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Asian American Chicago Network: A Case Study of Facebook Group Use By Immigrant Groups
Title
Asian American Chicago Network: A Case Study of Facebook Group Use By Immigrant Groups
Creator
Rao, Xi, Hemphill, Libby
Date
2016, 2016
Publisher
ACM
Description
Through analyzing data from posts and about users, we describe how one particular Facebook group helps immigrants to the U.S. use social media...
Show moreThrough analyzing data from posts and about users, we describe how one particular Facebook group helps immigrants to the U.S. use social media to build a local community. As a preliminary study in intercultural communication through social media, we analyze one case, the Asian American Chicago Network (AACN) Facebook group, and uncover common topics users discuss and relationships between user tenure and various indicators of leadership and interaction. Our small finalized results from this preliminary project suggest that members of AACN likely use it (1) to build a professional network in the U.S.A., and (2) to reinforce and affirm their Asian culture and identities.
Sponsorship: National Science Foundation Award Number 1525662
Rao, X., & Hemphill, L. (2016). Asian American Chicago Network: A Case Study of Facebook Group Use By Immigrant Groups. In Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing Companion (pp. 381–384). New York, NY, USA: ACM. http://doi.org/10.1145/2818052.2869077
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SITUATING FANS' SOCIAL MEDIA PRACTICES IN THE CONTEXT OF FAN STUDIES
Title
SITUATING FANS' SOCIAL MEDIA PRACTICES IN THE CONTEXT OF FAN STUDIES
Creator
Rao, Xi
Date
2015, 2015-05
Description
This paper explores how TV fans use social media. By revtewmg academic perspectives on fandom ofTV shows and social media in past several...
Show moreThis paper explores how TV fans use social media. By revtewmg academic perspectives on fandom ofTV shows and social media in past several decades, this paper discusses the way that audiences react to TV shows using the affordance of social media. At the begirming, this article traces the image, activities, and meaning of fandom. Fans were portrayed as deviant creatures until the late 80s. This image was clarified when people looked into fans and their creative works. Scholars realized that fans productively generated creative products based on the given materials, which reflected the social experience of the creators. Therefore, fandom was soon understood as a way of fans to resist the dominant culture in the society. Later on, social media offer fans an immediate, widespread platform to contribute to the TV conversation. With this platform, normal fans show up. Different from productive fandom, median fans are less active in making new meanings of the TV program. Interestingly, a large number of TV audiences are using social media during the broadcast, participating in the discussion of shows. This evidences the convergence of the traditional media, TV, and the new media, social media. It is also found that comments of TV viewers on social media in turn, influence the content of the TV show. Rather than merely spectators, fans are a part of the TV production. As a special case, gender is discussed from the perspective of fandom. Female composers dominant the fan-writing world. Study the producers and products of fan fiction may provide valuable insights into gender dilemmas in the real world. At the end of this essay, 1 summarize how social media atTect the participation of TV fans and discuss remaining questions worthy of future research. Since fandom becomes ubiquitous in the social media age, it is possible to explore fandom as a way to better understand our daily life.
M.S. in Information Architecture, May 2015
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Interview with Todd Friedman: photos
Creator
Rao, Xi, Houlihan, Jodi
Interview with Todd Friedman
Title
Interview with Todd Friedman
Creator
Rao, Xi, Houlihan, Jodi
Date
2015-09-25, 2015-09-25
Description
We conducted an interview with Todd Friedman, a game competitor who holds over 100 game world records, on Sep 25, 2015 at his home in Gurnee,...
