Introduction

Tweens and teens proved during the pandemic that given access to relevant spaces and tools, they will build the socially vibrant worlds they want—not just accept the worlds they’re offered. The explosive expansion of customizable platforms like Discord and Minecraft has offered many youth the opportunity to experiment with and explore the design of socio-technical spaces and places that reflect their interests and need for creativity, expression, and social connection. While the particular contours of their online play worlds are perhaps not a surprise—research has consistently shown that youth thrive online when the communities they inhabit are welcoming, support their agency and belonging, include peers and mentors who share an interest, and provide access to engaging activities (Cohen and Kahne 2012; Goldman et al. 2008; Ito et al. 2013; Ito et al. 2018)—these worlds nonetheless provide us with some clues as to how youth are thinking about positive and healthy relationships to the games and play communities they consider to be (increasingly) integral to their lives.

This chapter aims to explore the socio-technical design principles that underlie “care(full) online play communities” on game and game-adjacent platforms like Minecraft and Discord. Care(full) online communities provide a flourishing space for youth that is welcoming, safe, and fosters social connections and meaningful contribution while promoting social and emotional competence. They offer intergenerational social support and connection, as youth engage with peers and near-peer mentors around shared interests and identities. These communities center around interests like gaming, political organizing, fan fiction, hip hop, or racial, ethnic, sexual, or gender identities. Care(full) communities offer youth opportunities to take ownership of community values and model them for others, providing them agency over their environment, addressing safety concerns, and ensuring that values and norms remain culturally relevant and resilient (Gee 2005; Ito et al. 2018). They work against typical structures of adult power, surveillance, and productivity, by centering youth experiences, needs, motivations, and assets in the design of codes of conduct, social dynamics, incentive systems, and moderation strategies.

Our work is informed by over 15 years of research and design work with youth in creating online play communities that center youth interests, amplify the social and relational, are culturally responsive, developmentally appropriate, and created in partnership with the communities that use them. We operate out of a positive youth development framework that provides youth with contexts and opportunities that tie into their interests and strengths instead of their shortcomings (Salen et al. 2021). The approach is asset-based, focused on the expertise, experiences, and identities brought by youth to the work, and equity-oriented, focused on youth from vulnerable and marginalized communities.

A Care(full) Approach

The transition from childhood to adolescence marks a crucial turning point in the life course of youth. This period is instrumental in shaping individual motivations, mindsets, and identities, and can significantly impact life course trajectories, including physical and mental health, education, and social and economic success. During adolescence, youth are highly motivated to form social relationships with peers and adults who share their interests and can act as mentors. They require opportunities to experiment, take social risks, and develop their identities in safe, low-stakes settings. Additionally, they need clear boundaries to operate within and earn status and prestige through meaningful contributions to a community or group. (Crone and Dahl 2012; Ito et al. 2013, 2018).

Given the importance of adolescent development, it is essential to thoughtfully provide online social experiences that promote positive development while also safeguarding youth from potentially harmful experiences. Care(full) online play communities support youth wellbeing by increasing their assets and agency, promoting engagement and contribution, and encouraging and recognizing their social and emotional competence to thrive (Hinson et al. 2016; Slovak et al. 2018; Jagannath et al. 2020; Salen Tekinbaş et al. 2020; Tekinbaş et al. 2021; Jagannath et al. 2022). Thus, it is imperative to establish online communities that foster positive development by facilitating meaningful interactions and relationships, prioritizing safety, and promoting agency and social-emotional competencies.

