[pt] O presente trabalho pretende investigar algumas formas de participação de autores, leitores e críticos em mídias digitais, especialmente em redes sociais, nesse processo de construção de visibilidade, e as possíveis consequências dessas participações. Para tal, analisaremos tanto a fortuna crítica referente aos tópicos apresentados, bem como publicações que circulam no âmbito virtual, além da análise de perfis no YouTube, Instagram, participações em clubes de leitura, entre outros. A curiosidade sobre a vida de um autor, como afirma Phillip Lejeune, não é algo novo dentro dos estudos literários. No entanto, na contemporaneidade, muitas vezes podemos confundir a vida do autor com o que ele publica em mídias sociais, especialmente as digitais, confundir a função autor com o sujeito empírico. A forma como o autor aparece em mídias digitais pode ser crucial para aumentar sua visibilidade, assim como a da obra que está sendo lançada. No entanto, o autor não é o único ator nesse processo de construção de visibilidade (e nem o único que aparece) em tempos de redes sociais. Junto com ele, temos também o leitor, que cada vez se torna mais presente nesse processo de visibilidade. Com a participação mais acentuada do leitor, resta-nos refletir sobre o papel da crítica nessa transformação das relações, decorrentes do advento das novas tecnologias. / [en] This work intends to investigate some forms of participation of authors, readers and critics in digital media, especially on social network media, as part of the process of gaining visibility, and the consequences of this participation. In order to consider these instances of participation, we will analyze both the theorical concepts related to our inquiry as well as publications that may be found in cyberspace, analyses of social network profiles from YouTube, Instagram, participation in book clubs, among others. The curiosity about an author s life, as proposed by Philp Lejeune, is not a new concept in the area of literature studies. However, nowadays, sometimes we may confuse an author s life with what he/she publishes in his/her social media or mix up the authorship with the person itself. The way that the author presents himself/ herself in cyberspace can be crucial for his/her visibility beyond his work. Authors, however, are not the only actors that we may find in play in cyberspace: along, we may also consider the arising of reader s presence. In the context of reader s presence alongside the author in this environment, we still need to ask ourselves the role of the criticism in these transformations that are a consequence of the emergence of these technologies.

[pt] Esta tese investiga como as novas práticas digitais incorporadas à experiência esportiva desenham uma nova ética do torcer e um novo sujeito nela circunscrito – delineados por reconfigurações de significados, valores, representações e liturgias em torno do espetáculo futebolístico. Por meio de entrevistas em profundidade com es-pectadores-torcedores regulares de futebol e, de forma complementar, de observações etnográficas referentes ao acompanhamento de jogos em estádio e em casa (TV), o estudo procura mapear e compreender essa emergente etiqueta cibertorcedora. Procu-ra refletir sobre os impactos da cibercultura e da hipermidiatização nas formas de vivenciar, significar e valorizar o futebol e de, por meio dele, construir interações e sentidos. / [en] This thesis investigates how the new digital practices incorporated into the sporting experience draw a new twist ethic and a new subject within it - outlined by reconfigurations of meanings, values, representations and liturgies around the soccer spectacle. Through in-depth interviews with regular soccer spectators and, in a complementary way, ethnographic observations regarding the follow-up of home and stadium games (TV), the study seeks to map and understand this emerging etiquette. It seeks to reflect on the impacts of cyberculture and hypermidiatization on the ways of experiencing, meaning and value in soccer and, through it, to build interactions and senses.

<p>The hyperpersonal model predicts computer-mediated communication can allow for relationships formed in that medium to become more intimate than their offline counterparts. Specifically, it combines ideas first presented in social information processing (i.e., that the volume of information exchanged over time within computer-mediated relationship is more important than how long it takes to exchange that volume) with the technological affordances given to the sender, receiver, message, and channel in order to create a feedback loop of assumed good intentions within the CMC medium that allows for online relationships to surpass face-to-face relationships in terms of their emotional intimacy. Existing research has shown that a variety of factors influence how people feel about an online friend, including the richness of the medium, personality, and the amount of emotional self-disclosure that had been exchanged within the relationship. However, studies to date have inconsistently measured self-disclosure and largely rely on survey or experimental methods rather than the examination of existing text-based datasets. This study proposes and tests a model that the relationship between an initial person’s emotional self-disclosure and the reciprocal self-disclosure the friend responds with in a CMC medium is mediated by the degree to which their language converges, or the degree to which they empathize with each other, and is moderated by the volume of text exchanged by the pairs during their relationship. The study uses a corpus of the text messages exchanged between 2,174 pairs of people. The results indicate that there is an indirect relationship between initial self-disclosure and reciprocal self-disclosure which is mediated by is empathetic convergence. Furthermore, the volume of information exchanged may also play a role in some of these interactions. This study offers implications and suggestions for refining the hyperpersonal model to be applicable in the current digital zeitgeist.</p>

