Introduction to the Minitrack on Data Analytics, Data Mining, and Machine Learning for Social Media

Abstract

Thank you for your interest in the Data Analytics, Data Mining, and Machine Learning for Social Media Minitrack. This year's paper contributions vary in scope and focus and thus provide a rich spectral view of developing insights and understanding from social media. According to Monique Thomas of Later, social media is experiencing a significant evolution: "We've said goodbye to simple status updates (we miss you!) and hello to social selling and growing digital communities." However, our digital communities continue to struggle with the challenge of being free and open, allowing anyone to express their thoughts and ideas, while at the same time working to combat misinformation and deep fakes. We are grateful to social media scholars who continue on various paths of sensemaking to better understand social media's impact on our society. This year's papers provide many new insights into this vital area of research.