2.1 Design principles of care(full) environments

In the following sections, we outline a care(full) design approach consisting of four design principles. This approach has been developed through numerous studies and design efforts, with the aim of creating online environments that are safe, welcoming, and empowering for youth. Care(full) online environments inform youth about what they can expect—values, norms, behaviors, and consequences; welcome them in ways that validate their identities, encourage a sense of belonging, and signal inclusion; guide youth toward social connection and meaningful contribution; and incentivize a caring and responsive community, all while keeping youth safe. The traditional mechanisms for safety are conceptualized and implemented in the form of structures (e.g., rules, moderators’ social practices, technological plugins that detect harm in chat or during virtual play). While these mechanisms are necessary and important, they limit the meaning of safety in design. For youth to truly learn experientially, they need to feel “safe-enough” to express their vulnerabilities, goals, and learn from potential mistakes. This is akin to toddlers that have to learn to walk by practicing a million times during when they will fall, but have to learn to recover and persist. Drawing from HCI and evidence-based insights from Developmental Science, we define “safe-enough” as environments that not only prevent harm (e.g., through bullying, trolling), but also provide youth with the necessary support (via designed socio-technical structures) to feel “safe-enough” that they can bring their vulnerable whole selves to the learning experience, knowing they can recover (with support, if they need) from potential mistakes. Our approach draws inspiration from the Inform-Welcome-Guide framework proposed by Klein and Heuser (2008), which is based on effective organizational onboarding practices, as well as New_Public’s Civic Signals framework (2022), which examines qualities of flourishing digital spaces. By incorporating these principles, we aim to create online environments that promote positive youth development while also prioritizing their safety and wellbeing.

2.1.1 Inform youth about what they can expect—values, norms, and behaviors

Youth entering an online community need to be informed about what is expected of them. What behaviors are allowed? Which are disallowed or discouraged? What are the consequences of breaking a rule? Who can they turn to for help? Informing youth can take the form of a tutorial, a code of conduct or community agreement, a terms of service document, or even an informal conversation with a current community member. In its most basic form, the principle of inform includes efforts to provide information, materials, and resources to new participants. We have found that it is important to offer multi-modal, and even redundant cues as to what kinds of behavior are invited or expected in the space. Doing so ensures that youth have the information they need to act in ways that are appropriate and aligned with the norms and values of the community.

2.1.2 Welcome youth in ways that validate their identities, encourages a sense of belonging, and signals inclusion

At their heart, care(full) communities cultivate a sense of belonging: youth feel socially accepted, safe, and supported by peers who “get them”. Matias and others, for example, have found that information about norms is influential when a person cares about a group or they feel like they belong (Matias 2019). Welcome youth through activities and interactions that celebrate their presence and participation, express appreciation for their interest and involvement, and provide opportunities for new members to socially connect with others. Expert players might offer to collaborate with a younger, less experienced player on a build and then share that build with their social network, which contributes status and reputation to the collaborating, and more novice player. Validate youth identities through diverse staffing on a server, for example; encourage a sense of belonging through hands-on, engaged moderation that make youth feel seen and heard; and signal inclusion through the integration of activities that are responsive to culture and community.

2.1.3 Guide youth toward social connection and meaningful contribution

Adolescents seek to matter to others and should be given diverse opportunities for making meaningful contributions to their communities. Care(full) communities provide youth with active, direct assistance to help them connect with other like minded peers and mentors who can provide mentorship, feedback, and recognition. This social matchmaking can be facilitated through activities organized around shared interest, for example, or through community norms that encourage sharing and helping behavior. Minecraft and Discord server communities can provide pathways for players to take on moderation or other staff roles, giving youth opportunities to contribute experience and expertise in ways that help them build status and reputation around identities that matter to them. Mentors closely monitor progress through training programs, providing expertise and guidance.

2.1.4 Incentivize a caring and responsive community

Youth feel valued and appreciated when caring adults and supportive peers provide mentorship, feedback, help, and recognition. Care(full) communities engage youth as stewards and leaders who do the work of community-building and maintaining. Youth are incentivized to take ownership of community values and model them for others, through recognition structures that acknowledge and reward prosocial behavior, like badges, shout-outs, or value ceremonies. Provide clear and responsive systems for reporting abusive or harassing behavior, as well as systems that allow players to highlight sharing and helping behavior from the community.

