HT'24: 35th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan, Poland, September 10-13, 2024

Conference website	https://ht.acm.org/ht2024/
Submission link	https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ht24
Workshops	February 29, 2024
Abstract registration deadline	April 15, 2024
Submission deadline	April 15, 2024
Practitioners Tracks	May 26, 2024

HT’24 is open to a range of submission formats, from long and short papers to demos and artworks to panels, posters, tutorials and workshops (see also our Call for Workshops & Tutorials). 

The topic of this edition is Creative Intelligence. We want to invite our community to reflect on the role of interactive, intelligent hypermedia in supporting, enhancing, and communicating creative work. The tagline "Creative Intelligence" gives an opportunity to reflect on hypertext works, systems and communities that employ digital media in an inventive way that we encourage to understand not only as ground-breaking but also rule-breaking. We welcome reflections on phenomena that in various ways defy industry standards to deliver their creative stance and leave a lasting impact.

As in previous years, we aim to reflect the diversity of practices embraced by different communities and welcome submissions that reflect approaches such as (but not limited to):

• Intelligent methods for content creation and curation powering hypertext systems or supporting their study, management, and analysis of media
• Reading, authoring and experiencing hypermedia investigating how authorial and reader response practices in literature and other more traditional media change with and adapt to new modalities of interaction and the introduction of artificial intelligence
• Communities of digital practices, platforms and digital tools for creative work looking into technology appropriation, growth and management of distributed communities with the support of and focused on hypermedia like e-literature and games.

The conference offers five research tracks and three practitioner tracks. The two types of tracks have different deadlines and formats (please check the guidelines prior to preparing the submission manuscript). Worth highlighting is that this edition does not offer a generalist social media track but welcomes contributions targeted on all track topics. We consider social media as a form of hypertext thus any reference to hypertext content and systems is implicitly extended to social media.

Lastly, the conference accepts requests for hosting workshops and training sessions.

All accepted contributions in all tracks will be published by ACM and will be available in the Proceedings via the ACM Digital Library in the format in which they are submitted (e.g., long paper, short paper, extended abstract). To be included in the Proceedings, at least one author of each accepted paper must register for the conference, present the paper there and agree on ACM’s T&C. Selected contributions will be invited to submit an expanded version after the conference to follow on special issues.

Students authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit a request for the SigWeb travel grant. If accepted, the grant will cover travel costs, accommodation, subsistence and registration fees up to €1.000. Students receiving support will be asked to dedicate a small amount of their time to the conference organisation.

Students and authors who need a visa for Poland are strongly encouraged to get in touch as soon as their paper is submitted for review (do not wait for reviews).

Submit the proposal via EasyChair.

Important Dates

• Workshops
  • Submission: 28 February 2024 AOE
  • Notification: 15 March 2024
• Research tracks
  • Submission: 31 March 15 April 2024 AOE
  • Notification: 31 May 2024 AOE
• Practitioner tracks
  • Submission: 14 June 2024 AOE
  • Notification: 26 June 2024 AOE
• Student travel awards
  • Submission: 26 May 2024 AOE
  • Notification: 7 July 2024 AOE
• Camera ready
  • Submission: 27 July 2024 AOE
• Registration
  • Early bird rate: 31 July 2024 AOE
  • Regular rates until 15 September 2024 AOE

 Research tracks

The following tracks welcome research contributions. The submission should follow the specific track recommendations, ranging from extended abstracts to short and long papers. 

The peer review will be double-blind and, as such, all submissions should be fully anonymised (see format guidelines).  Submissions will be assessed by their scope with the conference and track, potentially desk rejected or re-allocated in a different track. All not rejected submissions will receive at least two full reviews or more in case of edge cases. Acceptance or rejection is final and accepted contributions will be published as they are (minimum changes about tips or recommendations from reviewers). 

The review process will not include a rebuttal stage. Rejected papers of great significance or relevance will be invited to the practitioner tracks without further reviews. Authors who accept this alternative form of participation must adapt their submission to the extended abstract format.