This thesis examines the fissures and intersections between feminist digital media, queer theory, and Mad and disability studies. Moving across social media platforms, hashtag data, and digital gaming, this project argues for the subversive and creative potential within Mad/crip/queer digital identity performances. My theorizing of the avatar as an automedial figure in this project is attentive to the politics of the face as a site of encounter, to digital bodies and movement, to identification and community-building, and to embodiment and affects that move between on- and off-screen lives. This thesis follows the “bad avatar,” a collection of Mad digital identity practices that interrupt, disrupt, and transgress normalizing and normative digital spaces of North American settler capitalist culture. Claiming the bad avatar as a deliberate identity position is an act of claiming the label of “bad,” which here has multiple meanings: Mad queer bodies—physical and digital—are bad citizens because we break the heteronormative patriarchal rules. We’re troublemakers—we make trouble for power systems and those who embody power. We can be bad workers, unproductive and fatigued. We can be bad for capitalism and bad for nationalist morale. We also experience feelings that become pathologized and policed. As despair, panic, melancholy, and angst stick to our bodies our bodies themselves become framed as bad: sick, broken, wrong, a problem in need of fixing or eradication. Reclaiming “bad” is both a celebration of the willful subject (Ahmed 2014) and a challenge to the binary of “good/bad” that is used to oppress Mad and disabled bodies. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis theorizes the digital avatar as an automedial figure, a mode of virtual embodiment and a site of encounter. I use “avatar” to draw a connecting line between widely varied digital identity acts that occur across social media platforms and video games. This thesis examines the “bad avatar,” a collection of Mad/crip/disabled faces, bodies, and identity practices that interrupt, disrupt, and transgress the normalizing and normative digital spaces of North American settler capitalist culture. Mad/crip digital identity play offers avenues for enacting modes of resistance through the politics of representation and the processes of identity performance and community-building.

[pt] A pesquisa teve como objetivo geral compreender a experiência e a interatividade em objetos digitais ilustrados, que misturam animação, quadrinhos e videogame. A construção destes objetos digitais, para visualização em sites (homepages) ou aplicativos (apps) para smartphone, é baseada no desenho de ilustração, sendo este um tipo de trabalho no qual a narrativa se desenvolve por meio de imagens desenhadas junto ao texto (falado ou escrito), codificado em produtos para circulação cotidiana. No estudo, foram consideradas questões elaboradas a partir de observações realizadas no campo, tais como: Existe uma designação emergente para objetos que misturam animação, quadrinhos e videogame? Existe um produto codificado, com uma audiência e repositórios específicos? Quais são as dificuldades ou facilidades para o desenvolvimento desse tipo de trabalho, tanto no contexto global quanto no brasileiro? Que qualidades a ilustração pode trazer para o design em mídias digitais, considerando a diversidade estilística que inclui desenho feito à mão e digital? A pesquisa documental catalogou 118 objetos entre março de 2021 e fevereiro de 2024. Foram realizadas 30 entrevistas com 17 realizadores brasileiros e 13 estrangeiros, nativos de Alemanha, Austrália, Colômbia, Estados Unidos, Espanha, Holanda, Índia, Japão, México, Taiwan e Uganda, entre animadores, quadrinistas, designers e game artists, gerando dados qualitativos discutidos na tese. A pesquisa desenvolveu modelos de análise para compreender a experiência e a interatividade em objetos digitais ilustrados, buscando formas de discuti-los e discerni-los sem categorizá-los, a priori, como animação, quadrinhos ou videogame. Autores das três grandes áreas abordadas, como Marina Estela Graça (2006), animação; Thierry Groensteen (2015), quadrinhos; e Jesper Juul (2005), videogame, embasaram a discussão teórica. Os resultados indicam a inexistência de terminologia consolidada para designar essas obras que utilizam misturas, bem como a existência de obstáculos na produção e circulação dos objetos. No entanto, os achados sugerem que há um uso significativo da mistura de formatos e da interatividade em obras interativas ilustradas, contribuindo para a construção de sentido junto aos textos e ilustrações, estratégias que podem ser compreendidas e replicadas no ensino e na prática do design em mídias digitais. / [en] The research aimed to understand the experience and interactivity in illustrated digital objects, which mix animation, comics and video games. The construction of these digital objects, experienced on websites (homepages) or applications (apps) for smartphones, is based on illustration, a type of work that develops narratives through images drawn alongside text (spoken or written), encoded in products for everyday circulation. Research questions were formulated considering observations carried out in the field, such as: Is there an emerging designation for objects that mix animation, comics and video games? Is there a codified product, with a specific audience and repositories? What are the challenges or advantages in developing this type of work, both on a global scale and within the Brazilian context? What qualities can illustration bring to design in digital media, considering the stylistic diversity that includes hand-drawn alongside digital drawing? The research cataloged 118 objects between March 2021 and February 2024. 30 interviews were carried out with 17 Brazilian creators and 13 foreigners, natives of Germany, Australia, Colombia, the United States, Spain, the Netherlands, India, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Uganda, among animators, comic artists, designers and game artists, generating qualitative data discussed in the thesis. The research developed frameworks to understand the experience and interactivity in illustrated digital objects, seeking ways to discuss and discern them without categorizing them, a priori, as animation, comics or video games. Authors from the three main areas covered supported the theoretical discussion, such as Marina Estela Graça (2006), animation; Thierry Groensteen (2015), comics; and Jesper Juul (2005), video game. The results indicate the lack of consolidated terminology to designate these works that use mixtures, as well as the existence of obstacles in the production and circulation of objects. However, the findings suggest that there is significant use of the mixture of formats and interactivity in illustrated interactive works, in ways that contribute to making meaning alongside texts and illustrations, strategies that can be understood and replicated in the teaching and practice of design in digital media.

