involving human interaction and engagement.
How The Conference Will Run
SMCN XVII takes place online and offline from 9 am Monday, 11 May 2026 to 5 pm Friday, 22 May 2026 AWST.
Please share your recorded presentation here (by 24 April) and post your 3 peer-critique questions to your assigned peer’s post (by 1 May). And of course, you’re welcome to post your thoughts to others’ works beyond your assigned peers. SMCN XVII will be fully accessible to the public.
We invite all conference attendees to watch the presentations posted. Then, post a comment or question in the Comment form beneath each recorded presentation video to make conversations with the presenters and other conference participants. We hope this will allow all conference participants to participate in an online community and engage in forms of social networking with other people online who are interested in this subject and/or topic.
Commenting Guidelines
To ensure a productive and respectful dialogue in the comments section of each paper, please adhere to the following guidelines:
- Respectful communication: We encourage all comments to be respectful and constructive, even if you disagree with the author’s perspective or argument. Please refrain from using any derogatory language or launching personal attacks.
- Relevant contributions: We encourage readers to provide relevant and insightful comments that contribute to the discussion and understanding of the paper’s topic. Please avoid irrelevant or off-topic comments.
- Citation of sources: If you make any claims or references to external sources in your comments, it’s useful to provide citations or links to support your argument.
- Confidentiality: Please do not share personal information about the author or any other individual in the comments section.
Our SMCN XVII presenters will respond to your comments in a timely manner to foster a productive and interactive discussion.
Question 1: When I think back on my presentation, I see that one of its shortcomings was that I neglected…