TL;DR December 2024
A compendium of the comings and goings in research, development, and news about our digital playgrounds from December 2024.
Christmas… er, this newsletter is coming a bit early this month as I do not want to be the one disturbing anyone’s time off at the end of the year! So before you close down the office for the year, here are some things you may have missed from December 2024.
Research & News
Among Us does not teach you to be an assassin
Let’s get this one out of the way.
After the arrest of Luigi Mangione for the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, news outlets started discussing his history of video game play. Specifically highlighting the time he spent playing “assassins” on the children’s game, rated E 10+ highly popular, cartoon, space bean generator… Among Us.
I have talked about moral panic before it is the gift that keeps on giving. Going to do my best to keep it brief here.
Among Us does not teach you to be an assassin.
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
Exhibit C:
If you want to read more about why Among Us is not relevant in this case, a few editorials have come out discussing just that (such as this one from Rolling Stone and this one from Polygon)
Gen Z as the first “game first” generation?
A new report from Deloitte Digital Media Trends shows a shift towards video games as being the favorite entertainment activity among Generation Z. While millennials still show a strong preference for video games, TV shows and movies still slightly win out. Part of this may have to do with time constraints of being older (I certainly played more video games before I had children and job responsibilities) but it may also be a sign of broader shifting trends in the media landscape.
New report from FOSI highlights the need for Digital Literacy Programs
A new report from Family Online Safety Institute looks at parents and teens online experiences and highlights the desire for education and tooling to promote safety online so teens can can continue to enjoy positive impact of digital life has on their social lives and wellbeing. Notably, parents and teens also agreed that families hold primary responsibility for teaching and guiding teens when it comes to their wellbeing (AS PER MY LAST NEWSLETTER).
You can learn more and see the full FOSI report here.
Academics are facing abuse online
I’ve spoken before about the very public abuse that game developers face online (still an issue that needs addressing), academics are also facing ever increasing amounts of hate and harassment online (earlier this year, present company included). The combination of the normalization of extreme ideas, the lack of moderation on some platforms, and the general growing, loud sentiments against “institutions”is leading to various forms of online harassment including stalking and death threats.
I have shared this resource before, but it is worth sharing again: VOX Pol has put together a resource on researchers’ security, safety, and resilience. While this was created specifically with online extremism and terrorism researchers in mind, many of the suggestions hold across discipline, specifically around issues of informed consent, boundary setting, and institutionalized support.
What Roblox safety updates mean for users
Last month, I reported on the Roblox update to their parental controls. This month, Sara Grimes (one of the leading voices in discussions around technological literacy) published a piece on The Conversation talking about what this actually means for its users. It is unexpectedly optimistic, but I think it is important to take the wins where we get them. Is there a long way to go? Yes. But is this better than it was yesterday… er, last month? Also, yes. You can read her piece here.
I also found this video from @thegamereducator (on Instagram) about the Roblox safety updates to be particularly insightful.
Misogyny as extremism
If you have been following my work, you know that over the last few years I have been talking about the normalization of extremist ideology in the social spaces in and around games. While I have always treated misogyny as an extremist ideology, there has been significant pushback to consider it as such. A piece published by VOX Pol this month, talks about what it would be to broadly adopt the stance that misogyny is an extremist ideology. As they say in the piece:
“Recognising misogyny as a form of extremism enables governments to approach it with the seriousness it deserves. It supports the development of targeted policies and legal frameworks to combat gender-based violence, systemic discrimination, and societal division. Recognising the gendered components of extremist ideology is essential to accurately responding to their risk and understanding their transmission.
…It’s important to identify that misogynistic beliefs are extremist, and should not be accepted and tolerated.”
You can read the full article here.
Accessibility benefits everyone
Accessibility features benefit everyone. A new research report analyzed more than 100 research studies documenting how captions improve comprehension, attention, and memory. Despite the fact that captions are often thought of as a feature for few (i.e., children, adults learning to read, persons who are hard of hearing), the benefits of having them are much broader. On a personal note, I honestly cannot remember the last time I chose to watch a show or movie without them? You can read the full article here.
