This project proposes a user-focused approach to study the algorithm logic of on-demand apps, using Netflix as a case study. The main research interest is the perception that the user has about the suggestion and recommendation logic of Netflix. In order to gather the information, a walkthrough method on Netflix was applied as well as personal, in-depth think aloud interviews were carried out. The sample consisted on a selection of heavy users, millennials ex-pats living in Singapore and working in the creative industry to get specific insights on their relationship with the algorithm.  To analyze the gathered material, qualitative content analysis was carried out. This kind of study is important within today’s contemporary media environment to have integral approach to users perceptions instead of just analytical figures and numbers. The theoretical context used to enlight some of the conclusions discussed on this research were based on the study of media in everyday life, global cultural industry studies, as well as algorithm culture and the science and technology studies. How algorithms are perceived have major repercussions not only on on-demand apps, technology business models or entertainment industry but also an intense influence on the way people consume content. Re-thinking the user as a co-producer of information and knowledge, considering some of the implications this phenomenon might have on the creative industry and how that affects on our daily life are some of the issues this research elaborated on. It can be said that the selected sample appreciates the suggestion logics and it has multiple functionalities: recommendation, curation, entertainment, companionship and leisure. Netflix Originals are very well validated; being one of the main attractions of the app. Interface, functionality and features are also items that the sample positively highlights. The accuracy perception of the algorithm is good, although low when compared to other countries where the sample used the app. The same applies to the amount of content and titles available, being these last two, issues that Netflix could improve.   This research was conducted for 8 months, from October 2016 to May 2017, for Sodertorn University – Stockholm, Sweden, with the guidance and support of Associate Professor Anne Kaun.

Detta examensarbete består utav av två delar, en produktionsdel och denna slutreflektion. Produktionsdelen varade i 15 veckor och gick ut på att utveckla en spelprototyp. Spelprototypen är ämnad för spelkonsolen Xbox360, som är den nya generationens tv-spel. För att kunna utveckla till denna konsol måste man använda sig av XNA, som är ett utvecklingsverktyg ämnat specifikt för Xbox360 och ett måste om man vill kunna utveckla till denna konsol som icke licensierad spelutvecklare. Denna rapport är en sammanfattning av den arbetsprocess vi genomfört. In English: This degree final thesis consists of two parts, one production and this final reflection. The production part lasted over the span of 15 weeks and its goal was to develop a prototype for a game. This prototype was meant for the new generation gaming console, Xbox360. To be able to develop for this console one must use XNA. XNA is a software development kit for non-licensed developers. This document is a summary of the whole work process. / • Detta är en reflektionsdel till en digital medieproduktion.

This article strives to investigate the importance of instructions when using an entertainment game for language learning, and evaluate how instructions affect learning outcome and motivation. To narrow down the case study only one game and language was chosen, namely the popular entertainment game ‘Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time’ (Sanzaru Games, 2013) in Dutch. Eighteen test subjects were split into three groups, one group got no prior instructions to playing, one got basic instructions and the last got thorough instructions. They then played part of the game to afterwards answer questions regarding motivation and take a language test containing words and phrases from the game. The study showed a significant increase in language learning correlated to the increase of instructions, meanwhile also presenting a significant result indicating that instructions might have a positive effect on motivation when using ‘Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time’ to teach language.

The term transmedia storytelling describes an interactive narrative that exists in multiple platforms. This phenomenon allows active audience participation as a part of the narrative creation process. Part of the prior research on transmedia focuses on how to create a transmedia narrative. However there is a dearth of literature examining the merit that transmedia narratives create in Marketing. In order to answer the research question “How can transmedia storytelling be used to create value in marketing?” we conducted a multiple case study research in which we examined four marketing campaigns to reveal the transmedia elements in them. Using the approach of qualitative content analysis we applied a structured method according which we collected and ­­analysed the data from these campaigns. Our findings suggest that creating audience participation through transmedia storytelling in marketing campaigns for movies, products and services can be beneficial. By using different media, platforms and stimulating user participation, concepts such as brand extension and brand awareness are introduced to the audience with an alternative way. The aim of this thesis is to illustrate several ways of how transmedia can be a valuable asset to a marketing campaign through storytelling.

