In recent years, social media has continued to grow in popularity and has become a powerful platform for people to unite together under common interests. The explosive use of social media has turned it into a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the information revolution has proven to have a positive impact in society. Social platforms introduce a canvas for self-expression where users can create, manipulate and share content. Positive impacts of these platforms in society include their use in bringing information out of conflicted nations to the World (e.g. Iranian elections 2009 and Egyptian revolution 2011). They have also proven to be an effective way of propagating information, proving to spread the word before mainstream media prints a story. This has been particularly useful for word spreading-based mobilisation in emergency response and crisis situations.

On the other hand, social media platforms have appeared to be also the catalyst in fuelling violent events (e.g. during the UK riots in 2011). The proliferation of insults and personal attacks online along with the appearance of socially disruptive patterns in online social behaviour has become more and more common. Young people are becoming increasingly narcissistic, and obsessed with self-image and shallow friendships partly due to the use of Facebook and other social media platforms. Social media addiction also leads to low self-esteem and even anti-social behaviours.

The aim of this workshop is to bring together researchers from various backgrounds including those from computer science, social science, and psychology, to discuss the current and emergent topics, and cutting-edge approaches to address issues relating to both positive and negative sides of social media.