The ETHICOMP conference series was launched in 1995 by the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility (CCSR). The purpose of this series is to provide an inclusive forum for discussing the ethical and social issues associated with the development and application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Conferences are held about every 18 months. There have been eleven previous conferences in Europe and beyond. Delegates and speakers from all continents have attended. Around 800 papers have been presented. Professor Terry Bynum and Professor Simon Rogerson are the founders and joint directors of the conference series, which this year comes to Sheffield Hallam University, in the north of England.

ETHICOMP 2011 has the overall theme of “The social impact of social computing”.

Wang et al (2007 p79) explain, "With the advance of Internet and Web technologies, the increasing accessibility of computing resources and mobile devices, the prevalence of rich media contents, and the ensuing social, economic, and cultural changes, computing technology and applications have evolved quickly over the past decade. They now go beyond personal computing, facilitating collaboration and social interactions in general. As such, social computing, a new paradigm of computing and technology development, has become a central theme across a number of information and communication technology (ICT) fields. It has become a hot topic attracting broad interest from not only researchers but also technologists, software and online game vendors, Web entrepreneurs, business strategists, political analysts, and digital government practitioners, to name a few."

There can be many positive effects of social computing, and the use of so-called ‘social media’. For example, it can be used beyond socialising to seek advice and professional development as well as offering new business uses. It creates a collective intelligence across society through interactive collaboration across fast communication networks. Citizens may be empowered by access to low-entry publishing, such as blogs, and the chance to talk across networks that link all walks of society. There is potential for a rise in eDemocracy through new voting mechanisms. It may help in establishing positive relationships, such as those between traders and consumers. It provides an opportunity to interact across cultures and countries, sharing perspectives and levelling playing fields.

However, there is considerable hype about the potential of networked media to lead change and some potentially harmful effects resulting from uses of social computing. For example, there are potential losses in privacy. There is increasing profiling of consumers and job applicants from information to be found on social media networks. Social computing, particularly when it is unregulated, provides platforms that have been used for harming children. Social interaction can become stilted through the use of media that are incapable of supporting all aspects of human communication in a flexible and adaptive manner.

The overall theme of ETHICOMP 2011 is the huge range of impacts on us all of advances in social computing. Under this theme, papers, with a social/ethical perspective, within the following areas are particularly welcomed.

APPLICATIONS

Online communities - Blogs, wikis, social networks, collaborative bookmarking, social tagging, podcasts, tweeting, augmented reality
Business and public sector - Recommendation, forecasting, reputation, feedback, decision analysis, e-government, e-commerce
Interactive entertainment - Edutainment, training, gaming, storytelling
TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Web technology
Database technology
Multimedia technology
Wireless technology
Agent technology
Software engineering
THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS

Social psychology
Communication and human-computer interaction theories
Social network analysis
Anthropology
Organisation theory
Sociology
Computing theory
Ethical theory
Information and computer ethics
Governance

Papers covering one or several of these perspectives are called for from business, government, computer science, information systems, law, media, anthropology, psychology, sociology and philosophy. Interdisciplinary papers and those from new researchers and practitioners are encouraged. A paper might take a conceptual, applied, practical or historical focus. Case studies and reports on lessons learned in practice are welcomed.