Community in the Crowd: Motivations for Commenting on Twitch.tv Live Streams

Twitch.tv is a growing platform designed or interaction, communication, and socialization. It is space for content creators and viewers can to interact and build communities. Although it is not exclusively video game streams, Twitch.tv has become a major player in the industry. This study is a thematic analysis of comments made during live streams of video game content. The questions guiding this research were: What do viewers comment about on streams? What do these comments reveal about their motivations for participating? What are the variations between content types? After analyzing 9084 comments across 10 streams, what was found was that a major motivation for Twitch.tv viewers is the creation and maintenance of social bonds. Additionally, the building of hype was a large motivator. There was a small but widespread number of toxic comments. This research shows that Twitch.tv acts as a center for communities to grow around unique streamers and the potential significance of the platform itself

Why young consumers are not open to mobile marketing communications

This paper explores young people's motivations for using mobile phones. Older adolescents' everyday use of traditional and new forms of mediated communication were explored in the context of their everyday lives, with data generated from self-completion questionnaires, diaries and mini focus groups. The findings confirm the universal appeal of mobile phones to a youth audience. Social and entertainment-related motivations dominated, while information and commercially orientated contact were less appealing. While marketers are excited by the reach and possibilities for personalisation offered by mobile phones, young people associated commercial appropriation of this medium with irritation, intrusion and mistrust. In other words, while marketers celebrated mobile phones as a 'brand in the hand' of youth markets, young people themselves valued their mobiles as a 'friend in the hand'. This suggests that the way forward for mobile marketing communications is not seeking or pretending to be young consumers' friend, butrather offering content that helps them maintain or develop the personal friendships that matter to them

Young people’s use of video games as entertainment: Motivations and perceived implications, with a focus on the social aspects of video gaming.

Children’s motivation for video gaming (the activity of playing video games), and specifically their social motivation for playing, is a relatively new field of academic academic enquiry. Growing concern over adolescents’ and children’s use of video games, and the time they spend playing, has spawned research on the possibility of video ‘gaming disorder’ (Faust & Prochaska, 2018). ‘Gaming disorder’, which is included with the 11th revision of the ICD (International classification of diseases), is described as impaired control over (video) gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities and continued video gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences (World Health Organisation, 2018). Consequently, video gaming is an activity of recent interest and through this project I will aim to explore children and young people’s motivations for video gaming, how they are accessing/using video games, along with potential problematic use of video games within a population of young people in the South West of England. In order to understand young people’s experience of playing video games a mixed methods, two phase, research design was used. The first phase of this study employed the use of questionnaires incorporating an adapted version of the Internet Addiction Test (Young, 1998). The participants in Phase 1 were from a mixture of primary and secondary UK schools. These children were in school years 4/5 (8-10 years old) and years 8/9 (12-14 years old). Results from the adapted version of the questionnaire demonstrated that 16.8% of the 214 participants experienced a high level of video game preoccupation, and that male participants and primary school aged participants were more vulnerable to video game preoccupation. The data also revealed that just over a quarter of the participants typically played video games for at least three hours in one sitting, while just under half of the participants played video games at least once a day. Phase 2 of this research involved 27 participants who were involved in Phase 1. These participants took part in semi-structured interviews which were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s model of thematic analysis (2006). The participants’ responses revealed their perceptions on a range of, both positive and negative, impacts video gaming has upon their social interactions, their social opportunities, their learning, their mood and their overall wellbeing. This project adds to the growing body of research regarding young people’s uses and experiences of video gaming, and the social implications for young people who participate in the activity. This thesis concludes with an exploration of the limitations of this research, future directions for study and the implications for educational psychology practice