Show moreWe conducted an interview with Todd Friedman, a game competitor who holds over 100 game world records, on Sep 25, 2015 at his home in Gurnee, IL. Todd Friedman is a game competitor and competition organizer. His personal game collections consist of 2,840 games and he has been playing video games since he was five years old. His world records are recorded on the Twin Galaxies Score Database website. For the Wii DJ Hero alone he has three pages filled with records of him placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th with songs ranging from Foo Fighters to Jackson Five. However, Todd has never worked as a full-time game competitor. Instead, he is an EDI (Electronic data interchange) analyst at HubGroup, a truck company. Generally, he arrives home from work at 4:30pm and plays games or works out with his children. Todd has his own philosophy for life and gaming. He holds world records but has never thought of earning money from playing games or having it as a “real” job. Rather, he loves the competition itself. In his view, playing games is more like something that brings people fun and happiness, instead of a tool to make money. He also enjoys being a spectator and watching others play games. This is one of the reasons why he loves not only to participate but also to organize game competitions. How does Todd balance his daily life with his gaming life? If you ask Todd they are one and the same. In fact, a quote of his is “Working and being father is my typical day.” He works his full time job, spends time with his family and ensures that he also spends time on his professional gaming activities. He has twins, a boy and a girl aged 9 years old that he does the normal after school activities with like, soccer, cheerleading, etc. He also loves video gaming especially with his family! One controversial view is that coin-operated video gaming has been a target of negative perceptions. However, Todd completely discredits this argument -- that gaming is a negative influence. He credits video gaming for keeping him on a good path, away from drugs and alcohol, fueling his interest in technology, and obtaining friendships from an array of different cultures all due to being able to meet, talk and play video games with people from around the nation and around the world. Are e-sports according to Todd a real sport? The short answer is “yes.” Todd has two favorite sports, Bowling and video gaming. He compared video game competition to bowling to how some people do not believe it is a sport by discussing hand and eye coordination, mental focus, and talent. You have to beat the other person and practice to get better at it, which is exactly like bowling or golf. According to Todd, a professional gamer, a sport consists of using your mind, practicing, and playing against someone to win. And e-sports falls within his definition. Through the interview, we found that Todd was not in agreement with a lot of the negative stereotypes that people have about gaming, such as, video games are bad for young kids, it wastes their time, money and may have a negative effect on their behaviors and social skills. Instead, he is an average guy who has been playing games since 7 years old and it has helped to evolve him socially and as a positive role model. He credits video games to keeping him away from drugs and alcohol and is also a mechanism that helps to relieve stress. It also positively affects his relationships. He is a better friend, father, husband and co-worker because of his involvement with games.
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Interview with Todd Friedman: Todd Friedman_9-25-15_Transcription_Oral History Project
Title
Interview with Todd Friedman: Todd Friedman_9-25-15_Transcription_Oral History Project
Creator
Rao, Xi, Houlihan, Jodi
Date
2015-09-25, 2015-09-25
Description
We conducted an interview with Todd Friedman, a game competitor who holds over 100 game world records, on Sep 25, 2015 at his home in Gurnee,...
Show moreWe conducted an interview with Todd Friedman, a game competitor who holds over 100 game world records, on Sep 25, 2015 at his home in Gurnee, IL. Todd Friedman is a game competitor and competition organizer. His personal game collections consist of 2,840 games and he has been playing video games since he was five years old. His world records are recorded on the Twin Galaxies Score Database website. For the Wii DJ Hero alone he has three pages filled with records of him placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th with songs ranging from Foo Fighters to Jackson Five. However, Todd has never worked as a full-time game competitor. Instead, he is an EDI (Electronic data interchange) analyst at HubGroup, a truck company. Generally, he arrives home from work at 4:30pm and plays games or works out with his children. Todd has his own philosophy for life and gaming. He holds world records but has never thought of earning money from playing games or having it as a “real” job. Rather, he loves the competition itself. In his view, playing games is more like something that brings people fun and happiness, instead of a tool to make money. He also enjoys being a spectator and watching others play games. This is one of the reasons why he loves not only to participate but also to organize game competitions. How does Todd balance his daily life with his gaming life? If you ask Todd they are one and the same. In fact, a quote of his is “Working and being father is my typical day.” He works his full time job, spends time with his family and ensures that he also spends time on his professional gaming activities. He has twins, a boy and a girl aged 9 years old that he does the normal after school activities with like, soccer, cheerleading, etc. He also loves video gaming especially with his family! One controversial view is that coin-operated video gaming has been a target of negative perceptions. However, Todd completely discredits this argument -- that gaming is a negative influence. He credits video gaming for keeping him on a good path, away from drugs and alcohol, fueling his interest in technology, and obtaining friendships from an array of different cultures all due to being able to meet, talk and play video games with people from around the nation and around the world. Are e-sports according to Todd a real sport? The short answer is “yes.” Todd has two favorite sports, Bowling and video gaming. He compared video game competition to bowling to how some people do not believe it is a sport by discussing hand and eye coordination, mental focus, and talent. You have to beat the other person and practice to get better at it, which is exactly like bowling or golf. According to Todd, a professional gamer, a sport consists of using your mind, practicing, and playing against someone to win. And e-sports falls within his definition. Through the interview, we found that Todd was not in agreement with a lot of the negative stereotypes that people have about gaming, such as, video games are bad for young kids, it wastes their time, money and may have a negative effect on their behaviors and social skills. Instead, he is an average guy who has been playing games since 7 years old and it has helped to evolve him socially and as a positive role model. He credits video games to keeping him away from drugs and alcohol and is also a mechanism that helps to relieve stress. It also positively affects his relationships. He is a better friend, father, husband and co-worker because of his involvement with games.
