Trends in Media and Communication Conference 2023 (TiMC 2023)

Theme: The African Youth and Communicative Behaviours in Digital Spaces

Conference Dates: November 1 – 3, 2023

Recent media and communication scholarship converges on the idea that media consumers, particularly young people, are moving away from the traditional media to digital media (Kemp, 2021; PwC Global, 2019). Digital media and platforms have assumed prominence in all spheres of life as people turn to them for news, entertainment, advertising, politics, education. Besides these consumption patterns, digital media have also become a primary avenue for networking, self-expression, self-presentation, the pursuit of economic and other opportunities, as well as civic engagement and action. As a result, the literature on digital media reveals exponential increase in the rate at which people interact in digital spaces (Kemp, 2021). Recent reports show that about 40% of Africa’s population is frequently online (Kamer, 2022) engaged in behaviours and activities that are, in one breadth, unique but in another also share commonalities with the rest of the world. For instance, on TikTok, we know that patterns around content creation and consumption differ in some ways from those of other continents (Statista, 2023). In Ghana, for instance, consumption favours entertaining content as opposed to tutorial videos where consumers tend to go for music videos and comedy, meme or viral videos (Kemp, 2023).  As contemporary life, particularly for young people, gravitate away from traditional spheres of interaction and towards digital spaces, new questions call for scholarly contemplation. For instance, how are African youth using the communicative liberation that digital spaces provide to create economic opportunities to counter their high unemployment? How do African youth leverage but also counter legal and regulatory regimes in pursuit of their communicative endeavours online? What patterns are evolving around creation, consumption and moderation of extremist content in African digital spaces?  

These questions necessitate scholarly attention and reflections for practice. The 2023 edition of the Trends in Media and Communication Conference (TiMC) will provide a forum to scholars, practitioners and students in Media and Communication to share ideas and evidence on the theme, the African Youth and Communicative Behaviours in Digital Spaces. The Conference invites abstracts of research on topics related but not limited to:

1. Consumption behaviours and practices in digital spaces
2. Online communities
3. Online media entrepreneurship
4. Social media influencing
5. Education via digital platforms
6. Regulations and engagement on digital platforms
7. Opportunistic behavior in digital spaces
8. Cyber bullying
9. Gender and digital spaces
10. Identity construction in the digital space
11. Knowledge on cyber policy amongst digital users
12. Virtual civic engagement and activism

Abstract submission deadline: July 31, 2023

Acceptance notification: August 15, 2023

Registration: September 15 – October 21, 2023

Conference dates: November 1 – 3, 2023

Conference fees:

GHS 200 (local participants)  

$30 (International participants)

Student participants:

GHS100 (local participants)  

$20 (International participants)

Submit a 250-word abstract here

For detail/clarifications, you may contact: tawfad@gmail.com