Intelligent methods for content creation and curation 

Track chairs: Dr Paul Mulholland (Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University), Dr Andrew Garget (School of Languages and Applied Linguistics, The Open University) 

This track invites research about algorithms, pipelines and infrastructures powering hypertext systems - like digital archives, web applications or digital exhibitions - or supporting the study, management, and analysis of hypermedia systems.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Content-based analysis for the automatic or assisted augmentation, understanding or composition of hypermedia systems
• Semantic web, ontologies and recommender systems for the curation, realisation and management of documents, collections or hypermedia systems
• Artificial intelligence methods for the processing and generation of hypermedia content

Authoring and publishing of interactive and social media content

Track chairs: Dr Elisa Bastianello (Bibliotheca Hertziana), Dr Sally Blackburn-Daniels (Teesside University)

This track is dedicated to exploring how hypertext has transformed authoring and publishing by disrupting, subverting, or complementing book and media culture and practice. Submissions may focus on specific case studies or theories of new emerging practices, rhetorical analyses, or methodological reflections that take inspiration from fields such as book history, digital humanities and/or media studies.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Authorship: Contextualising the production of hypertexts.
• Book history: Historically-informed frameworks, theories, and concepts for understanding hypertextual production, dissemination, and reception.
• Digital scholarly editions and adaptations: Hypertextual representations and reconceptualisations of extant texts.
• Text, paratext, and multimodality: Manifestations and effects of digital forms of intra- and intertextual connectivity.
• Human-AI co-authoring: case studies of assisted writing based on automated summarisation and text generation
• Encoding and Presentation: digital publication and the debate around stable format versus browser-ready content. 

Readership and experience with interactive and social media

Track chairs: Dr Lovro Škopljanac (University of Zagreb), Dr hab. Anna Nacher (Jagiellonian University)

This track welcomes studies on readers and new modalities of their experience and potential authorship of interactive hypertext media. Submission may present studies on specific communities of users, with a focus on emerging practices, or on new forms of engagement based on emerging technologies. 

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Digital storytelling and electronic literature: How hypertexts are used to communicate ideas and facilitate alternative textual experiences.
• Reading practices and reader response: How hypertexts are read (or skimmed, browsed, misread) and interpreted.
• Rhetorics and poetics: How hypertexts are framed in popular and scholarly discourse, as well as theoretical considerations on forms of expression supported by hypertextual formats.
• Textual intelligence: How hypertexts change the preconditions and affordances of what it means to interact with a text, ranging from searchability to human-AI conversations.
• Platform interaction: How hypertexts negotiate the politics of platforms within platformized creative practices.

Communities of digital practices

Track chairs: Dr Alessandro Adamou (Bibliotheca Hertziana), Dr Edmund King (The Open University)

Interactive intelligent media often either result from, or give rise to, communities that shape the practice with such media. What is usually triggered by a shared interest engenders forms of collective participation that manifest themselves through creative expression. Examples include the impact that studies on computing hardware and on software cracking methods had on the tech demo scene; creative writing exercise and horror story readership on the Creepypasta phenomenon; retro computing/gaming elites on “small web” site counts being on the rise. The ways in which enthusiasts and practitioners connect to one another could then be regarded as hyperlinking in its own right. This track encourages technical and phenomenological reflections beyond that of mere social media. Submissions may focus on the growth, management and activities of such communities: how, for what purpose and with what outcomes these communities operate and the tools they use.

Due to the creative and oftentimes artistic nature of these communities’ production, submissions are welcome either as short papers or as running demos, including those requiring specific systems to run them; demos must be accompanied by extended abstracts documenting their specifications and openly accessible ways to reproduce the (possibly emulated) environment required to run them.

Topics:

• Analysis of interactions and Web syndication in well-established themed virtual communities (e.g. the WELL, DeviantArt)
• Retro computing, peer-to-peer networks, gaming, “creative” piracy, and video game history
• Artists and books market and distributions as social networks
• The demoscene, MUDs and interactive fiction communities as a practitioner network
• Novel and rigorous ways to (re-)present tech demos, hypermedia traversals, playthroughs etc. as structured, publishable and citable scholarly items
• Creative networks in the Vernacular Web, e.g. GeoCities, MySpace and Usenet
• Communication protocols, historical (e.g. BBS, Gopher) or contemporary (e.g. gemini:// spartan:// titan://), alternative/parallel to the HTTP Web or to the internet; their understanding and usage in modern-day knowledge exchange and the creative communities to which they cater.

