WASHINGTON – The Cathy Hughes School of Communications at Howard University will host the 9th Annual Social Media Technology Conference and Workshop, on Thurs., Oct. 3, titled Social Media: Empowering Diversity and Ensuring Security. The keynote for the event is Rebecca Goolsby, technology deployment manager of the Office of Naval Research. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will be held at the Interdisciplinary Research Center (IRB), located at 2201 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20059.

The conference schedule and registration is available here: http://socialmediatechnologyconference.com/2019/08/28/2019-schedule/

"We are delighted, again, to bring a strong group of scholars and professionals to Howard University's campus to discuss social media," says Tia Tyree, Ph.D., professor,and co-founder of the conference.

"As the social media landscape changes every day and the benefits and problems associated with social media continue to be hot button topics, we remain one of the premier conferences still completely focusing on social media and what we can do to understand these pervasive communication channels."

The conference will examine the threats and safe spaces of social media. A Google workshop will be provided to attendees by Maggie Farley of the Google News Initiative. Each year, the two-day intensive conference combines panel discussions, paper presentations and workshops designed to enlighten attendees about new scholarship, professional practices and pedagogical approaches to teaching.

This conference is sponsored Howard University Cyber Security Education and Research Center, School of Business, which is a strategic interdisciplinary ecosystem to create awareness, train practitioners, and develop cybersecurity professionals.   

This year’s theme focuses on dissecting how online social connections provided by social media are being enhanced by multiculturalism while at the same time being challenged by the privacy and security of users. Social media have transformed the ways in which we connect, offering international collaborative relationships, diversity of thought, easy and instant communication and real-time access to news and information. Yet, some have argued that the unfettered authority society has ceded to the social media titans is responsible for the rise in malignant bots, cyborg-created fake news, foreign-based Internet trolls and emerging risks that may rival the benefits of social connectedness and collaborative online relationships.

The presentations during the conference will examine these challenges and new possibilities as social media matures into the mainstream, and it will create opportunities for scholars, practitioners and observers to make more informed assessments about the direction of social media and the Internet impacting their virtual and actual lives.

The registration fee for the conference is $150. Early bird registration is $125. Graduate student registration is $50. Undergraduate students are free to attend.

To view the schedule and register, visit: http://socialmediatechnologyconference.com/2019/08/28/2019-schedule/

# # #

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, over 70 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States.  For more information on Howard University visit www.howard.edu

Media Contact: Imani Pope-Johns, Imani.popejohns@howard.edu