Browsing by Author "Blodgett, Bridget Marie"
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Item #1ReasonWhy Gamers <3 Dickwolves: Understanding Sexism in the Gaming Community(Conference: 2013 Computers & Writing, 2013) Salter, Anastasia; Blodgett, Bridget MarieItem And the ringleaders were banned: an examination of protest in virtual worlds.(Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Communities and Technologies, C&T 2009, 2009) Blodgett, Bridget MarieProtest has made the jump between the offline and the online spaces and is frequently used in most virtual worlds available today. Despite the frequency of these protest actions in virtual worlds, and their similarities to offline protest actions, further research is needed to see how the adaptation to a virtual environment changes the protest. This research uses case studies to examine several major protest actions that have occurred in several different virtual worlds over the last 10 years. The author finds that the use of the technology in virtual world enables very different methods of protest. She makes the argument that these differences are large enough that they require a deeper exploration and grounding in theoretical models for the field to grow into its potential.Item Being Effie: The Hunger Games and War as a Form of Entertainment Media Consumption(Conference: Media in Transition 8, 2013) Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Salter, AnastasiaItem Building Policy that Crosses Virtual Borders: A Case Study of A Virtual Labor Strike with Real World Ramifications(Telecommunication Policy Research Conference (TPRC), 2010) Tapia, Andrea; Blodgett, Bridget MarieWithin this paper, the authors present an initial analysis of a protest case study in Second Life and the policy, legal and regulatory issues it involves. In particular, the authors elaborate on the current understanding of legal frameworks within virtual worlds and build on the concept of inter-real harm first introduced by Warren and Palmer. Three critical events within the Second Life case: Media Storm, Organization, and Strike! are examined to see how the actions of the protesters and authorities meet the definition of inter-real harm and support the need for a new framework for understanding virtual worlds. Virtualizing protest changes the repertoire of contention that protesters and authorities operate under and introduces new complications and unconsidered consequences that are unique to virtual worlds. Inter-real harm addresses issues raised by some of these complications and its implementation requires a re-examination of law policy dealing with virtual worlds.Item Computer Tomography Virtual Organization(Sage Reference, 2012) Tapia, Andrea; Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Rosson, Mary Beth; Ocker, Rosalie; Ryan, TimothyTackling 100 key topics and providing case studies in the area of science and technology leadership, this reference handbook is an essential resource for students in this area.Item Cyberinfrastructure inside out: Definitions and influences shaping its emergence, development, and implementation(Peter Lang, 2011) Kee, Kerk F.; Cradduck, Lucy; Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Olwan, RamiCyberinfrastructure (Atkins, et al., 2003; Seidel, Muñoz, Meacham, & Whitson, 2009; Stewart, 2007), also commonly known as e-infrastructure in the UK (Meyer & Dutton, 2009 ; Meyer, Schroeder, & Dutton, 2008) and e-research infrastructure in Australia and Europe (Eccles, et al., 2009; Jankowski, 2009; Schroeder, 2007a), officially emerged and was recognized at the turn of the millennium. Since then, it has attracted serious attention and much investment from the scientific and scholarly communities as an emerging method and platform of research; and from political and policy organizations as a new entity with tremendous economic, societal, and global implications. Due to its potential, multiple stakeholder groups are grappling with the concept of cyberinfrastructure and engaging in the building of this “next-generation Internet” (Foster, Kesselman, & Tuecke, 2001, p. 217). As we look forward to the second decade of the 21st century, the time is ripe to explore three interrelate research questions: • What is cyberinfrastructure? • What are they key political influences shaping its domestic emergence and development? • What are the key challenges impacting its international implementation? By drawing widely from literature in the social sciences, law and policy studies, as well as computer and information sciences, this chapter attempts to provide some preliminary answers to these important questions.Item Do avatars dream of electronic picket lines?(Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2011) Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Tapia, AndreaPurpose – This paper aims to define and articulate the concept of digital protestainment, to address how technologies have enabled boundaries to become more permeable, and in which this permeability leads to the engendering of new cultures. Design/methodology/approach – Two case studies, within Second Life and EVE Online, are examined to see how digital protestainment, through the lens of cultural borderlands, creates a hybridized culture. Recorded interviews and textual analysis of web sites are used to illustrate the concepts of play, work, and blended activities. Findings – Within virtual environments the process of hybridization is not only increased in size, scope, form, and function. The borderlands process draws in cultural elements through a complex interchange between the online and the offline, in which hybridized cultural bits are carried out into other spaces. Research limitations/implications – The success of the cases does not represent all digital protest examples and so this study is limited in its ability to generalize to the population of virtual protests. This study limits the realm of digital protestainment to virtual worlds but the concept could be applied to any form of virtual community. Practical implications – Companies that host these worlds will need to become aware not only of what their audience is but also how that audience will mobilize and the likely outcomes of their mobilization. Virtual worlds offer organizational leaders a new resource for training, support, and recruitment. Originality/value – The theoretical concept of cultural borderlands is expanded to the digital environment and introduced as a potentially new and useful tool to internet researchers.Item Gaming for Girls: An Action-Research Intervention(Playing to Win: The Business and Social Frontiers of Videogames, 2008) Tapia, Andrea; El-Nasr, Magy Seif; Yucel, Ibrahim; Blodgett, Bridget MarieItem Good bones: Anthropological scientific collaboration around computed tomography data(Elsevier, 2011) Tapia, Andrea H.; Ocker, Rosalie J.; Rosson, Mary Beth; Blodgett, Bridget MarieWe report preliminary results from a socio-technical analysis of scientific collaboration, specifically a loosely connected group of physical anthropology researchers. Working from a combination of interview data and artifact analysis, we identify current barriers to the scientists' collaboration as it relates to a valuable but scarce resource, a high-resolution computer tomography scanner. We analyze a two-layer structure of the collaboration, one that is loosely coupled through shared scanner access and use; and one that is tightly coupled through shared creative development of research questions, data analysis and interpretation. We conclude with implications for enhancements to the sociotechnical context and supporting infrastructure.Item Hearing ’Lady Game Creators’ Tweet: #1ReasonWhy, Women and Online Discourse in the Game Development Community(Conference: 14th Annual Conference for the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)14th Annual Conference for the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), 2013) Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Salter, AnastasiaThis paper examines the rise of the #1ReasonWhy hashtag on Twitter during November 2012. It looks at how the @replies and RTs used within the hashtag built a picture of the issues facing women within the field of game development. The discourse and sharing of experiences amplified through the hashtag provide a broad picture of gender discrimination and sexism within the industry’s culture, along with potential community-driven methods for confronting these entrenched traditions of harassment. In particular this paper uses the conversations developed by women during this period to understand how Twitter acted as a tool to build solidarity and amplify the message of gender discrimination within the industry.Item Hypermasculinity & Dickwolves: The Contentious Role of Women in the New Gaming Public(Routledge, 2012) Salter, Anastasia; Blodgett, Bridget MarieAs video games have attracted more critical attention and theoretical discourse and games play a more visible part in our media landscape, the modern video game community impacts the wider world of online culture and warrants more detailed study. Using the case of the Dickwolves incident from Penny Arcade.com, the authors address issues of hypermasculinity and sexism within the gaming community and how this lens brings to light issues with a hostile response to the expression of a female identity or femininity. The authors argue that this case highlights how the hypermasculine discourse encourages the overt privileging of masculinity over femininity and discourages women from engaging in gendered discourse within the community.Item Inside Outsider: The Role of Researcher Gender at the Intersection of Video Game and Culture Studies(11th Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), 2010) Blodgett, Bridget MarieItem Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Issues in Virtual Worlds(Association for Computing Machinery, 2007) Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Xu, Heng; Trauth, Eileen M.In virtual worlds, users interact with each other by creating virtual identities through avatars. As the avatar creation process is constrained by the assumptions of designers who develop the avatar creation tools, some potential participants in virtual worlds are forced into narrow social roles that may not accurately represent them. Drawing on structuration theory and trust literature, we develop