Distributed Teaching and Learning in Pokémon Go

abstract: This dissertation shares the results of a study of the community of the mobile augmented reality game Pokémon Go. It also serves to build on and expand the framework of Distributed Teaching and Learning (DTALS), which here is used as a framework through which to explore the game’s community (Gee & Gee, 2016; Holmes, Tran, & Gee, 2017).  DTALS serves to expand on other models which examine learning in out-of-school contexts, and in particular on the connections between classroom and out-of-school learning, which numerous scholars argue is of critical importance (Sefton-Green, 2004; Vadeboncoeur, Kady-Rachid, & Moghtader, 2014). This framework serves to build bridges as well as fill gaps in some key literature on learning in out-of-school contexts, including connected learning (Ito et al., 2009), participatory culture (Jenkins, Purushotma, Weigel, Clinton, & Robison, 2009), learning ecologies (Barron, 2006), and affinity spaces (Gee, 2004; Gee & Hayes, 2012). The model also focuses on teaching in addition to learning in and across informal contexts. While DTALS can be used to examine any number of phenomena, this dissertation focuses on the community around Pokémon Go. The game, with its emphasis on geography and community, presents unique opportunities for research. This research draws on existing video game research which focuses on not only games but their communities, and in particular the learning and literacy activities which occur in these communities (Gee & Hayes, 2012; Hayes & Duncan, 2012; Squire, 2006; Steinkuehler, 2006). The results here are presented as three separate manuscripts. Chapter Two takes a broad view of a local community of players, and discusses different player types and how they teach and learn around the game. Chapter Three focuses on families who play the game together, and in particular three focal parents who share their perceptions of the game's merits, especially its potential to promote family bonding and learning. Chapter Four discusses teaching, in particular guides written about the game and the ways in which they are situated in particular Discourses (Gee, 2014). Finally, Chapter Five offers implications from these three chapters, including implications for designers and researchers as well as calls for future research.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 201

Online gaming platform choice as a moderator between social interaction or time flexibility and continuous purchase intention: The case of Fortnite

The video game industry has grown exponentially in the last decades. The emergence of Free-to-Play games and the ability to play the same game with friends, while being on different gaming platforms have been a tremendous help to the industry’s growth. Until now, much research has been published regarding the players’ motivations to play or spend money on in-game virtual items. However, in a day where players’ loyalty is more than ever important, none has focused on cross-platform games to understand the impact the specific choice of a gaming platform might have over the players’ continuous purchase intentions. Filling this literature gap is the objective of this study by focusing on the game Fortnite. A questionnaire was distributed in Fortnite online communities on Reddit and Discord. With a total of 278 responses obtained, a Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) bootstrapping technique, was conducted and showed that gaming chosen platform is a moderator between time flexibility or social interaction and continuous purchase intentions to play on consoles or PC, compared to mobile devices. The model also confirms that the variable continuous play is a mediator between (1) Competition, (2) Diversion, (3) Fun, (4) Social interaction or (5) Time flexibility and the variable continuous purchase intentions. The implications of developing new game profitability cycles based on free-to-play games as well as incorporating new social interactions between players during games must also be considered.A indústria de videogames cresceu exponencialmente nas últimas décadas. O crescimento da indústria foi muito impulsionado pelo lançamento de jogos Free-to-Play, assim como pela possibilidade em jogar o mesmo jogo em simultâneo com amigos a partir de diferentes plataformas de jogos. Até hoje, muitos estudos foram publicados sobre as motivações dos jogadores para jogar ou gastar dinheiro em itens virtuais do jogo. No entanto, apesar da elevada importância da lealdade dos jogadores, nenhum dos estudos se concentrou em jogos multiplataforma para entender o impacto que a escolha específica de uma plataforma de jogos pode ter sobre as intenções de compra contínuas de bens virtuais relacionados com o próprio jogo. Preencher essa lacuna da literatura é o objetivo deste estudo ao focar no jogo Fortnite. Um questionário foi distribuído nas comunidades online do Fortnite no Reddit e no Discord. Com um total de 278 respostas obtidas, as relações entre construtos latentes foram estimadas a partir do método Partial Least Squares Structural Equation modeling (PLS-SEM) com recurso ao software SmartPLS). Esta estimação confirmou que a plataforma em que se joga o Fortnite é uma variável moderadora entre a variável Flexibilidade do tempo para jogar ou a Interação social e a variável dependente Intenção contínuas de compra durante o jogo consoante se jogue em consolas ou portáteis quando comparados com dispositivos móveis. Também se concluí que a variável jogar continuadamente é mediadora entre (1) Competição, (2) Distração, (3) Diversão, (4) Interação social ou (5) Flexibilidade do tempo e a variável dependente Intenção de compra contínua durante o próprio jogo. Devem ser ainda consideradas as implicações de se desenvolverem novos ciclos de rentabilidade de jogos baseados em jogos free-to-play e de se incorporarem novas interações entre os jogadores durante os jogos