A care(full) design approach consists of four design principles aimed at creating safe, welcoming, and empowering online environments for youth. The first principle is to inform youth about the community’s values, norms, behaviors, and consequences, with multi-modal cues to ensure youth act appropriately. The second principle is to welcome youth in ways that validate their identities, encourage a sense of belonging, and signal inclusion through activities and interactions that celebrate their presence and participation. The third principle is to guide youth toward social connection and meaningful contribution through active assistance in connecting with peers and mentors who provide feedback and recognition. Finally, the fourth principle is to incentivize a caring and responsive community by engaging youth as stewards and leaders, acknowledging and rewarding prosocial behavior, and providing clear systems for reporting abusive or harassing behavior. The care(full) design approach draws inspiration from effective organizational onboarding practices and flourishing digital spaces, promoting positive youth development while prioritizing their safety and wellbeing. In the following sections we explore a set of design strategies for creating care(full) online communities, which are aligned with the design principles discussed above.

2.2 Care(full) design strategies

When examining online play communities from an adolescent’s perspective, we can observe significant differences in their ability to meet developmental goals. Adolescents require experimentation to explore and develop their identity. As they transition into adulthood, they need to take risks to build essential social and emotional skills such as resilience, self-confidence, and ease with others. However, creating online spaces that cater to these developmental needs while ensuring the safety and security of youth can be challenging. Therefore, effective online community design should rely on three key strategies: social onboarding, social cueing, and reframing conflict.

Social onboarding involves teaching community members how to engage socially with others. By providing clear guidance on social norms and expectations, youth can develop their social skills in a safe and supportive environment. Social cueing is another design strategy that allows members to signal their similarity to others, creating a shared identity and a sense of belonging. This can be achieved through features such as profile customization or group formation based on shared interests. Finally, reframing conflict is a youth-centered approach to managing stress and resolving conflicts within online communities. By providing players with tools and methods for handling conflict, community managers can reduce the risk of harm and promote positive interactions. The following sections further define these three strategies.

2.2.1 Social onboarding

Social onboarding teaches players how to socially interact with other players and the broader play community, and is different from a game tutorial focused on learning how to play. Social onboarding is especially important for adolescent players as they need both the time and space to learn the social norms of the environment in a low stakes setting. While a lot of social learning happens inductively, placing a greater emphasis on social onboarding can help position the community’s prosocial values upfront to the player. Adolescents are hard-wired to break rules and learn from their mistakes when supported in the right ways, and attending to their understanding of norms and standards in a space is one form of support. Curated friendly spaces that make youth feel welcome and encouraged upon entry into a community may help them stick around and contribute as they explore and learn. Further, because many youth may find it challenging to enter an existing game community or group or understand its social norms, codes of conduct are especially important to share. Focus on how, when, and where players are socially onboarded.

Design approaches that encourage positive social dynamics between players contribute to care(full) community design. How might a community convey values and expectations about social interactions to its members? Many youth may find it challenging to enter an existing game community or group or understand its social norms. As a result, codes of conduct are especially important tools for social onboarding. Codes of conduct and community guidelines are tools communities can use to convey the values and expectations associated with social interaction between members. They both inform and guide players around what is and isn’t accepted in the online community. Such guidelines can do more than just tell players what will get them banned. They’re opportunities to create a social contract with the player around positive play. Codes of conduct and community guidelines should be easily accessed in-game, repeated all throughout a player’s journey, and adapted to new kinds of social interactions as a player progresses. For example, the online multiplayer game Sea of Thieves integrates their code of conduct into the lore and world of the game via the Pirate's code. “Disputes Are Settled Upon The Waves: None shall quarrel or overly dissent against another crew, but let every engagement be settled by sword, pistol, and good seamanship,” reads one article of the code; “Respect New Pirates and Their Voyage Ahead. May the old legends help to forge new ones: treat new pirates with respect and share your knowledge,” reads another. Importantly, the playful code of conduct is shown to players in-game every time they start a multiplayer session, rather than being hidden away or only seen once on a website, as is the case with most online games. The Pirate Code is a helpful reminder to players to treat other players as humans, have fun, and be a positive community member. Let’s look at another example.

