ICA 2026 Highlights: Everything You Need to Know

A record-breaking ICA mobile preconference

The conference week kicked off with the 22nd Annual ICA Mobile Preconference, organized by our Vice-Chair Scott Campbell. This year's theme, Mobile Communication and Inequalities in Context, brought together approximately 40 participants, making it the largest Mobile Communication preconference in the division's history.

As always, the preconference provided a welcoming space where mobile communication scholars from around the world could exchange ideas, receive feedback, and build new collaborations. A special thank you goes to our local hosts Tanja Bosch, Nicola Davies-Laubscher, and Wanelisa Xaba, as well as to the many volunteers and sponsoring universities who made this event possible.

Read more about the preconference, including the full program and abstracts, here: https://www.icamobile.org/mobilepreconferences/2026

Highlights from the main conference

Following the preconference, the Mobile Communication Division continued with a vibrant program during the ICA main conference. Across 11 Mobile Communication Division sessions with presentations, scholars from around the world presented novel research. Beyond the paper sessions, the conference also offered opportunities to connect with colleagues. One of the highlights was the Student & Early Career Lunch, where students and early-career researchers came together to catch up, exchange ideas, and build new connections.

A complete overview can be found here:https://www.icamobile.org/ica-2026

Business meeting

During our annual Business Meeting, Division Chair Adriana de Souza e Silva shared several updates on the Mobile Communica

tion Division.

With members from 32 countries, the Mobile Communication Division is the most globally diverse division within ICA. Our community also continues to grow steadily, with a healthy mix of senior and emerging scholars. This year, the division achieved another milestone by recording the highest voter turnout within ICA (tied with the Communication and Technology (CAT) Division).

The dedication of our reviewing community also stood out this year, with every submission receiving three reviews thanks to an expanded reviewer pool. Adriana recognized the many reviewers, mentors, and volunteers who made this possible, including this year's Rock Star Reviewer, Andrew Yee.

Members also learned more about the division's new awards. Learn more about the awards and eligibility criteria on our Awards page: https://www.icamobile.org/awards.

Outgoing Early Career Representative Morgan Ross reflected on another successful year of activities for students and early-career scholars. In addition, Will Marler shared an update on the annual Doctoral Consortium, jointly organized with ICA's Communication and Technology Division. The event provided an opportunity for emerging researchers to develop their work, get feedback, and expand their networks. Around 20 doctoral students participated in the in-person consortium, receiving feedback and mentorship from 10 senior scholars.

Awards!

One of the highlights of every ICA conference is the Mobile Communication Division Awards ceremony. During the Business Meeting, Awards Committee Chair Kathrin Karsay announced this year's recipients.

Top Paper Awards

Roland Toth, Doug Parry, and Julius Klingelhoefer received the Top Paper Award for:

Somebody's (Still) Watching Me: Reactivity to Smartphone Logging and Experience Sampling.

Top Student Paper Award

The Top Student Paper Award was presented to Yixuan Liu and Xianglong Wen (Nanjing University, China) for:

Selling Speed, Revoking Citizenship: Data Throttling, Instantaneous Downgrading, and the Politics of Connectivity in China.

Emerging Scholar Research Award

The Emerging Scholar Research Award was awarded to Debjani Chakraborty for:

Access as Modality: Theorising Mobile Media Reticence through Metrics.

Top Dissertation Award

This year's Top Dissertation Award was jointly awarded to:

• Lise-Marie Nassen – Disconnection in the "Always-on" Society: Theoretical and Empirical Approaches to Understand the Association between Digital Disconnection and Psychological Well-Being

• Mora Matassi – Digital Tango: Processes and Implications of Turning Towards and Away from Social Media

Congratulations to all award winners for these outstanding contributions to mobile communication scholarship!

We are already very excited to see you all in Glasgow for ICA 2027!