Mobility is the Message: Experiments with Mobile Media Sharing

This thesis explores new mobile media sharing applications by building, deploying, and studying their use. While we share media in many different ways both on the web and on mobile phones, there are few ways of sharing media with people physically near us. Studied were three designed and built systems: Push!Music, Columbus, and Portrait Catalog, as well as a fourth commercially available system – Foursquare. This thesis offers four contributions: First, it explores the design space of co-present media sharing of four test systems. Second, through user studies of these systems it reports on how these come to be used. Third, it explores new ways of conducting trials as the technical mobile landscape has changed. Last, we look at how the technical solutions demonstrate different lines of thinking from how similar solutions might look today. Through a Human-Computer Interaction methodology of design, build, and study, we look at systems through the eyes of embodied interaction and examine how the systems come to be in use. Using Goffman’s understanding of social order, we see how these mobile media sharing systems allow people to actively present themselves through these media. In turn, using McLuhan’s way of understanding media, we reflect on how these new systems enable a new type of medium distinct from the web centric media, and how this relates directly to mobility. While media sharing is something that takes place everywhere in western society, it is still tied to the way media is shared through computers. Although often mobile, they do not consider the mobile settings. The systems in this thesis treat mobility as an opportunity for design. It is still left to see how this mobile media sharing will come to present itself in people’s everyday life, and when it does, how we will come to understand it and how it will transform society as a medium distinct from those before. This thesis gives a glimpse at what this future will look like

Digital games: motivation, engagement and informal learning

This thesis investigates the relationships between motivation, engagement and informal learning, with respect to digital games and adult players. Following the reconceptualisation of motivation and engagement (as forms of micro and macro level involvement respectively) three linked studies were conducted. In the first study, 30 players were interviewed via email about their gaming experiences. The resulting set of learning categories and themes drew attention to learning on a game, skill and personal level, which arose from micro-level gameplay and macro-level interaction with wider communities and resources. The second investigation consisted of eight case studies that examined how involvement and learning come together in practice. Participants were observed in the lab during two gameplay sessions and kept gaming diaries over a three week period. A method for categorising game-play breakdowns and breakthroughs (relating to action, understanding and involvement) was developed in order to analyse several hours of gameplay footage. The previous categories and themes were also applied to the data. The findings suggested a relationship between macro-involvement and player identity, which was further investigated by a third survey study (with 232 respondents). The survey helped to establish a link between identity, involvement, and learning; the more strongly someone identifies as a gamer, the more likely they are to learn from their involvement in gaming practice. Four main contributions are presented: (1) an empirical account of how informal learning occurs as a result of micro and macro-involvement within a gaming context, (2) an in-depth understanding of how breakdowns and breakthroughs relate to each other during play, (3) a set of categories that represent the range of learning experienced by players, and (4) a consideration of the role player identity serves with respect to learning and involvement

Engaging with Place through Location-Based Games: Navigation and Narrative in Game Design and Play Experiences

This thesis examines how people engage with place through location-based games. Location-based games are those that incorporate the player’s physical location and/or actions into the gameplay through media interfaces. Despite growing in popularity over the past two decades, there is an absence of fine-grained ethnographic research into everyday practices and emplaced experiences of location-based game design and play. The contributions of this thesis are built upon three years of practice-based, autoethnographic participation in developing location-based games, alongside ethnographic observation, interviews and focus groups with creative collaborators and players. Its findings unpack how engagement with place unfolds through the design and play of location-based games and the implications of these processes for how we understand place as a concept today. In doing so, it builds upon scholarship concerning locative and mobile media, interfaces, play, digital narratives, games and philosophies of place.These insights are presented through a thematic focus on three sets of considerations about place negotiated during the development and play of location-based games: the multiplicity of elements that gather in places; the contingent, everyday interactions that occur in places; and the impressions of place people perceive. Analysing how these considerations are negotiated, this thesis identifies how engagement with place through location-based games is underpinned by interrelationships between navigation and narrative. Understood as uneven, performative and intersubjective relations, they shape the accessibility and legibility of the diverse elements that gather in places; players’ attention toward the processes through which these elements interact in everyday contexts; and the co-production of complex, dynamic and extroverted impressions of place by players. At a time when ‘place’ as a concept has been unsettled by large-scale processes of globalisation and digitisation, these empirical and theoretical contributions create new openings for understanding how digital, locative, mobile and playful media are implicated in everyday experiences of being-in-the-world

Our Space: Being a Responsible Citizen of the Digital World

Our Space is a set of curricular materials designed to encourage high school students to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their participation in new media environments. Through role-playing activities and reflective exercises, students are asked to consider the ethical responsibilities of other people, and whether and how they behave ethically themselves online. These issues are raised in relation to five core themes that are highly relevant online: identity, privacy, authorship and ownership, credibility, and participation.Our Space was co-developed by The Good Play Project and Project New Media Literacies (established at MIT and now housed at University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism). The Our Space collaboration grew out of a shared interest in fostering ethical thinking and conduct among young people when exercising new media skills