Survival Lab Community Agreements: In an online after school club for 8-13 year olds run by Connected Camps, youth play together on a Minecraft Survival server. Part of the club’s activities include creating their own community agreements, which define social and behavioral guidelines for the server. Community agreements are a “living” form of a code of conduct, which are owned and managed by the community (Salen Tekinbaş et al. 2020). They can be an important tool to onboard new players into the social norms and practices of the community, while also offering players a governance tool that can reflect changes in the community norms and standards over time (Figure 9.1).

Figure 9.1.: The process of forming and maintaining community agreements in Survival Lab

In Survival Lab, club counselors—college-age students who facilitated activities and moderated the online community—create multiple opportunities for youth to participate in forming and revising the club’s community agreements, and help players develop social norms based on the agreements. Players are encouraged to hangout before and after game play on the server to regularly co-create, modify, and reflect on the club’s community agreements. In addition, club counselors continuously encourage players to address conflict arising on the server in positive and creative ways, offering space for youth to discuss infractions, consequences, and revisions to the rules (Figure 9.2).

Figure 9.2.: Youth are supported in revising community agreements to reflect changing goals and motivations

It is equally important to support youth in building knowledge and social connections early in the play experience. This is because the initial play experiences are integral to shaping the culture and climate of the play-community and help proactively establish positive norms/a positive trajectory for youth. This includes offering multimodal cues as to what kinds of behavior are invited/expected in the space, as well as providing opportunities for youth to “test their understanding” of rules and community norms. Create ways for youth to engage in discussion, reflection, and decision-making about the rules and norms of their community on an ongoing basis. Last, take an approach to moderation that explains rather than bans when mistakes are made.

2.2.2 Social Cueing

Social cueing is an important design strategy in online communities, as it enables players to signal similarity to others based on shared identities, interests, or motivations, thereby facilitating social connection. Adolescents, particularly those in their early adolescence, are highly sensitive to social cues. Public embarrassment or humiliation can be intensely felt by this group, and they require a safe space to make mistakes and explore identities and relationships without fear of judgment or penalty. This age group engages in identity play, which can result in fluid, impermanent, and transgressive social cues.

In designing online communities for adolescents, it is important to recognize that they are highly sensitive to negative social cues or feedback. Therefore, providing players with access to a range of cues that positively allow them to express themselves across a spectrum of identities is crucial. For instance, offering multiple and temporary ways for players to represent their gender pronouns or providing a surplus of naming options can be beneficial. In-game usernames, as found by Crenshaw and Nardi (2014), are one way through which players construct a persistent, pragmatic identity that they use to nurture social relationships across games and platforms. Social cueing is a valuable design strategy that can facilitate social connection in online communities. However, in designing for adolescents, it is essential to recognize their heightened sensitivity to negative social cues or feedback and provide them with a range of positive cues that enable them to express themselves across different identities. This can help create a safe space where youth can explore their identities and relationships without fear of judgment or penalty.

Designing online communities for youth involves presenting them with opportunities to experiment with different social cues related to identity and interests. Platforms like Discord provide users with tools to create custom emojis or memes that can be used to signal their interests. Additionally, users can spin up channels with specific interests and moderate them accordingly. It is important to give youth complete control over when, where, and how they disclose social cues, especially around their identity, which may be fluid. A concrete example of this approach can be seen in Kid Club, a free Minecraft/Discord community for youth aged 8-13, run by Connected Camps. One of the features requested by the players was the ability to share their pronouns with others on the server. However, server plugins that typically affix pronouns to a player's username in the text chat were deemed by youth to be too static and intrusive. In response, Thomas Feltz, a server moderator who had started on Kid Club as a 12-year-old seven years ago, developed a special area called The Pronoun Patio. Players can visit this area, select their chosen pronouns by stepping on custom pressure plates, and have them appear above their avatar's head. This space is private and allows players to “try on” pronouns, even temporarily. When it was first introduced, 78% of players visited the patio and added their pronouns, demonstrating the effectiveness of the solution.

