Despite Their Reputation Amongst Youth (ages 6 - 14)

This dissertation endeavors to deeply understand the options of Minecraft servers explicitly created for youth by means of three research utilizing mixed methods research. Human-Laptop Interaction (HCI) analysis reveals that sandbox-type digital world video games like Minecraft operate as curiosity-pushed spaces where youth can explore their inventive pursuits, construct technical expertise, and form social connections with friends and close to-peers. Despite their recognition among youth (ages 6 - 14), we know little in regards to the social and technological options of "in-the-wild" Minecraft servers that present themselves as "child-pleasant" or "family-friendly." The aims of this work are three-fold:1. To investigate the rhetoric of kid-/family-friendliness and the socio-technical mechanisms of such servers (Examine I: 60 servers), 2. To understand the lived experiences of server workers who average on such servers (Study II: Eight youth and 22 moderators), and 3. To explore a design paradigm for technological mechanisms that leverage the strengths of a kid-/household-friendly server neighborhood whereas also supporting moderators' practices (Examine III) I draw from interdisciplinary theories and structure this dissertation around two main arguments about kid-/family-pleasant Minecraft server ecosystems. First,Best minecraft serversargue that they're instantiations of play-based affinity networks created by adults that promote opportunities for youth to explore their interests and social connections. Second, I argue that the social and technological mechanisms reflected within the server rules and moderators' practices are characteristic of servers that self-describe as kid-/family-friendly. Study I contributes a taxonomy for understanding server rules and an empirical characterization of three server genres - child-/family-friendly (n1 = 19); general-household-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 show that adult moderators encourage youth-led inventive roleplays, help the interests of younger gamers (e.g., Hogwarts virtual world, digital Pride Day celebrations, and so forth.), and provide mentorship to youth moderators on their servers. Study III theorizes the potential for automated prosocial instruments in play-based mostly areas via a Discord Bot referred to as "UCIProsocialBot" within OhanaCraft, certainly one of the child-/family-pleasant server communities. Together, these findings present a set of social and technological options that may substantiate a model for designing child-/family-pleasant online playgrounds. This work theorizes that kid-/family-friendly servers can actualize constructive youth improvement when their self-narratives, social practices, and technological mechanisms are aligned with adolescent developmental needs.