Social Media & Society conference in Glasgow, Scotland, July 2026, 1000-1500 word extended abstract
Social Media & Society conference in Glasgow, Scotland, July 2026, 1000-1500 word extended abstract
Scott GK MacLeod
The concept of the network society and regarding social media especially gained critical importance at the end of the twentieth century, becoming central to information society theory. For Manuel Castells, network logic is a defining feature of the information technology paradigm, alongside properties like information, pervasiveness, flexibility, and convergence.
Castells defines this shift: "As an historical trend, dominant functions and processes in the Information Age are increasingly organized around networks... Networks constitute the new social morphology of our societies". This logic fundamentally modifies operations in processes of production, experience, power, and culture. The network society is thus the definitive result of informationalism, a new technological paradigm.
The Global University must operate within and reflect this morphology. The World University and School (WUaS), by developing approximately 200 online, MIT OCW-centric, world-class wiki universities, embodies this networking logic at an extreme scale. Its mission—to offer these universities not only in all 200 countries' main languages but in virtually all 7,159 known living languages and beyond, potentially supported by initiatives like a #GrowWithGoogleWUaS program—demonstrates the university’s capacity to fully adopt the planetary, networked structure of the Information Age.
World University and School, and The Global University
The transition to the Information Society compels us to focus on the key institution driving and reflecting this change: The Global University. We must begin by addressing its foundational identity: What is the global university, broadly conceived, and how does it fulfill its role as an active leader in driving innovation, guiding social discourse, and promoting social equity?
To fully understand this modern form, we must investigate its origins. This requires tracing its history—how it developed, who were its chief creators, and what has been its process of diffusion into the economy and society? Ultimately, this chapter seeks to explain the most critical questions in this evolution: What has been its unique geography, and how and why did The Global University take its current shape?
A global university, broadly conceived, is a higher education institution that operates on an international scale, transcending national borders in its mission, operations, and impact. Unlike traditional universities that are primarily rooted in a single geographic location, a global university's value is derived from its ability to serve a worldwide community and address global challenges. This concept can manifest in several ways:
Global Presence: The university has a physical presence with campuses or research centers in multiple countries, like a global network university.
Transnational Market: It operates within a globalized marketplace for students, faculty, and knowledge, drawing talent and research from around the world.
Relational Focus: It prioritizes authentic relationships and collaborations with other institutions and stakeholders globally to create unique and compelling value.
Global Mission: The curriculum and research focus on solving complex global issues, such as climate change, sustainability, and public health, preparing students to be global citizens.
World University and School
World University and School (WUaS) fits this concept by embracing a decentralized and free-to-students’ model, aiming to provide accredited online degrees to people in all countries. Its mission is to offer free education and training through a global, digital, and open platform. Instead of physical campuses, it leverages open-source educational resources, such as those from MIT's OpenCourseWare and Wikipedia, to create an accessible learning environment for underserved communities worldwide.
World University and School as a Global University
The MIT OCW-centric wiki World University and School (WUaS) emerged in the context of the Information Society, tracing its origin to a "Society and Information Technology" course I, Scott GK MacLeod, taught online around 2007. This course was conducted on Harvard University's Berkman Island within the 3D, group-buildable, virtual world of Second Life (with initial references at: http://socinfotech.pbworks.com/w/page/17175578/FrontPage).
WUaS was founded upon two key open resources: the roughly seven languages of CC-BY-NC-SA licensed MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) at the time (around 2007), and the collaboratively built, open-licensed Wikipedia (which now has about 342 active language communities). Crucially, the school also emerged from a Quaker leading or calling or inspiration—an unprogrammed, NtF Friendly motivation to engage these open resources for global education. The vision for WUaS was shared early on, notably in a talk I gave in the spring of 2007 to Quaker friends at the main Carnegie Library in Oakland, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
What is MIT OCW-centric Wiki World University and School (WUaS)?
The World University and School (WUaS) is a global, virtual, and digital educational entity conceived as an open, free, and potentially credit- and degree-granting assemblage of approximately 200 online, major WUaS universities, building on Creative Commons-licensed MIT OCW in ~7 languages now and seeks to offer online free WUaS degrees. It also functions as a wiki-based platform where anyone can wiki-teach, wiki-learn, add to, or edit content.
