The World Wide Web has migrated from information space into opportunities for social communication. Social Media are growing rapidly and play an increasingly important role in the development of Online Communities. They are all about identity, reputation, presence and relationships. Web based communities announce themselves both in your professional and private life through several new media such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo, etc. In order to keep you up to date with the pace of these new technological developments this Conference offers a dedicated overview and informative discussion on today’s most relevant issues in new media for social life on the web.

Conference Theme: e-Government in Tourism, Cultural Heritage and Communities

Social Media are growing rapidly and play an increasingly important role in the development of Online Communities. Social Network Sites and Web-based communities announce themselves both in your professional and private life through new media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo, etc. Social media allow more dynamic roles in participation, virtual presence and online communities. These new ways to communicate via online social media have great societal effects and are motivating the creation of best practices to help individuals, corporations and authorities to make the best of it. It raises the awareness of the growing impact of social media and the influence of web based communities in today’s users / consumers behavior; many organizations spend an increasing share of their budget in online social marketing strategies.

The mission of this conference is to publish and integrate scientific results and act catalytically to the fast developing culture of web communities, while helping to disseminate and understand the latest developments social media and their impact.

Format of the Conference

The conference will comprise invited talks and oral presentations. The proceedings of the conference will be published in the form of a book with ISBN. The best papers will be candidate for the “International Journal of Web Based Communities” (IJWBC); ISSN: 1477 – 8394 [4 issues per year].

Topics of submission/Subject indications (but not limited to):

The History, Architecture and Future of Virtual Communities
– From Mobility to Connectivity
– Strategic Investment in Social Networks
– Identity and Augmented Ideologies
– Visionary Web Architectures, Implanted Computers
– Network Revolutions, Post-Colonial and Post-Modern Societies
– Escaping from Reality, Virtual Reality and Multi-User Games
– Towards Alternative Ways of Presence 	

Expanding Markets Through Virtual Communities
– The WWW as Digital Market Place
– The Enterprise as a Learning Community
– The Learning as a Road Map for Business
– Universities as Online Communities
– Business-to-Business Communication in Profit and non Profit Sectors

Cyborgs, Teleworking, Telemedicine, Art Games and Learning Communities
– Fading Hierarchies and Epistemic Dictatorship
– Distributed Cognition, the Electronic Cortex and Constructivism
– Community Directories
– Mechanic World, Organic Computer
– Agents and the Virtual Self
– Beyond Metaphors: Imagining and Representation
– Communizing as a Marketing Approach 	

Collaborative Technologies
– Theory Foundations
– Technical Infrastructures
– Environments, Tools and Applications
– Benefits realization and Social Implications
– Future Concepts

Virtual Communities for People with Special Needs
– Access to Public Spaces
– Accessibility and Long-Term Disabilities
– Virtual Communities in Health CareGroup Processes and Self-Organization
– Tele-Democracy, Morality, Netiquette
– Social Networks, Tribal and Open Communities, Peace Education
– Computer Mediated, Hyper and Narrative Communication, Woven Stories
– MUDs, MOOs and Avatars
– Hosting Web-Based Communities
– Nationalities, Ethnicities and Gender Effects 	

Social Media
– Monitoring Trends in Social Media
– After Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn?
– Effects of Web Experience on Consumer Choice
– Profiles of Social Networking Sites
– Adoption of Social Networking
– Connecting Small and Medium Enterprises
– Social Media for B2B Marketing
– Multicultural Organizations
– Social Networking at Work
– Social Media, Trust, Reputation and Public Opinion