Nuturing Maker Culture for Young Girls: privacy, safety and MMOs for girls

Nurturing Maker Culturefor Young Girls: privacy,safety and MMOs for girlsKate Raynes-GoldieInternet Studies, Curtin University@oceanpark

OverviewOverview of MMOs for kidsImpact on girls and their development as naturalmakers and hackersSolutions

Maker culture BREAKING, MAKING, HACKING, DIY UNDERSTANDING, OPENING THE BLACK BOX EMPOWERMENT, AUTONOMYCREATION RATHER THAN CONSUMPTION AS IDENTITY SHARING, OPENNESS, MENTORSHIP CRITICAL THINKING, IMAGINATION, CREATIVITY

MMOs for kidsSafe spacesDesigned to be black boxes

Hidden concernsAdvertising/commodificationSurveillanceGenderingIntellectual property

Club Penguin (Disney)FreemiumNo IP ownership, ads or genderBiggest focus on safetyDesigned for ages 6-14 but open to all

Barbie Girls (Mattel)Freemium, but giant Barbie adOnly female avatarsShopping, fashion, boysNo explicit age limits, but aimed at tweens andearly teens

“By submitting or sending Your Submissions to Mattel, you grant Mattel a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully transferable,assignable and sublicensable right and license to copy, reproduce, distribute,publish, transmit, modify, adapt, translate, display, distribute, sell, license,publicly perform, prepare derivative works based upon, and otherwise use orexploit Your Submissions throughout the world in any and all media. Yourepresent and warrant that: (a) you have the right and authorization to make theforegoing grant without the consent of any third party, and (b) Your Submissionsare accurate and, as permitted to be used by Mattel in this User Agreement, donot and will not infringe any right of any third party.”

Webkinz (Ganz)Must by toy for 1 year accessStrongest focus on virtual goodsMinigamesPet can be different gender than child

“...Ganz shall exclusively own all known or hereafterexisting rights to the User Content of every kind andnature throughout the world, and shall be entitled tounrestricted use of the User Content for any purposewhatsoever, commercial or otherwise, withoutcompensation to the provider of the user content.”

ConsequencesDiscouraging creativity, autonomy, criticalthinkingHindering skills needed for privacy and trustNormalizing convert surveillance

Nurturing maker culture

New Moon GirlsAward winning social network, magazine,communityGirls 8 and upAd-free, but pay to play

New Moon GirlsCo-mentoring rather than just surveillancePositive, empowering messages for girlsMaking rather than consuming

But where are theparents?

Thanks! KATE@K4T3.ORG @OCEANPARK

Nuturing Maker Culture for Young Girls: privacy, safety and MMOs for girls

by Kate Raynes-Goldie on Aug 26, 2011

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Nuturing Maker Culture for Young Girls: privacy, safety and MMOs for girls — Presentation Transcript