Conceptually, WUaS is built upon the open-licensing models of Wikipedia (in its current ~342 languages) and CC-BY-NC-SA licensed MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW), and other resources like Open Yale Courses (OYC). Its ambitious plan is to offer these wiki-schools for open, people-to-people teaching and learning in all 7,159 living languages.
Mission and Degrees
WUaS seeks to offer free-to-students online degrees—including Bachelor's, PhD, Law, MD, IB high school, AA/AS, and Master's degrees—in each of the 200 countries and in their main languages. This mission involves utilizing both traditional human faculty and innovating with Machine Learning (ML) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically focusing on leveraging MIT OCW content through Large Language Models (#ToolifyAIWUaS).
Licensing and Funding
Due to the Creative Commons 4 (CC BY-NC-SA) licensing of MIT OCW, WUaS adheres to three main constraints:
1. Freely Share: WUaS can share MIT OCW content.
2. Adapt: WUaS can adapt MIT OCW (e.g., integrating it with AI).
3. Non-Commercial: WUaS cannot charge tuition to students.
Consequently, WUaS will seek reimbursement for its educational services from the departments of education in all 200 target countries to maintain its free-to-student model.
Note on MIT Affiliation: MIT is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, World University and School, nor does it offer credit to WUaS students. All MIT OpenCourseWare materials remain freely available through their official channels.
How MIT OCW-centric Wiki World University and School Revolutionizes Education with AI
The MIT OCW-centric wiki World University and School (WUaS) plans to revolutionize global education across all major degree levels—from Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD, to professional degrees like Law and MD, and even secondary levels (IB high school or similar, AA/AS).
This revolution is centered on the innovative integration of Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), enabling students in all ~ 200 countries to study for these degrees online from home. This technological focus is underscored by the #ToolifyAIWUaS initiative, which leverages generative AI specifically for MIT OpenCourseWare content.
And regarding AI and learning -
Google DeepMind, emphasizes that AI’s impact on education must focus on "AI happening with us" rather than "to us," advocating for a transition toward a societal partnership
COO of Google DeepMind, emphasizes that AI’s impact on education must focus on "AI happening with us" rather than "to us," advocating for a transition toward a societal partnership between technologists and educators. In January 2026, she highlighted that the most significant breakthroughs are now societal rather than purely technical.
Key insights from Ibrahim include:
Hyper-Personalization: AI allows for customized learning paths. This benefits students with learning disabilities and those from underserved communities.
Teacher Empowerment: AI tools can streamline administrative tasks and lesson planning. This gives teachers more time for mentorship and building human connections.
Responsible Innovation: Teaching responsible AI use must start immediately to reduce risks. These risks include "cognitive offloading" and the loss of critical thinking skills.
Equitable Access: A "Blueprint for Equitable AI" is needed. This will ensure technology does not increase educational gaps between the Global North and South.
Human-Centric Approach: Scaling learning experiences must not come at the cost of personal relationships. Empathy and encouragement remain essential.
Ibrahim collaborated on a white paper titled AI and the Future of Learning. The paper outlines Google’s approach to improving global learning outcomes through AI as a "learning partner".
https://share.google/aimode/m33zgNe6QSlkOuqjp
And WUaS, in a Grow-With-Google-WUaS program also seeks to develop from the following, for example -
We're partnering with @KhanAcademy to bring a suite of Gemini-powered learning and literacy tools to students, starting with the Writing Coach tool.
Writing Coach doesn’t generate answers or deliver a finished product — it walks students through the process of outlining, drafting and refining their own ideas. #BettUK2026
https://x.com/i/status/2014082428957045007
And see
Google’s approach to AI and learning https://share.google/SePhErKOcS7GsVhh1
https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/education/ai-and-learning/
And regarding WUaS developing a Realistic Virtual Earth for Science & STEM field sites, and Social Sciences & classrooms and a #Realistic Virtual Harbin Hot Springs for ethnographic book project #2:
Creating a Realistic Virtual Earth (RVE) for scientific inquiry—spanning from the planetary scale down to the subatomic (GAtom and GQubit levels)—is a concept moving from science fiction toward active supercomputing projects. By 2025, several "Digital Twins" of Earth have already begun to integrate these scales.