Social cues tied to a player’s identity, however, aren’t restricted to signaling gender identity. Sometimes, being able to signal one’s level of experience can be important. Final Fantasy’s XIV’s Sprout System, provides players with a way to do just this. FFXIV’s Sprout System indicates newcomer status via a visual of a sprout next to the player’s name. The sprout indicates that a player is likely still learning the game and should be treated as such. More veteran players will upgrade to more blossomed flowers, indicating that they’ve spent considerable time in the game. This system helps manage expectations and positively cue one’s in-game status.

2.2.3 Reframing conflict

Reframing conflict is an approach that supports youth in developing positive responses to stress and conflict in multiplayer games. Conflict is a natural part of gameplay, but players often respond with aggression or avoidance. Research shows that alternative responses to conflict, such as mediation, negotiation, and collaboration, can improve interactions (Taylor et al. 2000; Slovak et al. 2018). Adolescents in particular can benefit from seeing conflict as an opportunity to build social relationships. A care(full) design approach provides ways for players to learn from and manage conflict together, recognizing that youth have the power to resolve their own conflicts.

On Kid Club, a kid-friendly Minecraft server run by Connected Camps, server moderators are trained to support players in resolving their own conflicts. When a conflict arises, moderators ask open-ended questions to create a space for both players to listen and reflect. This dialoguing technique helps youth see conflict resolution as a tool to learn about the other person's perspective, strengthening their bond. This approach allows youth to practice social skills to resolve conflict, rather than relying on bans or filters to shut down conversations. Another approach is to give youth easy ways to offer and ask for help, such as a keyboard shortcut (/yo) that alerts a moderator, a direct voice channel, or a visual in-game cue. Finally, amplifying positive social interactions can promote kindness and community. Simple in-game badges or rewards, or shout outs in chat, can recognize players who model constructive conflict resolution.

Designing a care(full) play community that fosters positive conflict requires careful consideration of several approaches. Firstly, supporting youth in designing and sustaining a server culture that embraces conflict as a learning opportunity is effective. Youth can develop their conflict resolution skills and learn to manage their emotions by creating an environment that values constructive criticism and feedback. This also promotes a sense of community and belonging, as players feel supported and empowered to voice their opinions. Secondly, promoting a moderation mindset that focuses on finding solutions and resolving feelings benefits all parties involved. By emphasizing the importance of respectful communication and active listening, players can learn to work together to overcome challenges and resolve conflicts in a productive manner. Furthermore, giving players time and space to actively reflect on their own and other players’ feelings and behaviors is also effective. By creating opportunities for self-reflection and empathy-building, players can develop a better understanding of their own emotions and those of others. This leads to improved communication, increased empathy, and a more positive community culture overall.

ExperienceCraft, the Minecraft/Discord community for grieving youth profiled earlier in the chapter, provides a great example of these strategies in action. For instance, the community's youth moderators have been trained to explain and not ban when players make a mistake by breaking a rule or norm. The virtual world also has two areas specifically designed to support conflict resolution and reflection: The Resort and each player’s unique Zen Space. The Resort is a specially designed area of the world where moderators can talk with players in a controlled and calm environment. The area is open and includes simple activities like mining or collecting, which give players something to do while they are talking to a moderator or another player involved in the conflict. The spatial design is effective as players tend to stick around and engage in mediation, rather than avoiding resolving the conflict by logging off the server. In addition, each player has a private Zen Space, which offers a place for de-escalation, private conversations, or some alone time. Players control who has access to their Zen Space, and it includes tools and activities to guide reflection, like a journal, a campfire, and resources to mine. Many players use the mining of resources in the world as a calming activity when they are upset. As a developmentally sensitive approach to conflict resolution, both The Resort and Zen Spaces replace more typical bans, filters, and technological mechanisms that police and control players. Instead, youth are given time and space to practice social skills related to communication, self-regulation, and empathy, which will serve them well both on, and off the server.