This work uncovers perceptions of the Czech society concerning cultural and social role of a digital entertainment (computer games and videogames) as a relatively new interactive media form. The author tries to verify validity of a presumption that the digital entertainment is an object of a cultural stigma that was formed by combination of various factors which are closely specified in the work. According to the author, present perception of the digital entertaiment in society is formed by a media panic that repeated itself regularly in the course of history. Amongst other significant determinants one can find certain stereotypical viewes, efforts of a ruling class to sustain status quo and struggle of various social groups over cultural dominance which leads to hierarchization of cultural tastes. Suggested cultural stigmatisation of the digital entertainment probably leads to a social stigmatisation of players, who submit to social pressures and often adapt their behaviour to general tastes. Essential part of the work is formed by a research based on qualitative and quantitative data collected from teachers and gymnasium (high schools) and elementary school students. The research supports a presumption that the negative view on the digital entertainment is subject to specific generational...

[pt] Esta dissertação de mestrado tem como objetivo analisar a relação que crianças estabelecem com programas televisivos infantis classificados pelo Departamento de Classificação Indicativa do Ministério da Justiça como ER - especialmente recomendados para crianças e adolescentes, tentando entender como elas os avaliam, interpretam e como lidam com os valores intencionalmente veiculados nesses programas. A pesquisa consistiu na realização de dez oficinas de visualização de programas infantis ER, com atividades e registros feitos pelas crianças, no Instituto Tear, uma ONG ligada à arte e educação, além de ponto de cultura, no Rio de Janeiro. Os sujeitos da pesquisa foram crianças de 6 e 7 anos, estudantes de escolas públicas, que freqüentavam o Instituto Tear no contra-turno. Os programas exibidos foram: Sítio do Pica pau amarelo, Cocoricó, Juro que vi e Um menino muito maluquinho, Teca na TV, Charlie e Lola e Jakers. As oficinas foram videogravadas e o conteúdo das gravações analisado com o auxílio do programa ATLAS TI. Os resultados indicam que as crianças avaliam os programas exibidos nas oficinas pelo seu conteúdo como bons programas, dirigidos a todas as crianças, os interpretam com muita propriedade, reconhecem os valores e as normas de conduta neles veiculados e lidam com esses valores de acordo com os seus esquemas de assimilação, conforme a teoria piagetiana, tanto do ponto de vista cognitivo, quanto em relação ao desenvolvimento moral. / [en] The objective of this study is to analyze the relation established by children with the children’s television programs classified by Brazilian Justice Ministry as ER - specially recommended for children and teenagers, trying to understand how the children and teenagers evaluate, interpret and deal with the values that are intentionally broadcasted in these programs. The research was based on ten workshops where children could watch ER children`s television series, participate on activities, and make notes. The workshops happened at Instituto Tear, a non-profit organization dedicated to art, education and culture, in Rio de Janeiro. The participants of the research were six and seven years old public school students, who used to go to Instituto Tear after or before school. The programs exposed were: Sítio do Pica pau amarelo, Cocoricó, Juro que vi, Um menino muito maluquinho, Teca na TV, Charlie e Lola and Jakers. The workshops were videotaped and the content of the recordings was analyzed using ATLAS TI software. The results indicate that children evaluate the exhibited programming as good programs. They also recognize the values broadcasted and deal with those values according to their schemes of assimilation, with regard to Piaget`s theories about the cognitive stages and moral development.

