REMINDER: Self-Expression, Self-Actualization, and Media Experimentation (SESAME): A Dialogue and Ruminations

Dear all,

A friendly reminder that submission deadlines are approaching for SESAME:
Self-Expression, Self-Actualization, and Media Experimentation, an
in-person symposium at the ASIS&T 2026 Annual Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

Upcoming deadlines:
- Short papers and posters: August 3, 2026
- Demos and reflections: August 10, 2026

More information is available at: https://sesame-asist.github.io/

Please see the full CFP below, and feel free to reach out if you have any
questions.


*Self-Expression, Self-Actualization, and Media Experimentation (SESAME): A
Dialogue and Ruminations*

*A symposium at the ASIS&T 2026 Annual Meeting (Bangkok, Thailand)
(www.asist.org/am2026/am26/) <https://www.asist.org/am2026/am26/)>*

*Sponsors: U.S. West Chapter, SIG-USE*

*Website: https://sesame-asist.github.io/ <https://sesame-asist.github.io/>=
*



*Background*

Social media platforms provide opportunities for people to connect not only
with others, but also with themselves. Posting to and engaging with social
media can be viewed as a form of active self-making - through content
creation and content feed curation, people can form better understandings
of themselves by constructing and exploring different realities (Takahashi,
2010). In online spaces, the interactions that contribute to identity and
personality development are hyper-responsive and hyper-mediated: social
feedback is nearly instantaneous and can be amplified by the platform
itself, becoming a form of currency that is used, whether consciously or
subconsciously, as a component of self-reflective identity formation
processes.

However, there is tremendous diversity in how people interact with and
engage in self-expression using digital media. Some might use video or
images, such as creating TikToks or uploading to Instagram; others may vent
their frustrations or engage in discussions via text-based media, like
Reddit. Some may share stories of health challenges (Chen, 2016; Lundy,
2024), while others focus on professional or personal self-representation
(Van Dijck, 2013). Still others see social media as "civic laboratories"
for political expression (Lane et al., 2019).

Not all of us produce visible traces of ourselves online; for example,
there are yet others who receive and consume information through these
social networks and use it to inform their own experiences, perspectives,
and understandings of themselves. What stories do we all have to tell? In
this symposium, we invite everyone to contribute to a collective
exploration of self-making and communication through different forms of
media. Relevant considerations include:

*- *How do people express themselves online and contribute to their own
online experiences? To what extent do these forms of self-expression change
over time?

- What are the processes that underlie identity formation and development
in online spaces? To what extent are they iterative, dynamic, or even
static?

- How does the structure and design of social media platforms mediate
self-expression online? How have these platform-mediated venues and
self-reflective processes changed over time?

- What can we gather from the self-expressive content and interactions on
social media platforms (e.g. genuine expressions of self vs. formatted,
algorithm-minded content vs. reposts/remakes of other users' content)?

- What might the future of self-expression online look like, given the
general motivations and direction of social media platforms? How do these
motivations aid or hinder users in relation to self-expression?

-What are the important considerations for information and library science
professionals as these platforms evolve? How can information- and
behavioral frameworks inform our understanding?

*About the Symposium & Pre-Symposium Participatory Experience*

This symposium is an in-person event co-located at the ASIS&T 2026 annual
meeting. We seek to bring together researchers, practitioners, and students
interested in exploring the intersection of media and self-expression,
aiming to welcome a diverse audience of experiences, perspectives and
disciplines. No technical expertise or prior formalized experience with
research is required.

Additionally, we encourage interested attendees to engage in
a participatory experience in the timeframe leading up to the
workshop, where they will have an opportunity to create their own social
media content as a way to engage with self-expressive and self-reflective
processes firsthand. This symposium strives to be a venue to discuss
existing as well as new work/creations, and foster a collective dialogue.

*Call for Participation*

We will accept three different types of submissions. Attendees may also
participate in the workshop without engaging in Options A to C below.

*- Option A ("Demo"):* Submit content of your own reflecting
Self-Expression, Self-Actualization, and Media Experimentation (SESAME)! If
you do not already have content in mind that you want to submit, you can
engage in the pre-symposium content creation experience.

*-* *Option B ("Reflection"):* Submit a summary, introduction, and/or a
reflection on your SESAME content creation experiences.

For options A and B, detailed submission instructions and the submission
link are available via the symposium website:
https://sesame-asist.github.io/.

*- Option C ("Classic"):* Participants can submit a short paper or
poster on a topic that aligns with the theme of the symposium.

Option C should be submitted using the ASIS&T template
<https://growthzonecmsprodeastus.azureedge.net/sites/2036/Template-Instruct=
ions-2026v2.docx>;
participants can submit short papers (up to 4 pages not including
references) or posters (up to 2 pages not including references). Submit
here: https://www.conftool.org/asist2026/.

*- Option D ("Participant"): *Participants can attend the workshop without
engaging in any of the options above.



*Important Dates*



*Submissions due:*

Option A and B *August 10, 2026*

Option C *August 3, 2026*



*Notifications: **September 3, 2026*

For inquiries, contact:  [email protected].



*Program Committee*

Sharon H. Wong           Independent Scholar

Annie T. Chen               University of Washington

Maja Krtali=C4=87                  Victoria University of Wellington

Alison Day                    Victoria University of Wellington

Yu Chi                           San Jose State University

Hayley Park                  University of Maryland

Mimi Martin                  University of Washington

Ella Zhou                      University of Washington

--=20
Yu Chi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Information
San Jose State University
[email protected]

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