Figure 9.3: The Resort and a Zen Space from ExperienceCraft.

Dynamic Systems of Influence

Youths’ experiences with technology are shaped by a multitude of interconnected factors, including the platform’s culture, activities and practices, features, community norms and standards, as well as the goals, expertise, motivations, and identities of the youth themselves. A care(full) design approach recognizes the complex interplay between the socio-technical design of an online play community and the conditions, assets, and attributes present in individual youth, their families, peer groups, and communities. To promote youth wellbeing in equitable, sustainable, community-connected, and technology-enhanced ways, it is crucial that any approach to design considers both of these systems. The following sections present potential strategies for designing a Discord server that fosters peer support, mentorship, and learning opportunities for youth while remaining sensitive to their cultural and communal backgrounds.

3.1 Socio-technical design

The first system that shapes youth experiences on a platform is its socio-technical design, which encompasses its social and technical affordances. This includes the platform's features, norms and standards, culture and climate, as well as the activities and practices it supports (Figure 9.4). For example, ListoAmerica, a Latinx youth-serving organization, uses a subset of Discord's available features, such as custom emojis, music bots, video hangouts, and automated moderation, to create a server that aligns with the norms and standards established in Listo's physical clubhouse, an after-school Clubhouse program as part of the Clubhouse Network. These norms and standards include passion (member’s interest and motivation), play (tinkering and playful learning), peers, and projects, emphasizing youth interests and playful learning, social collaboration (social learning and collaboration), and project-based learning (designing, building, and making). The Listo Discord server's culture and climate similarly reflect the Listo ethos, with an emphasis on centering youth interests and incorporating aspects of the members' cultural heritage, including an emphasis on family and celebrating Latinx music. Activities and practices include curating topic channels for chatting, sharing memes, and resources, mentor hangouts for discussing Clubhouse projects or listening to music, and streaming games or coding and tech projects.

Figure 9.4.: Components contributing to a platform’s socio-technical design

3.2 Conditions, assets, and attributes

The second system shaping youth’s experiences with technology consists of the conditions, assets, and attributes present in individual youth, their families, peer groups, and communities (Breiner et al. 2016). This includes family dynamics around media usage, academic, social, and emotional skills, parent/caregiver media literacy, peer relations, and interests (Figure 9.5). ListoAmerica’s Discord server serves a predominantly underserved community, and many members bring stresses and structural inequities to their interactions online. In our work with Listo youth we heard youth mentors speak often of the stress that many Listo members experienced daily due to academic, financial, familial, peer, and other pressures. They expressed a reluctance to seek mental health help, as they had few examples to point to in their community. To address these issues, youth mentors on the server created new channels focused on socially and culturally relevant topics. One channel, “good-vibes-and-health,” offered tips and memes meant to reduce stress without employing clinical language. One member, Joseph, took it upon himself to post a ‘daily dose’ of memes to the channel; another member, Lesly, made an effort to offer a ‘question of the week’ to spur discussion and thought. Over three months, eight new channels were added to foster discussions on culturally relevant topics. Joseph, a member of the server, shared how the server helped him cope with his mental health: “I was feeling very down for a month or two months... then I started watching memes. My favorite channel is the good-vibes-and-health because there's just so much positivity and people just want to make other people laugh. I just started posting because I just want to make people smile.” (Salen et al. 2021).

