Life in the Times of Whypox: A Virtual Epidemic as a Community Event

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorKafai, Yasmin B.
dc.contributor.authorFeldon, David
dc.contributor.authorFields, Deborah
dc.contributor.authorGiang, Michael
dc.contributor.authorQuintero, Maria
dc.date.accessioned2017-04-15T12:05:16Z
dc.date.available2017-04-15T12:05:16Z
dc.date.issued2007
dc.description.abstractVirtual communities have become a central part of children’s social landscape. Some of them, called multi-player online games, invite thousands of children to join and play together. Their online interactions are structured around socializing, shopping, and emailings. At occasion, particular events such as player revolts, virus outbreaks, or organized ostracism bring together the geographically dispersed players of such online communities and constitute what we call community events. As a case in point, we focus on Whypox, a virtual epidemic that took place in Whyville.net, a teen online community with over 1.5 million registered players ages 8-16. To understand how events such as Whypox impact life in online communities, we analyze tracking data, chat content, newspaper postings, survey and interview descriptions and play interactions. We discuss implications of our findings in relation to Gee’s (2003) notion of affinity groups, propose design parameters for designing community events, and outline educational applications.
dc.identifier.doi18.1007/978-1-84628-905-7
dc.identifier.isbn978-1-4471-6239-1
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer London, Dordrecht Amsterdam
dc.relation.ispartofCommunities and Technologies 2007: Proceedings of the Third Communities and Technologies Conference
dc.relation.ispartofseriesCommunities and Technologies
dc.titleLife in the Times of Whypox: A Virtual Epidemic as a Community Event
dc.typeText
gi.citation.endPage190
gi.citation.startPage171
gi.conference.locationMichigan State University, USA
gi.conference.sessiontitleFull Papers

Files

Original bundle
1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
00341.pdf
Size:
1.1 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
0 B
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

C&T 2007: Proceedings of the Third Communities and Technologies Conference