About the Web Science Conference

Web Science is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to understanding the complex and multiple impacts of the Web on society and vice versa. The discipline is well situated to address pressing issues of our time by incorporating various scientific approaches. We welcome quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research, including techniques from the social sciences and computer science. In addition, we are interested in work exploring Web-based data collection and research ethics. We also encourage studies that combine analyses of Web data and other types of data (e.g., from surveys or interviews) to help better understand user behavior online and offline.

2025 Emphasis: Maintaining a human-centric web in the era of Generative AI

Web-based experiences are more deeply integrated into human experiences than ever before in history. However, the rapid deployment of artificial intelligence (including large language models) has drastically shifted the interactions between humans in the digital environment. The Web has never been more productive, but the integrity of human connection has been compromised. Trust and community have been eroded during this current era of the Web and researching alternative aspects of life on the Web is as essential as ever. Bots, deepfakes, and sophisticated cyberattacks are proliferating rapidly while people increasingly navigate the Web for news, social interaction, and learning. This year’s conference especially encourages contributions investigating how humans are reconfiguring their Web-based engagements in the presence of artificial intelligence. Additionally, we welcome papers on a wide range of topics at the heart of Web Science.

Possible topics across methodological approaches and digital contexts include but are not limited to:

Understanding the Web

Trends in globalization and fragmentation of the Web
The architecture, philosophy, and evolution of the Web
Automation and AI in all its manifestations relevant to the Web
Critical analyses of the Web and Web technologies
The Spread of Large Models on the Web

Making the Web Inclusive

Issues of discrimination and fairness
Intersectionality and design justice in questions of marginalization and inequality
Ethical challenges of technologies, data, algorithms, platforms, and people on the Web
Safeguarding and governance of the Web, including anonymity, security, and trust
Inclusion, literacy and the digital divide
Human-centered security and robustness on the Web

The Web and Everyday Life

Social machines, crowd computing, and collective intelligence
Web economics, social entrepreneurship, and innovation
Legal and policy issues, including rights and accountability for the AI industry
The creator economy: Humanities, arts, and culture on the Web
Politics and social activism on the Web
Online education and remote learning
Health and well-being online
Social presence in online professional event spaces
The Web as a source of news and information

Doing Web Science

Data curation, Web archives and stewardship in Web Science
Temporal and spatial dimensions of the Web as a repository of information
Analysis and modeling of human and automatic behavior (e.g., bots)
Analysis of online social and information networks
Detecting, preventing, and predicting anomalies in Web data (e.g., fake content, spam)
Novel analysis techniques for Web and social network analysis
Recommendation engines and contextual adaptation for Web tasks
Web-based information retrieval and information generation
Supporting heterogeneity across modalities, sensors, and channels on the Web.
User modeling and personalization approaches on the Web.