Adoption of location-based services (LBS) was for a long time below expectations, and most of the studies attribute it to privacy concerns of users. However, many new LBS applications are currently among the most downloaded application for smartphones, particularly entertainment applications. Therefore, this research aims to find out whether privacy concerns still matter to users and to explore the role of the privacy in the adoption of LBS entertaining applications. The adopted methodology is qualitative research and data are collected through interviews and additional information from the smartphones ofparticipants. Ten individuals among university students at Linnaeus University in Sweden are selected for this research, and this sample choice is per their experience with two selected LBS entertaining applications, Pokémon Go and Tinder. As a result, six themes have been recognized to answer the research questions. Low privacy concerns about location information, especially in entertainment applications with negligible effect on adoption have been identified. However, author of this research suggests, that developers of LBS entertaining applications should care for retaining their credibility because it can have an impact on the adoption of their LBS services.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / A number of programmes have been implemented in the field of development communication, with the specific aim of promoting social change among communities, and a series of studies have illustrated the positive effects of entertainment-education (EE) interventions on individuals’ behavioural change. These programmes can be applied in a variety of fields, including health, agriculture and sustainable development, and make use of a different range of media such as radio, television and theatre. In line with the theory and conceptual framework of the Integrated Model of Communication for Social Change (IMCSC), this research is intended to explore, empirically, how development communication programmes can foster collective action amongst community members. The research is based on a case study of Sesotho Media & Development (SM&D), a nongovernmental organisation that has been operating in Lesotho, using media to promote social transformation and individual change. For the past 10 years, SM&D has been working in Lesotho using a methodology based on facilitated documentary screening with a specific focus on HIV/Aids-related issues, combined with capacity building programmes aimed at training facilitators among support groups, youth groups and prison inmates around the country. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods of enquiry were employed throughout the research. Common research tools used include questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and observation. In addition, a variety of secondary sources of information, including evaluation reports, funding proposals and journal articles were reviewed. The results of the study reveal that development communication initiatives are able to foster collective forms of action by increasing the level of efficacy amongst the audience. Conclusions highlight that participatory development communication with an educational aim allows people to identify problems and to strategise and mobilise resources for collective action.

Although efforts have been made by the Afghan government and its international partners to promote the tents of gender equality in Afghan society, biases against women and other marginalized groups persist in the society and media sector, particularly. The current study is a timely research because feminist media studies are an under-researched field in the context of Afghanistan. My research aims to be a contribution to this field and open a path for Afghan feminist media studies. The current study explores the representations of gender relations in transnational television soap operas broadcast on Afghan television stations, audiences’ decoding of the representations, and the role of the media in promoting social change. The selected soap operas for the study are Paiman and Qesay Maa, Turkish television soap operas dubbed in the Dari language. The current study is based on feminist theory and feminist methodology, providing a balance of content and reception analysis. Drawing on feminist media studies and focusing on media representations, the content analysis of transnational soap operas echoed previous studies on representations of gender relations and indicated that gender relations are often portrayed in stereotypical and traditional manners. The content analysis further demonstrated that women are objectified in different ways and are often represented as domestic, passive, selfless beings in men’s service. Moreover, relationships between women are often based on rivalry, hatred, and shaming and often without any particular reason. The study also found that contrary to women, men are often represented at outdoor and professional settings. Additionally, grounded on encoding/decoding model through a feminist lens, the thematic analysis of focus group discussions demonstrated that audiences constantly interact with media text and actively make meaning. Interestingly, FGD findings further indicated that as active viewers, both female and male participants, derive multiple and often diverse meanings from the media text. Although both female and male participants problematize the content of transnational soap operas, their interpretations of representations of gender relations and gender equality are dissimilar. The study concludes that transnational soap operas, and the media in general, can play an important role in promoting social change in Afghanistan, particularly gender parity through the Entertainment-Education strategy. However, an intersectional framework is essential in designing EE programmes for promoting gender equality in a diverse society like Afghanistan.

The subject of this Master’s thesis is to define the individual instruments of the marketing mix and communication mix. The thesis also provides an analysis of the current condition of entertainment services. The result is a complex entertainment services marketing mix proposal.