Down Stream [Appalachia] is an immersive, interactive art installation that addresses themes of ecological preservation, conservation, and connectedness—illuminating the precarity of imperiled freshwater species in the Appalachian region. The exhibition is composed of reflective, refractive sculptures and underwater video footage, surrounded by fully-immersive spatial audio. Both the audio and visual elements react to audience presence and proximity. Species highlighted are the Candy Darter (Etheostoma osburni); the Cumberlandian Combshell (Epioblasma brevidens) and other freshwater mussels; and the Eastern Hellbender Salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis). This paper examines the context and content of this installation, its progression and influences, and themes of ecology and the environment in the Southeast United States. / Master of Fine Arts / There are endangered species right here in the mountains of Virginia, and hardly anyone knows about them. Down Stream [Appalachia] is an immersive, interactive art installation that attempts to raise awareness and allow people to connect to these animals that otherwise go unseen. This paper examines the context, content, and themes of the installation.

The phrase "Once upon a time..." has been a powerful way to capture people's interest and attention for a very long time. Alongside the digitalization of society new forms of storytelling have emerged. The main goal, however, seems to remain the same: to reach and engage people. This thesis aims to research how storytelling, used in the digital media landscape, can serve as a tool to not only reach its audiences but also to strengthen brands and build long-lasting relationships. Through seven semi-structured interviews with communication and media production professionals, we have gathered empirical data to examine how they utilize storytelling in the making of media productions. The results of this study show that storytelling is an important aspect that tends to influence the daily work of media producers. However, it appears to be a challenge to find what the core of the story should be and how to communicate it to the audience. This study presents key factors for successful storytelling, such as conducting thorough research on the brand and making it feel authentic. It also delves deeper into the challenges of reaching an audience in today’s digital media landscape along with efficient ways to utilize different media platforms.

Immersion and narration opportunities, whether linear or not, provided by the medium of interactive digital games offer a wide variety of ways to immerse players in the world in front of them on the screen and to engage users’ interaction with information presented. This thesis documents a new interactive digital narrative game and presents an analysis of its genre and narrative mythological frames. The introduction paragraph opens on the importance of the chosen topic and its relevance to the wider media and general public. I review theoretical and fictional works - studied for this thesis and explain the importance of every source, as well as main theories and ideas that have served as current fundamentals of this thesis’ end project - a video game, such as to why it is specifically important to not only showcase historical aspects in media, but also folk, mythological, and ethnic traditions to properly represent the culture, backing it up with established theoretical guidelines of designing a proper interactive digital narrative. The methodology section presents an explanation for the time frames chosen and research methods applied and discussed over with the thesis chair. The proposal concludes with possible application of the video game in different areas outside of entertainment purposes, such as educational or cultural research areas, for example.

