Eran has been co-organizing a new workshop: Let’s Talk About Sex(Apps), CSCW. Along with the other organizers, Jeremy, Mark and Irina, we ask participants to look at the new breed of dating mobile applications, and to explore the new and fascinating questions they provoke. The workshop will precede the ACM CSCW (Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing) conference, held at March 14-18, 2015 at Vancouver.

Here are the full details:

Organizers

  • Jeremy Birnholtz, Northwestern University
  • Mark Handel, The Boeing Company
  • Irina Shklovski, IT University Copenhagen
  • Eran Toch, Tel Aviv University

Overview

Location-based social network apps for dating have had explosive growth over the past few years. Although they have many possible uses, casual and sexual encounters remain an important part of their draw. For CSCW, these apps are interesting to study: they offer a context to explore issues of identity and self-presentation, geography and locality, privacy and security, as well as motivation and usage habits.

In this one-day workshop, we invite researchers, students, and practitioners from a diverse range of backgrounds, including CSCW, computer science, sociology, and public health, to discuss these issues and more, as well as exploring the difficulties and challenges inherent in this research. In addition to exploring the issues around apps for sex and dating, participants will also help to bring some of these sensitive, yet important topics into the mainstream of CSCW research.

Call For Participation

Interested in joining us? Please submit a 2-4 page position paper in CHI Format (“2-column”). Position Papers are due by 10 November 2014.