Conference Theme: Let’s Get Creative!
In 2015, the Netnography: Redefined book merged the idea of arts-based research with qualitative data analysis and representation in netnography. Recommending new techniques such as imagining, visual abstraction, and “artifying,” the book recommended a variety of creative techniques for both understanding and representing netnographic research.
Ten years later, netnographers from around the world will meet in Marseille to explore, share, and discuss the creative expressions that allow them to blend their science with art. At this Netnocon, we encourage presenters to study creativity and creative industries topics, analyze creatively, and imaginatively present and alternatively represent their research by combining a variety of forms and formats of research. These forms include poetry, videography, visual arts, music, storytelling, mythology, mask, plays, and limitless other cultural forms.
Conference presenters will be required to submit with their abstract or paper a visual illustration that depicts some element of the research. The illustration can be hand-crafted, AI-generated, or some combination of the two—your choice. There will also be an optional place to submit creative work of any kind, or to describe your intention (for example, “I plan to present a 5-minute videography along with my paper”). Don’t worry if you think it’s not good enough for anyone else to see! The goal is to experiment, stretch, have fun, share, and just…. Get Creative! The conference itself will be set up to accommodate videos, art displays, poetry readings, musical performances, and anything else you can think of to express your research. Just make sure you comply with the allocated presentation time!
Marseille
Our host city, Marseille, a cosmopolitan city and window on Mediterranean civilization, exudes creative energy that has been sizzling for centuries. Artistic legacy is evident in the prestigious modern art history of the Provence and French Riviera Region. Today, the city produces cultural content in various creative industries, such as street and urban art, rap music, music festivals, fashion, entertainment, sport, and tourism. A growing creative economy, fueled by new companies and innovation hubs in digital arts, design, and media, adds to its magnetism. The city offers major hybrid cultural thirdplaces such as La Friche de la Belle de Mai, the very first one launched in France in the 80’s. The city’s designation as the 2013 European Capital of Culture reinforced its creative spirit further, attracting artists from far and wide.
Incorporating all of these elements, Netnocon’s 2025 theme “Let’s Get Creative” will emphasize not only the 10th anniversary of Netnography: Redefined, but also Marseille’s rich counterculture full of creative vibes, making it an ideal location to explore themes at the intersection of arts, popular culture, creative industries, and technology.
Netnography, as a research methodology, provides a rich toolkit for exploring various creative research, individual and collective creativity, and creative industries related themes in online and digital contexts. Topics of interest to the conference must include netnography, and can include, but are not limited to, the following:
Creativity, creative research, individual and collective creativity, and creative industries focused themes:
- Individual and collective creativity in social media
- Creativity in individual and collective virtual reality and immersive experiences
- Radical and incremental creativity
- Creativity and innovation
- Creativity and leadership
- Creativity and learning
- Creativity, mindfulness and well-being
- Creativity, play, and leisure
- Imagination and imaginaries
- Technoculture, art, and aesthetics
- Creative uses of generative AI (visual and otherwise)
- Digital art communities
- Fan cultures and fan labor
- Maker culture and DIY communities
- Crowdsourced creativity
- Memes and internet culture
- Digital music production and sharing
- Influencer culture and content creation
- Online gaming and modding communities
- Performative research
- Collaborative writing and storytelling
- Crafting and handmade goods
- Digital design and open source projects
- Interactive and multimedia art
- Ethical and sustainable creativity
- Creative experiences in tourism and other creative industries
General netnography themes
- AI and netnography
- Data privacy, and cultural digital methods
- Auto-netnography
- Combining in-person ethnography and netnography
- Comparisons of technocultural methodologies (e.g., netnography and online, virtual, and digital ethnography)
- Critical approaches to technocultural methodologies
- Humanist, transformative, post-humanist, animist, and more-than-human approaches to netnography
- Immersive netnography
- Influencer netnography
- International/transnational netnography
- Intersectional netnography
- Gender, race, and technocultural methodologies
- Lead user analysis netnography
- Longitudinal netnography (long time spans)
- Metaverse and netnography
- Multimodal data and its analysis in netnography
- Consumer collectives, subcultural groups, and trends studied through netnography (e.g., vegans, breatharians, cruelty-free movements, animist groups, no-wash communities, plastic-free movements, cottagecore, etc.)
- Netnography and generative AI (e.g., Chat GPT, Dall-e, Midjourney, etc.)
- Philosophical and epistemological bases of technocultural methodologies
- Reflexivity, positionality, and netnography
- Research ethics in netnography
- Using netnography to detect corruption
- Team netnography
Submission format
Authors are invited to submit either an abstract of up to 500 words (single-spaced, Times New Roman font 12, including a maximum of 5 keywords, references, and up to one figure or table) or a paper of up to 10 pages (single-spaced, Times New Roman font 12, inclusive of references, figures and tables, abstract, and up to 5 keywords).
All submissions are required to include a visual illustration depicting some element of the research. This visual is intended for conference related communications on social media such as X, LinkedIn and the video summary of the event. Therefore, you should have the copyright and permissions for this content to be shared with the general public.
Submissions and resubmissions of amended abstracts/papers will be done through our Conference Submission System at https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/76054/submitter.
We accept submissions of alternative formats – video, audio, posters or any other form that we can access and view via a web browser without a need for specialist software. To facilitate an anonymous peer review process, you must ensure that your work can be accessed via a private link – you might offer a link and a username and password in your submission entry so that reviewers are able to view your work.
Submitted paper files can be up to 10 MB in size. The required visual illustration and the optional figures or tables file can each range up to 10 MB in size. References should be formatted according to APA style and follow the Inclusive Language Guide – https://www.apa.org/about/apa/equity-diversity-inclusion/language-guidelines .
Initial submissions need to be anonymized to allow for a double-blind review process. Final abstracts and papers need to list all author names and affiliations. Submissions must be original and should not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication while being evaluated for this conference.
At least one author will have to register for the conference for accepted abstracts and papers to be included in the conference proceedings. Authors of accepted papers who do not want their papers included in the conference proceedings but only an abstract should notify the conference organizing committee through an email sent to: info@netnocon.org.
Special issue opportunity to promote your work
To be confirmed – Please check the conference website for announcements regarding special issues affiliated with the conference.
Important Dates
- November 11, 2024: Paper submission site opens
- December 9, 2024: Paper submission site closes (deadline for abstract/paper submission)
- January 15, 2025: Reviews sent to authors and notification of abstract/paper acceptance
- January 15, 2025: Early bird conference registration begins
- February 17, 2025: Deadline for revised abstract/paper submission to be included in the Conference Proceedings (of course you can still register to the conference)
- April 4, 2025: Deadline for at least ONE author to register for the Conference
- April 18, 2025: Early bird conference registration ends
Netnocon 2025 Scientific Program Chairs:
- Prof. Robert Kozinets, University of Southern California
- Prof. Rossella Gambetti, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
- Dr. Gregorio Fuschillo, Kedge Business School
- Dr. Maud Derbaix, Kedge Business School
- Dr. Ulrike Gretzel, University of Southern California
We look forward to your creative contributions and to exploring netnography together in Marseille!