Regardless Of Their Popularity Among Youth ages 6 14

This dissertation endeavors to deeply perceive the features of Minecraft servers explicitly created for youth via three research utilizing mixed strategies analysis. Human-Computer Interplay (HCI) analysis exhibits that sandbox-model digital world games like Minecraft operate as interest-pushed areas the place youth can explore their inventive pursuits, construct technical expertise, and type social connections with friends and near-peers. Despite their recognition amongst youth (ages 6 - 14), we all know little concerning the social and technological features of "in-the-wild" Minecraft servers that current themselves as "kid-friendly" or "household-friendly." The goals of this work are three-fold:1. To research 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 staff who average on such servers (Examine II: 8 youth and 22 moderators), and 3. minecraft servers To discover a design paradigm for technological mechanisms that leverage the strengths of a kid-/household-friendly server neighborhood whereas additionally supporting moderators' practices (Research III) I draw from interdisciplinary theories and structure this dissertation round two foremost arguments about child-/household-pleasant Minecraft server ecosystems. First, I argue that they are instantiations of play-primarily based affinity networks created by adults that promote opportunities for youth to explore their pursuits and social connections. Second, I argue that the social and technological mechanisms mirrored within the server guidelines and moderators' practices are characteristic of servers that self-describe as kid-/family-pleasant. Research I contributes a taxonomy for understanding server rules and an empirical characterization of three server genres - child-/family-friendly (n1 = 19); general-family-pleasant (n2 = 20); and normal (n3 = 20) in Minecraft. Research II reveals moderators' motivations and socio-technical practices in kid-/family-friendly servers. The findings present that adult moderators encourage youth-led creative roleplays, help the interests of young gamers (e.g., Hogwarts virtual world, digital Pride Day celebrations, etc.), and supply mentorship to youth moderators on their servers. Study III theorizes the potential for automated prosocial tools in play-based spaces by way of a Discord Bot known as "UCIProsocialBot" within OhanaCraft, one of the child-/household-pleasant server communities. Collectively, these findings present a set of social and technological features which will substantiate a model for designing child-/household-friendly on-line playgrounds. This work theorizes that child-/family-friendly servers can actualize positive youth growth when their self-narratives, social practices, and technological mechanisms are aligned with adolescent developmental needs.