Regardless Of Their Popularity Amongst Youth ages 6 14

This dissertation endeavors to deeply understand the features of Minecraft servers explicitly created for youth by three studies utilizing blended methods analysis. Human-Computer Interplay (HCI) research reveals that sandbox-model virtual world video games like Minecraft operate as interest-driven spaces the place youth can explore their inventive interests, build technical expertise, and kind social connections with peers and near-peers. Regardless of their popularity among youth (ages 6 - 14), we know little about the social and technological features of "in-the-wild" Minecraft servers that current themselves as "child-pleasant" or "household-pleasant." The goals of this work are three-fold:1. To analyze the rhetoric of child-/family-friendliness and the socio-technical mechanisms of such servers (Examine I: 60 servers), 2. To know the lived experiences of server workers who average on such servers (Study II: Eight youth and 22 moderators), and 3. To discover a design paradigm for technological mechanisms that leverage the strengths of a kid-/family-friendly server neighborhood whereas also supporting moderators' practices (Examine III) I draw from interdisciplinary theories and structure this dissertation around two predominant arguments about kid-/household-pleasant Minecraft server ecosystems. First, I argue that they are instantiations of play-based affinity networks created by adults that promote opportunities for youth to discover their interests and social connections. Second, I argue that the social and technological mechanisms mirrored in the server guidelines and moderators' practices are characteristic of servers that self-describe as kid-/household-pleasant. Research I contributes a taxonomy for understanding server rules and an empirical characterization of three server genres - kid-/household-pleasant (n1 = 19); common-family-pleasant (n2 = 20); and normal (n3 = 20) in Minecraft. Research II reveals moderators' motivations and socio-technical practices in kid-/household-friendly servers. The findings present that adult moderators encourage youth-led creative roleplays, assist the interests of younger gamers (e.g., Hogwarts virtual world, digital Pleasure Day celebrations, and many others.), and offer mentorship to youth moderators on their servers. Research III theorizes the potential for automated prosocial instruments in play-primarily based spaces through a Discord Bot called "UCIProsocialBot" within OhanaCraft, one among the child-/family-pleasant server communities. Collectively, these findings provide a set of social and technological features which will substantiate a model for designing child-/household-friendly online playgrounds. Minecraft server list This work theorizes that kid-/household-pleasant servers can actualize optimistic youth growth when their self-narratives, social practices, and technological mechanisms are aligned with adolescent developmental wants.