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.