In 2014, Gauteng Education MEC announced the “Big Switch On” project in which he envisaged paperless classrooms in Gauteng schools over the next three years. He also said that this would see digital media such as iPads and other electronic Tablets replacing textbooks and stationery. He had a vision that the chalkboard would disappear and projectors would take their place. When the MEC for Education introduced the Big Switch On project, he emphasised the positive effects that paperless classrooms will have on the learners. Education authorities were concerned about and wanted to improve the quality of learning and teaching for disadvantaged learners. However, the MEC for Education failed to highlight the possible impact that paperless classrooms will have on educators. It is important that educators are given an opportunity to provide input with regard to the implementation of paperless classrooms. This study will focus on the perceived stress experienced by teachers in Gauteng, whose schools have been part of the Big Switch On project and have had to mandatorily include the use of digital tablets in their classrooms. This study sought to investigate the influence of digital media use in classrooms on teacher stress in Gauteng schools. It is important to conduct a contextual study that explores the perceived stress factors experienced by teachers in the Gauteng schools that were selected in the Big Switch On project. The research from other contexts can only provide general frameworks regarding the constructs involved. It cannot replace the research conducted specifically for the Big Switch On project. The purpose of this study is threefold. Firstly, the Big Switch On project has been introduced in 2015 in seven Gauteng schools, and was expanded to 375 schools in the following two years. For many schools, this is a first time, thereby rendering it a scarcely researched topic. The implications and effects of the project have yet to be considered. Secondly, it is often assumed that the use of digital tablets in the classroom makes teachers lives easier and reduces their workload. The research that will be undertaken will address this question scientifically to make reliable and valid conclusions that go beyond assumptions. Thirdly, related research has indicated barriers and challenges to the implementation of digital tablets in the classroom. The research will address these barriers and make recommendations regarding future implementation of digital tablets in the classroom. In this qualitative study, I chose a multi-site case study with purposeful, convenience sampling. Two secondary schools that were part of the Big Switch On project were selected. The classrooms in the schools had smartboards, the teachers were given laptops and learners were given tablets. Furthermore, a lot of money was spent on the upgrade of the infra-structure of the schools. These schools were chosen as sites to study the influence of digital media use in the classroom on teacher stress. I chose to interview all levels of teachers and principals, which would allow me to make comparisons as well as provide me with data from which I would be able to reflect on my own practices. I chose to gather data by means of semi-structured face to face interviews. The data revealed that teachers were not part of the decision-making process to introduce digital media in the classroom. Although teachers cited benefits, they felt that the challenges were frustrating with the implementation of digital media in the classroom. Teachers expressed that the initial workload increased but felt that it would decrease over time. Whilst teachers felt that the quality of teaching has improved, they indicated that the quality of learning has deteriorated because learners use the tablets for off-task behaviour. Teachers made recommendations that mirrored the recommendations from the literature and if these concerns are addressed, it would make the implementation of digital media in the classroom more effective and at the same time empower teachers. In order to address school effectiveness, one needs optimum levels of commitment and performance from teachers. Therefore, it is important to emphasize any notion affecting the performance capability of teachers and learners and to create stress free working conditions. It is with this in mind that the study was conducted. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Educational Leadership and Management)

This study centres on the psychological effects new digital media, like the internet and cellphones, have on adolescents. Although the internet has enormous benefits, it also poses a host of risks that can make adolescents vulnerable to victimisation and/or developing associated psychosocial problems. Characterisations of adolescents’ social relationships in the internet medium, as well as the investigation of the continuity between digital media literacy and online social behaviours, carry high relevance for developmental psychology. It is during the adolescent period that peer interactions arguably hold the greatest importance for individuals’ social and behavioural functioning. Using a logic model for evaluation, the researcher conducted an exploratory research study on digital media use among adolescent learners aged 13 to 15 years to determine whether schools could guide them to think critically for themselves about the entire realm of these new media. The data were gathered from school principals, teachers, parents and learners from three secondary schools in Gauteng Province, which were purposely selected to represent different socio-economic circumstances. A total of 230 people (n=230) participated in the research. Mixed research methods were employed in this study. The quantitative research methods supported the qualitative research methods. The literature review suggested that current media literacy education, which forms part of the Life Orientation curriculum, does not enable learners to think critically or make informed choices about their behaviour in the digital world – because it incorporates neither ethics nor responsibility. One of the main aims of the study therefore was to investigate the importance of expanding existing media literacy education, namely by incorporating two additional learning categories in the curriculum: Digital Safety and Security, and Digital Citizenship. These additional learning categories were introduced in the form of lessons by the teachers participating in the study. A think aloud strategy was used whereby learners verbalise what they were doing and learning while engaging in the digital media literacy lesson activities. The learners’ verbalisations were used to ascertain what learning was occurring in the classroom. The experimental group demonstrated an increase in critical thinking from pre- to post-evaluation. This research therefore proposes that the signature element of intervention strategies for inappropriate online behaviour be to create a “culture of critical thinking”. This implies greatly reducing the risks cyberspace pose, and at the same time enhancing adolescents’ abilities to use it in ways that create and deepen healthy relationships – in the digital as well as the real world. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)