Regardless Of Their Reputation Amongst Youth ages 6 14

This dissertation endeavors to deeply perceive the options of Minecraft servers explicitly created for youth by means of three studies utilizing combined methods research. Human-Pc Interplay (HCI) research shows that sandbox-fashion virtual world video games like Minecraft operate as interest-pushed spaces where youth can discover their creative pursuits, build technical expertise, and form social connections with friends and close to-peers. Despite their reputation amongst youth (ages 6 - 14), we know little in regards to the social and technological options of "in-the-wild" Minecraft servers that current themselves as "child-pleasant" or "family-friendly." The aims of this work are three-fold:1. Wicked frise To research the rhetoric of child-/household-friendliness and the socio-technical mechanisms of such servers (Study I: 60 servers), 2. To grasp the lived experiences of server staff who reasonable on such servers (Research II: 8 youth and 22 moderators), and 3. To explore a design paradigm for technological mechanisms that leverage the strengths of a child-/household-friendly server group whereas also supporting moderators' practices (Research III) I draw from interdisciplinary theories and construction this dissertation around two foremost arguments about kid-/family-friendly Minecraft server ecosystems. First, I argue that they are instantiations of play-based mostly affinity networks created by adults that promote alternatives for youth to discover their interests and social connections. Second, I argue that the social and technological mechanisms reflected within the server guidelines and moderators' practices are characteristic of servers that self-describe as kid-/family-friendly. Research I contributes a taxonomy for understanding server guidelines and an empirical characterization of three server genres - child-/household-pleasant (n1 = 19); general-household-friendly (n2 = 20); and common (n3 = 20) in Minecraft. Study II reveals moderators' motivations and socio-technical practices in kid-/family-friendly servers. The findings present that grownup moderators encourage youth-led inventive roleplays, help the pursuits of young players (e.g., Hogwarts digital world, virtual Satisfaction Day celebrations, etc.), and offer mentorship to youth moderators on their servers. Research III theorizes the potential for automated prosocial instruments in play-based areas by a Discord Bot known as "UCIProsocialBot" within OhanaCraft, one among the kid-/household-pleasant server communities. Together, these findings present a set of social and technological options which will substantiate a model for designing kid-/household-friendly online playgrounds. This work theorizes that kid-/family-pleasant servers can actualize constructive youth development when their self-narratives, social practices, and technological mechanisms are aligned with adolescent developmental needs.