Two decades of research on the social implications of mobile-mediated communication have passed, during which the repertoire of mobile devices and mobile contents, functions and usage contexts have tremendously expanded. As we stand at the threshold of the third decade of mobile media research, we can look back at how powerful the influence of mobile media has been in several aspects of people’s everyday life, and use these insights to speculate about what the future of mobile media and mobile research may bring.

The 13th annual ICA Mobile pre-conference aims to reflect upon the influence of mobile technologies on everyday practices through the theme “The All-Powerful Mobile.” The pre-conference will be organized into Blue Sky Workshops. These workshops will provide a forum where graduate students, new faculty, and more experienced scholars can discuss their research, thus creating an opportunity to cultivate a supportive and integrated community of thinkers. The preconference will also feature an opening keynote speaker and other engaging informal, more social, activities.

We invite workshop proposals covering a broad range of topics related to the social implications of mobile media. Topics may include mobile media and civic engagement, mobile activism and social movements, mobile social media, mobile learning and education, mobile media research methods, mobile media and youth, mobile media in international contexts, mobile health, mobile cultures and art, mobile media and place, mobile journalism, mobile media usability and UX issues, mobile language, sociology/anthropology/psychology of mobile communication and mobile media histories.

Workshop proposals are welcome from scholars at all stages of their careers and across multiple disciplines related to mobile communication. We particularly encourage mobile scholars from the Asian region to submit a proposal. Each workshop will be allotted a timeslot of approximately 2 hours. Workshops should focus on the dissemination and discussion of new ideas, theory and empirical results, but can also be more practically or industry oriented. A workshop is typically organized around a consortium of 4-5 proposers who present and discuss their work, but should be open to the active partcipation of other preconference attendees. Preconference attendees can attend multiple workshops.