Six GRAND doctoral students representing universities across the country were selected to attend the Summer Social Webshop, a 4-day interdisciplinary workshop hosted by the University of Maryland, College Park and supported by Google, GRAND, Intel and National Science Foundation (NSF). 

The Webshop, held August 23-26, 2011, marked the return of an event that last took place in 2003. The seven year hiatus saw dramatic changes in the social media landscape: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Wikipedia, Apple's iPhone and Android were all brand new or non-existant in 2003. Many of those who attended early Webshops as doctoral students have since become leading researchers in their fields. 

Webshop participants had the opportunity to engage with leaders from a wide range of disciplines, exploring a variety of topics including Internet and Society, Social Media, Collective Action, and Policy, privacy, identity. Factor in a hurricane and the largest East Coast earthquake in more than 60 years, and you have an extraordinary event! 

GRAND's doctoral students who participated in the Summer Social Webshop will share their experience in a series of Q&A style entries linked below:

Part 1: Zack Hayat, University of Toronto; Mo Guang Ying , University of Toronto; Alex Garnett, University of British Columbia

Part 2: Tamara Peyton, York University; Owen Livermore, University of Western Ontario; Jennifer Kayahara, University of Toronto

GRAND participants in the Summer Social Webshop (L to R). Alex Garnett, University of British Columbia; Zack Hayat, University of Toronto; Tamara Peyton, York University; Mo Guang Ying , University of Toronto; Owen Livermore, University of Western Ontario; Jennifer Kayahara, University of Toronto.