a research agenda that addresses how avatar-based technologies and user social identities may be mutually constructed and how identity misrepresentation may impact trust in virtual worlds. This paper demonstrates the importance of a discussion of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues in virtual worlds. These issues require additional research that should closely examine the ongoing changes both in the technology facilitating the virtual worlds, as well as the social landscape that governs issues of diversity in general, and gender issues in particular.Item The Merging of Telecommunications Policy and Science Policy Through Broadband Stimulus Funding(The 37th TPRC Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy, 2009) Tapia, Andrea; Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Jang, JinsungThe Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program was seen as a historic attempt by the Obama administration to bring broadband access to the underserved or unserved communities of the US while also investing capital into many of the economically hard hit companies and regions that support such technological development. Expectations for the first Notification of Funding Availability were quite high. However, conflicting belief systems and viewpoints about the role of large scientific institutions in the aid public development led to disillusionment and conflict. The authors use policy and discourse analysis to break down the situation and highlight the key differences that caused it to arise. This paper analyzes these differences and their foundational roots in an attempt to understand the basis of this conflict and what could be done to correct the situation in future notifications.Item More Savvy than we can hope to be: A generational lens on ICTs in the changing workplace(The American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T), 2010) Ayoub, Phillip J.; Blodgett, Bridget MarieWe take a generational lens to the study of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the changing U.S. workplace. Specifically, we draw from a broader qualitative study on generational difference in the workplace to explore the questions: How is the interplay between generational differences and ICTs reshaping the culture and boundaries of work and the workplace? We present two preliminary findings related to differences in (1) socio-emotional associations with ICTs and (2) the socio-technical structure in the work-life relationship. In conclusion, we discuss potential implications of these changes, as well as critical questions to be addressed in future research around generational differences and the role of ICTs in the changing U.S. workplace.Item Nexus: New Intersections in Internet Research. The Internet an Empowering Technology?(11th Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), 2010) Breindl, Yana; Ganito, Carla; Usher, Nikki; Geneve, Anitza; Petzold, Timothy; Camerini, Luca; Hopkins, Joshua; Gustafsson, Nils; Chang, Lennon Y.C.; Houghton, Tessa; Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Shang, Jin; Araya, DanielItem Ownership And Control Over Data Resources In A Virtual Scientific Collaboratory(IADIS e-Society 2011, 2011) Tapia, Andrea; Ocker, Rosalie; Rosson, Mary Beth; Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Ryan, TimothyItem The Shape of Protest Actions in Virtual Worlds(Playing to Win, 2008) Blodgett, Bridget MarieItem Two-Layer Structures in Scientific Collaboratories(Workshop on The Changing Dynamics of Scientific Collaboration, CSCW: Computer Supported Coorperative Work, 2010) Tapia, Andrea; Ocker, Rosalie; Rosson, Mary Beth; Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Ryan, TimothyWe report preliminary results from a socio-technical analysis of scientific collaboration situated in physical anthropology research. We analyze the two-layer structure of the collaboration: one loosely coupled through shared access and use of scientific equipment, and one tightly coupled through shared creative development of research questions, data analysis and interpretation. We conclude with implications for both process and technology support.Item When Protests go Virtual: How Organizing Social Protest in Virtual Worlds Changes the Nature of Organizing.(Sustainable IT Collaboration Around the Globe. 16th Americas Conference on Information Systems, AMCIS, 2010) Blodgett, Bridget Marie; Tapia, AndreaIn this paper, we introduce a case study of social protest that has occurred in the virtual world Second Life. This case is a labor strike that occurred against IBM by Italian employees and a large European labor union. We begin with identifying the four key elements in the protest organizing process: Identifying Supporters, Organizing and Establishing Hierarchy, Getting the Word Out, and Building Solidarity/Establishing Social Networks. Next, we briefly examine how non-virtual technologies have changed the protest organizing process. Finally, we present our case data and illustrate how moving a protest to a fully virtual environment changes the organizing process. We conclude by asserting that three aspects fundamentally change protest organizing: entertainment, costs, and culture.