Foundations of Creative Intelligence

Track chairs: Dr Monika Górska-Olesińska (University of Lodz),  Dr Sam Brooker (College of Arts London, University of London)

This track focuses on reflections, theories and visions about technology for creativity. Submissions may focus on synergies between tools and creative work, new paradigms that inspire the next generation of tools for art, and constraints and influence of technology in cultural heritage and production.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Blue sky ideas about future systems and provocations about established assumptions around the use of hypertext systems for creative work and cultural heritage
• Training programmes for artists and developers 
• Theories explaining current phenomena and trends concerning the use of hypertext and social media in performance and creativity

Practitioner tracks

The Practitioner Track, specifically tailored for professionals and scholars, is ideal for demonstrating the real-world impact of hypertext systems, emphasizing how these applications not only solve problems but also engage users in meaningful reflection about the challenges and possibilities within their respective fields. It emphasizes not just the practical applications of hypertext and creative intelligence but also the reflective dimension inherent in these applications. The track is about showcasing innovative projects that provoke thoughts and encourage a deeper understanding of the problems they aim to address.

These formats invite the audience to engage with the underlying concepts, to question, and to consider the broader implications of the technology. 

Topics for the track could include:

• Implementing Hypertext in Business Solutions: Demonstrations of how hypertext technologies have been effectively integrated into business processes, customer engagement strategies, or marketing campaigns.
• Creative Tools and Platforms: Showcasing new tools or platforms that leverage hypertext for creative pursuits, such as digital storytelling, interactive art installations, or multimedia content creation.
• Hypermedia in Education and Training: Presentations on innovative uses of hypertext in educational settings, including e-learning platforms, interactive courseware, and the use of hypertext in classroom teaching.
• Community Building and Engagement: Exploration of hypertext applications in community building, focusing on how they facilitate communication, collaboration, and engagement in various communities, from online forums to professional networks.
• User Experience and Accessibility in Hypermedia: Studies or demonstrations on the design and implementation of user-friendly and accessible hypermedia systems, focusing on usability and inclusive design.
• Interactive Media for Cultural Heritage: Showcasing how hypertext is used in preserving and presenting cultural heritage, including virtual museums, digital archives, and interactive exhibitions.

Submissions to the Practitioner Track will be reviewed on a single-blind basis, focusing on their relevance to the conference theme and practical implications. Accepted submissions will be included in the conference proceedings in their original format and will be presented in a format negotiated with the track chairs, with the conference providing necessary support for on-site presentations. This track is tailored to highlight innovative and practical uses of hypertext in various professional and creative domains.

Interactive narratives

Track chairs: Joey Jones (Southampton University,  Prof David Millard (Southampton University)

This track welcomes the presentation of creative works, like e-literature and games, for exhibition at the conference. We invite creators to submit works on the theme of 'Creative Intelligence'. Submission may present original works or a collection of works in a coherent curated collection.

Applications

Track chair: Davide Picca (University of Lausanne)

This track welcomes the presentation of novel applications of hypertext systems, such as authoring and personal information management systems. Contribution can present new solutions or showcase innovative use cases developed by using existing ones.

Resources and tools

Track chair Dr Angelo Salatino (Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University)

The resources and tools track welcomes the presentation of new resources for the community. Submissions include, but are not limited to, novel: software tools/services, datasets, benchmarks, AI models, APIs and software frameworks, and workflows that can streamline, simplify or enhance the activity of the community.

ACM T&C 

1. “By submitting your article to an ACM Publication, you are hereby acknowledging that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM's new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects. Alleged violations of this policy or any ACM Publications Policy will be investigated by ACM and may result in a full retraction of your paper, in addition to other potential penalties, as per ACM Publications Policy.”

1. “Please ensure that you and your co-authors obtain an ORCID ID, so you can complete the publishing process for your accepted paper.  ACM has been involved in ORCID from the start and we have recently made a commitment to collect ORCID IDs from all of our published authors.  The collection process has started and will roll out as a requirement throughout 2022.  We are committed to improve author discoverability, ensure proper attribution and contribute to ongoing community efforts around name normalization; your ORCID ID will help in these efforts.”