World University and School (WUaS) is advancing its Realistic Virtual Earth (RVE) by integrating the complete MIT OpenCourseWare curriculum into a multidimensional, wiki-based simulation that maps knowledge to specific geographic and temporal coordinates. The next steps involve utilizing AI like Gemini and the Fugaku supercomputer to scale from GCell biological models to global social science simulations, effectively creating a "Digital Twin" for tourism, scientific inquiry, and memory restoration. By layering historical data via a GTimeSlider and electronic health records onto Google Street View, WUaS aims to build an interoperable "Everything" platform where users can virtually study at Reed College in the 1970s or explore the genetics of longevity in a single, immersive interface.
society information technology and the global university manuscript 2026
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YJg2icBhxEj7eSiSoiN2mgusX4PK1cQfZRFPRdw5znI/edit?usp=sharing
Papers (extended abstracts) 1000-1500 words Due Date - January 26, 2026, Notification of Results - March 2
https://socialmediaandsociety.org/2025/call-for-submissions-smsociety-july-13-15-2026-in-glasgow-uk/
https://socialmediaandsociety.org/
We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the 2026 International Conference on Social Media & Society (#SMSociety)! #SMSociety will return as an in-person event at the University of Glasgow, Glasgow UK from July 13th to 15th. The 2026 conference is co-organized by the Digital Cultures and Economies Research Hub at the University of the Arts London (UAL), the University of East Anglia (UEA), and the hosts at the Division of Urban Studies and Social Policy at Glasgow University.
The conference’s three-day program will feature panels and paper presentations, workshops, tutorials, networking events, and a poster session.
In keeping with the conference’s inter- and transdisciplinary focus, we welcome both quantitative and qualitative scholarly and original submissions that crosses disciplinary boundaries and expands our understanding of current and future trends in social media research across many fields including (but not limited to): Communication, Computer Science, Critical Data Studies, Education, Journalism, Information Science, Law, Management, Political Science, Psychology, Public Policy, Public Administration, Science and Technology, Sociology, Urban Studies, among others.
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
#SMSociety is a biennial gathering of leading social media researchers from around the world. It is the premier venue for sharing and discovering new peer-reviewed interdisciplinary research on how social media affects society. #SMSociety provides participants with opportunities to exchange ideas, present original research, learn about recent and ongoing studies, and network with peers.
TOPICS OF INTEREST (the list is not exhaustive)
Affordances
AI and LLMs
Algorithms
Computational, digital and data methods
Creators and Influencers
Cyberbullying, Trolling and Antisocial Behavior
Digital Education
Digital Intimacies
Discourse and Public Opinion
Health and Wellbeing
Infrastructures, platformisation and datafication
Marketing and Promotional Social Media
Misinformation and Disinformation
Online and Offline Communities
Platform Cultures
Platform Governance and Regulation
Emerging and Established Social Technologies, Apps and Platforms
Politics, Policy, and Regulation
Privacy, Security and Trust
Social Media Cultures and Everyday Life
Use and Users
Vibes, memes and trends
*
A further part of the CMT paper submission process -
2. Introduction/Background *
Scott GK MacLeod is an American anthropologist, sociologist, social scientist, and the President, CEO, Founder, and a Professor at World University and School, developing in ~200 countries and 7159 known living languages, for free WUaS degrees online from home, and wiki schools for people-to-people wiki-teaching and wiki-learning in all living languages, and in a realistic virtual earth; He has taught "Society and Information Technology" for many years on Harvard's virtual island in the 3D group buildable world of Second Life (not on Harvard's faculty). He is the author of 5 books, and he will address questions of "Society, Information Technology & the Global University: Free World University and School growing from MIT OCW in 7 languages & Wikidata in ~342 languages with AI & ML" in this '2026 International Conference on Social Media & Society' and his upcoming book "Society, Information Technology and the Global University" (Academic Press at World University and School, 2026 forthcoming).
3. Objectives/Research Questions *
To fully understand the global university as a modern form, we must investigate its origins. This requires tracing its history—how it developed, who were its chief creators, and what has been its process of diffusion into the economy and society? Ultimately, this chapter seeks to explain the most critical questions in this evolution: What has been its unique geography, and how and why did The Global University take its current shape?