…2024 was another year of layoffs
Last year, I feel like I talked about layoffs in the gaming industry in every month of my newsletter. While it seemed less of a focus this year, the industry itself actually fared worse than the two years previous combined. Raj Patel shared this graphic on BlueSky and goes through the data in the thread. It is worth checking out (you can find it here).
ICYMI: Psychgeist
This month, we released the last Psychgeist of Pop Culture volume for 2024 focusing on the one and only Taylor Swift.
In these 13 chapters (it had to be 13, right?) we explore her eras, her use of visual imagery, the science of Swifties and Easter eggs and the patriarchy (among other things!). As always, PDF is free but come on, this is too beautiful to not have on your shelf. You can get your copy here!
What I’m watching: I came across this fantastic TED talk this month from Vidhya Ramalingam, founder and CEO of Moonshot (an organization I have had the pleasure of working with several times in the past). In her TED talk she discusses the very real dangers climate scientists face online due to online conspiracies, mis- and dis-information. Interventions for this kind of work are challenging and time consuming, but she ends the talk with some case studies around the effectiveness of “pre-bunking”. You can watch her TED talk here.
What I’m reading: This month on BlueSky, I did a 12 days of Christmas digital advent calendar, highlighting some of my favorite books/research/journalism. ICYMI:
Day 1: One of my favorite books of 2024, Unlocked, by Pete Etchells
Day 2: Of of my favorite books I’ve ever had the joy of contributing to, The Psychgeist of Pop Culture: Bluey, edited by Kelli Dunlap
Day 3: Digital Playgrounds, by the wonderful Amanda Farough and myself. This series of books is for parents, by parents, about how to navigate …well, our digital playgrounds.
Day 4: In 2019, I published a collection of short stories about every girls, doing everyday things, with their everyday abilities called Pragmatic Princess. It is without question the project I’m most proud of.
Day 5: How to be a Woman Online by Nina Jankowicz ….for, reasons.
Day 6: The End of Gamers by Dan Golding. Years later, I realize how absolutely foundational this piece has been to my entire career of research.
Day 7: This NYT Op Ed by Eliot Higgins highlighting the importance of education to combat disinformation online
Day 8: The Rise of Malort, an Unexpected Midwest Princess. Oh Malort, it really is the gift that keeps on giving.
Day 9: Well Played: For the Love of Games, edited by Drew Davidson. I don’t know about you, but I love a sneak peek into game researchers origin stories.
Day 10: ‘Among Us’ Everything to know about the kids’ game Luigi Mangione Played in 2020, by Alyssa Mercante. …to just reiterate the first point I made in this month’s newsletter.
Day 11: You can - and should - drink Stardew Valley’s Mayo by Nicole Carpenter. Nicole is one of the best in games journalism. This is one of my favorite pieces of hers from this year.
Day 12: Where are all the digital literacy programs? by Rachel Kowert. I put out a mid-month newsletter in December which is something I ‘rarely’ do but the lack of digital literacy programs across the globe is really, really a problem. Calling all educators, parents, and advocates.
What I’m playing: …or rather, what I want to be playing in 2025.
Split Fiction (Hazelight Studios). It Takes Two, from the same studio, is easily one of the best games I have ever played. I am not exaggerating when I say I cannot contain my excitement for their newest project announced at the game awards last month.
Then, of course, IYKYK…. EXCUSE ME WHILE I WATCH THIS ON REPEAT FOREVER. Putting in my preemptive vacation notice now.
As this is the last Newsletter of the month, I want to take a minute to thank you all for being here, subscribing to my newsletter (I see you my paid subscribers!), subscribing to my YouTube channel (which passed 3k this year!), liking, sharing, commenting. You keep my science dreams alive.
Other places you can find my musings…
Personal Website, for more about my research and upcoming events. Which I recently updated! Take a look if you haven’t been there in a while (#OpenToWork)
Psychgeist, my YouTube channel dedicated to the science of digital games. New videos are released sporadically on Wednesdays and if you aren’t a subscriber yet, please click that link and hit that big red button. Subscribing is FREE and is the easiest way to support my work by increasing engagement and making the algorithm happy.
BlueSky, for those who have migrated over
LinkedIn, if that is more your style
Most Recent Save Podcast, go ahead, give it a like. I promise you’ll love it.