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Interview with Todd Friedman: raw-recording
Title
Interview with Todd Friedman: raw-recording
Creator
Rao, Xi, Houlihan, Jodi
Date
2015-09-25, 2015-09-25
Description
We conducted an interview with Todd Friedman, a game competitor who holds over 100 game world records, on Sep 25, 2015 at his home in Gurnee,...
Show moreWe conducted an interview with Todd Friedman, a game competitor who holds over 100 game world records, on Sep 25, 2015 at his home in Gurnee, IL. Todd Friedman is a game competitor and competition organizer. His personal game collections consist of 2,840 games and he has been playing video games since he was five years old. His world records are recorded on the Twin Galaxies Score Database website. For the Wii DJ Hero alone he has three pages filled with records of him placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th with songs ranging from Foo Fighters to Jackson Five. However, Todd has never worked as a full-time game competitor. Instead, he is an EDI (Electronic data interchange) analyst at HubGroup, a truck company. Generally, he arrives home from work at 4:30pm and plays games or works out with his children. Todd has his own philosophy for life and gaming. He holds world records but has never thought of earning money from playing games or having it as a “real” job. Rather, he loves the competition itself. In his view, playing games is more like something that brings people fun and happiness, instead of a tool to make money. He also enjoys being a spectator and watching others play games. This is one of the reasons why he loves not only to participate but also to organize game competitions. How does Todd balance his daily life with his gaming life? If you ask Todd they are one and the same. In fact, a quote of his is “Working and being father is my typical day.” He works his full time job, spends time with his family and ensures that he also spends time on his professional gaming activities. He has twins, a boy and a girl aged 9 years old that he does the normal after school activities with like, soccer, cheerleading, etc. He also loves video gaming especially with his family! One controversial view is that coin-operated video gaming has been a target of negative perceptions. However, Todd completely discredits this argument -- that gaming is a negative influence. He credits video gaming for keeping him on a good path, away from drugs and alcohol, fueling his interest in technology, and obtaining friendships from an array of different cultures all due to being able to meet, talk and play video games with people from around the nation and around the world. Are e-sports according to Todd a real sport? The short answer is “yes.” Todd has two favorite sports, Bowling and video gaming. He compared video game competition to bowling to how some people do not believe it is a sport by discussing hand and eye coordination, mental focus, and talent. You have to beat the other person and practice to get better at it, which is exactly like bowling or golf. According to Todd, a professional gamer, a sport consists of using your mind, practicing, and playing against someone to win. And e-sports falls within his definition. Through the interview, we found that Todd was not in agreement with a lot of the negative stereotypes that people have about gaming, such as, video games are bad for young kids, it wastes their time, money and may have a negative effect on their behaviors and social skills. Instead, he is an average guy who has been playing games since 7 years old and it has helped to evolve him socially and as a positive role model. He credits video games to keeping him away from drugs and alcohol and is also a mechanism that helps to relieve stress. It also positively affects his relationships. He is a better friend, father, husband and co-worker because of his involvement with games.
Show less