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Many simulation games feature realistic mechanics that are highly representational (Adams 2014, p. 37) and closely recreate real activities or processes. Simulation games where the player keep artificial pets in their own environment (e.g. virtual aquarium) often feature abstract mechanics (Adams 2014, p. 37). The question was how players would experience an abstract simulation game where players keep artificial pets (fish), with realistic mechanics that are more representational. A simple game prototype was created based on existing games within the abstract life-simulation genre, which respondents playtested for 15 minutes. Data was collected through a short survey prior to each playtest, and semi-structured interviews after respondents had tested the artefact. Results indicated (among other things) that it was possible to translate many affordances of real aquariums and fish into mechanics. Whether they were perceived or not depended on the personality of the respondent, and did not have any correlation between knowledge about fish or gaming habits.

Forms of physical interaction have been restricted during the covid-19 pandemic, which has forced civil society organizations (CSO:s), with the aim to create and maintain participation and engagement for their cause, to move activities aimed to create engagement to a digital space. This thesis aims to investigate which lessons these organizations bring with them from the period based on perceived possibilities and limitations with creating engagement in a digital space. Departing from affordance theory and theory of social capital, this paper tries to gain understanding for the relationship between the organizations’ social context and the technological attributes to further understand which implications it has for virtual engagement’s three communicative components: network ties, content, and interaction. With case study research design, five semi structured interviews with employees from five Swedish CSO:s, working with sustainable and global development, were conducted to get an inside perspective of the challenges and possibilities during the period. Results show that even though digital media entails many possibilities in regards to reach beyond geographical borders and effective resource management, the organizations have learned that some communicative aspects of physical gatherings cannot be replaced. The biggest limitation mentioned in regards to digital media is the aspect of informal relationship building interaction which is imperative to create and maintain engagement. Global and sustainable development means an inherent incentive to use inclusive and sustainable solutions, but it is also important to understand which aspects the digital format cannot replace or facilitate if we move towards a future where restrictions may become part of everyday life.

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The purpose of this dissertation is to explore social networking sites' structural affordances and their implications for identity creation, maintenance, performance, broadcast, and comprehension. Facebook is employed as a case study. By applying affordance theory, I argue that scholars should recognize Facebook as an ethic, or as a mediator, that employs moral choices when filtering input that is then displayed and aggregated through the site. By framing identity as narrative, I show that identities are on-going and are not only created via social expectations, but also work as reflexive tools used to write the self into being. Specifically, due to the large scope of this project, I explore the ways in which the structure and cultivated cultures of the site influence notions of, and expectations for, authenticity, agency, and anonymity. Breaking down Facebook into its constituent parts, I first completed a structural discourse analysis of the Sign Up Page, the About Page, Likes, Friends, Photographs, the Timeline, and Cookies. Next, I conducted focus group and one-on-one interviews with 45 emerging adults to learn how they recognize and work within Facebook's structure. Themes emerged that speak to the "cultures" that Facebook privileges and reifies through their granted affordances: Digitally Structured Culture, Visual Culture, Celebrity Culture, and Socially Divided Culture. I found that users generally adhere to Facebook's problematic conceptions of identification on the site, particularly through the ways in which they describe and perform authenticity, agency, and anonymity. Users have come to view the site as the official social space and thus feel pressured to perform a unitary, "accurate," and superficial self. The inherent trust placed in Facebook has led users to rely on the site's decisions regarding structural affordances and to not question the identity guidelines provided. This dissertation concludes with a call for a more rigorous understanding of social networking affordances and a wide-spread application of methods that recognize social media as non-neutral filters. I argue that the limited choices presented by Facebook compel users to build conceptions of identity that adhere to the cultural expectations privileged by the site. Although it is clear that my methods can be applied more generally to other social media and digital spaces, I also argue that Facebook is unique in that it is a "tentpole" of both interfaces and user content--the site offers a variety of identity performance tools and acts as the main place that users visit to "conduct research" on others. / Media & Communication