Regardless Of Their Popularity Among Youth ages 6 14

This dissertation endeavors to deeply understand the features of Minecraft servers explicitly created for youth by means of three research utilizing mixed strategies analysis. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research reveals that sandbox-type virtual world video games like Minecraft function as interest-pushed spaces the place youth can discover their inventive interests, build technical experience, and kind social connections with peers and near-peers. Regardless of their reputation amongst youth (ages 6 - 14), we all know little in regards to the social and technological features of "in-the-wild" Minecraft servers that current themselves as "child-pleasant" or "household-friendly." The goals of this work are three-fold:1. To analyze the rhetoric of child-/household-friendliness and the socio-technical mechanisms of such servers (Research I: 60 servers), 2. To grasp the lived experiences of server staff who reasonable on such servers (Study II: 8 youth and 22 moderators), and 3. To explore a design paradigm for technological mechanisms that leverage the strengths of a child-/household-pleasant server group while also supporting moderators' practices (Research III) I draw from interdisciplinary theories and structure this dissertation round two essential arguments about child-/family-pleasant Minecraft server ecosystems. First, I argue that they're instantiations of play-based mostly affinity networks created by adults that promote alternatives for youth to discover their pursuits and social connections. Second, I argue that the social and technological mechanisms mirrored within the server rules and moderators' practices are characteristic of servers that self-describe as kid-/household-pleasant. Examine I contributes a taxonomy for understanding server guidelines and an empirical characterization of three server genres - kid-/family-pleasant (n1 = 19); general-family-pleasant (n2 = 20); and general (n3 = 20) in Minecraft. Examine II reveals moderators' motivations and socio-technical practices in kid-/household-pleasant servers. The findings present that adult moderators encourage youth-led inventive roleplays, support the interests of young gamers (e.g., Hogwarts digital world, digital Satisfaction Day celebrations, and so on.), and offer mentorship to youth moderators on their servers. playing games is always fun Research III theorizes the potential for automated prosocial instruments in play-based mostly areas by a Discord Bot referred to as "UCIProsocialBot" within OhanaCraft, certainly one of the child-/household-friendly server communities. Together, these findings present a set of social and technological features that may substantiate a mannequin for designing child-/household-pleasant online playgrounds. This work theorizes that child-/household-pleasant servers can actualize constructive youth growth when their self-narratives, social practices, and technological mechanisms are aligned with adolescent developmental needs.