3rd Call for Chapter Proposals
for Essay Collection

How Scripted TV Series Portray Social Media’s Power to Shape Culture

This edited collection invites scholars to consider how an episode or series of scripted television (from 2000 to present) has portrayed social media’s power to shape culture—for better and/or for worse.

Any methodological approach is welcome, but the chapter should appeal to a range of readers, from fans to scholars. Because debates about social media often relate to debates about other contentious issues, analysis and argumentation will ideally consider how the episode/series represents (or fails to represent) different viewpoints. As part of McFarland’s Ethics and Culture series ( https://mcfarlandbooks.com/imprint/ethics-and-culture/), this collection aims, in part, to consider how choices made by television creators may fuel vitriolic flames or tend a cultural fire.

NOTE: Previous CFPs have resulted in multiple accepted chapters about the Netflix series Adolescence. and Black Mirror, so please do not submit a proposal about this series.

Any issues or series are welcome, but the editor is especially looking for the following:

• The Morning Show incorporates/portrays social media and #MeToo plays a vital role in the series; in the episode “It’s Like the Flu,” A disgraced news anchor is approached in a cafe—a public shaming that is being recorded for posting on social media.
• Homeland (seasons 6 and 7) portrays social media as a vehicle for misinformation and radicalization as a radio host modeled after Alex Jones and Info Wars wreaks havoc (one episode includes altered video to promote a narrative).
• The Good Fight episode “The One Where Kurt Saves Diane” portrays a judge targeted by a viral smear campaign using disinformation online. 
• The Newsroom episode “Oh Shenandoah” portrays a college student who was raped intends to use social media to identify her rapist as a warning to other women.
• In Dear White People, episodes address social media’s use for activism (#BLM and #staywoke) as well as “slacktivism” and hypocrisy on the left.
• Chapters that discuss multiple series about a specific aspect of social media, such as
  • teen social media use
  • portrayals of cancel culture via social media platforms
  • positive representations of social media as a way to access a specific community

Preliminary questions or queries may be emailed to the editor at any time. Chapter proposals (300 to 500 words) and a brief author bio should be emailed to Libbie.Searcy@erau.edu by July 1st, 2026. Other important dates (subject to change) are as follows:

• Full chapters (6000 to 8000 words, MLA style) due no later than 1/1/27
• Revision recommendations provided by 2/15/27
• Revised chapters due by 4/1/27
• Manuscript editing completed 5/1/27
• Manuscript submitted for peer review by 5/15/27

Dr. Libbie Searcy is an Associate Professor in the Humanities & Communication Department of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Her book “Sluts” on the Small Screen: Female Promiscuity in Scripted American Television Series was published by McFarland in 2024. Her humanities course, “Socially Conscious TV,” is the inspiration for this collection.