4. Methods *
Analyze and explain the following:
how the concept of the network society and regarding social media especially gained critical importance at the end of the twentieth century, becoming central to information society theory. For Manuel Castells, network logic is a defining feature of the information technology paradigm, alongside properties like information, pervasiveness, flexibility, and convergence.
This logic fundamentally modifies operations in processes of production, experience, power, and culture. The network society is thus the definitive result of informationalism, a new technological paradigm.
The Global University must operate within and reflect this morphology. The World University and School (WUaS), by developing approximately 200 online, MIT OCW-centric, world-class wiki universities, embodies this networking logic at an extreme scale. Its mission—to offer these universities not only in all 200 countries' main languages but in virtually all 7,159 known living languages and beyond, potentially supported by initiatives like a #GrowWithGoogleWUaS program—demonstrates the university’s capacity to fully adopt the planetary, networked structure of the Information Age.
5. Results *
A global university, broadly conceived, is a higher education institution that operates on an international scale, transcending national borders in its mission, operations, and impact. Unlike traditional universities that are primarily rooted in a single geographic location, a global university's value is derived from its ability to serve a worldwide community and address global challenges. This concept can manifest in several ways:
Global Presence: The university has a physical presence with campuses or research centers in multiple countries, like a global network university.
Transnational Market: It operates within a globalized marketplace for students, faculty, and knowledge, drawing talent and research from around the world.
Relational Focus: It prioritizes authentic relationships and collaborations with other institutions and stakeholders globally to create unique and compelling value.
Global Mission: The curriculum and research focus on solving complex global issues, such as AI & machine learning in all ~200 countries and laws for this, climate change, sustainability, and public health, preparing students to be global citizens.
World University and School (WUaS) fits this concept by embracing a decentralized and free-to-students’ model, aiming to provide accredited online degrees to people in all countries.
Regarding AI and learning, WUaS, in a grow with Google WUaS program, will initially focus on Google DeepMind, which emphasizes that AI’s impact on education must focus on "AI happening with us" rather than "to us," advocating for a transition toward a societal partnership between technologists and educators. In January 2026, its COO highlighted that the most significant breakthroughs are now societal rather than purely technical, and regarding:
Hyper-Personalization: AI allows for customized learning paths. This benefits students with learning disabilities and those from underserved communities.
Teacher Empowerment: AI tools can streamline administrative tasks and lesson planning. This gives teachers more time for mentorship and building human connections.
Responsible Innovation: Teaching responsible AI use must start immediately to reduce risks. These risks include "cognitive offloading" and the loss of critical thinking skills.
Equitable Access: A "Blueprint for Equitable AI" is needed. This will ensure technology does not increase educational gaps between the Global North and South.
Human-Centric Approach: Scaling learning experiences must not come at the cost of personal relationships. Empathy and encouragement remain essential.
Creating a Realistic Virtual Earth (RVE) for scientific inquiry—spanning from the planetary scale down to the subatomic (GAtom and GQubit levels)—is a concept moving toward active supercomputing projects; And a #Realistic Virtual Harbin Hot Springs for ethnographic book project #2: http://www.scottmacleod.com/
See too: https://
6. Future Work *
This paper is part of an upcoming book: "Society, Information Technology and the Global University", (Academic Press at World University and School, 2026, forthcoming).
7. References *
If you cite any references in the abstract, please list them here using the APA (American Psychological Association) style. See more information about the APA style at https://apastyle.apa.org/
Gomes, B., Ibrahim, L. (2025, November 06).
AI and learning: A new chapter for students and educators. Google Blog: https://blog.google/products-
Google. (2026, January 21). We're partnering with @KhanAcademy to bring a suite of Gemini-powered learning and literacy tools to students, starting with the Writing Coach tool. X. https://x.com/Google/status/
8. Program Committee Delegation *
For a submission to be considered, one Author from each submission is required to serve on the Program Committee by reviewing (double-blind) three other conference submissions. Please type the name of the Author who will be acting as a Reviewer.
Scott Gordon Kenneth MacLeod
*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Lomond_and_The_Trossachs_National_Park
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Loch_Lomond_and_The_Trossachs_National_Park
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Loch_Lomond_and_The_Trossachs_National_Park#Q116661
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