Figure 9.5: A system of influences shaping youths’ experiences with any particular technology

The ListoAmerica Discord server example emphasizes the importance of recognizing the complex interaction between the socio-technical design of a technology and the conditions and attributes present in individual youth, their families, peer groups, and communities. Careful consideration of these factors contributes to a more comprehensive and thoughtful approach to design, which acknowledges the diversity of youth experiences and how this informs their agency and choices within these systems, as well as where they are limited in doing so. In our work we have observed that youth want to connect meaningfully with others who share something in common; they want to play, to create, to learn, to find support, and to build community together. However, these activities are influenced by a range of factors, including the social and technical affordances of a technology platform, the community and climate of their environments, and the individual assets and attributes of youth themselves. By recognizing the social and cultural dynamics of communities, we can move beyond individualized approaches to supporting youth wellbeing. This highlights the importance of considering the broader context in which youth experience technology and the ways in which technology can be designed to foster meaningful connections and support for youth from diverse backgrounds.

Conclusion

This chapter introduces a care(full) approach to designing online play communities for youth, with a focus on meeting the unique developmental needs of adolescents. We emphasize the importance of considering social and cultural community dynamics and have identified several interrelated factors that should be considered to create positive and healthful online spaces for youth. We present a set of design principles, strategies, and examples for care(full) design that prioritize social and relational aspects of youth engagement online. Specifically, we highlight the need to inform youth about community expectations early in their experience, welcome them in a way that validates their identities, guide them towards social connection and meaningful contribution, and incentivize a caring and responsive community. We draw on insights from HCI and Developmental Science to define “safe-enough” environments as those that not only prevent harm but also provide support for youth to bring their vulnerable whole selves to the learning experience. We also emphasize the critical role mentors can play in facilitating positive conflict resolution skills among youth as they navigate their social identities and establish social connections with peers.

Care(full) design challenges popular discourse and practice related to the design of healthy online spaces for youth. While many discussions of youth and technology focus on concerns about the negative impact of technology on their wellbeing, our research demonstrates that youth, particularly those from marginalized groups, possess valuable experiences, expertise, and fluency in technology that can be leveraged to enhance engagement for all. Building on this perspective, we argue that it is important to shift the focus from solely protecting youth from online harm to creating opportunities for meaningful participation and empowerment. This approach recognizes the unique perspectives and skills that youth bring to the table, and highlights the importance of involving them in the design and implementation of technologies that affect their lives. Furthermore, we draw on evidence from other scholars who have argued that youth are often portrayed as vulnerable and in need of protection in discussions of technology and online spaces (Livingstone, 2011; Lenhart and Owens, 2021). By challenging this discourse and involving youth as active agents in the design of technological environments, we can create more inclusive and responsive spaces that better serve the needs of all users.

References

Breiner, Heather, Morgan Ford, and Vivian L. Gadsden (Eds.). 2016. Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US): National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Committee on Supporting the Parents of Young Children.

Crenshaw, Nicole and Bonnie Nardi. 2014. “What’s In A Name? Naming Practices In Online Video Games.” Pp. 67-76 in Proceedings of the First ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-human Interaction in Play. New York, NY: ACM.

Crone, Eveline A. and Ronald E. Dahl. 2012. “Understanding Adolescence as a Period of Social-Affective Engagement and Goal Flexibility.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 13:636-650.

Gee, James Paul. 2005. “Semiotic Social Spaces and Affinity spaces: From the Age of Mythology to Today's Schools.” In Beyond Communities of Practice Language Power and Social Context: 214-232. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511610554.012

Shelley Goldman, Angela Booker, and Meghan McDermott. 2008. Mixing the Digital, Social, and Cultural: Learning, Identity, and Agency in Youth Participation. Youth, Identity, and Digital Media 216:185–206. doi:10.1162/dmal.9780262524834.185.

Hinson, Laura, Chisina Kapungu, Casandra Jessee, Martie Skinner, Mark Bardini & Tracy Evans-Whipp. 2016. “Measuring Positive Youth Development Toolkit: A Guide for Implementers of Youth Programs.” Washington, DC: YouthPower Learning, Making Cents International.

Ito, Mizuko, Kris Gutiérrez, Sonia Livingstone, Bill Penuel, Jean Rhodes, Katie Salen, Juliet Schor, Julian Sefton-Green, and S. Craig Watkins. 2013. Connected learning: An Agenda for Research and Design. Irvine, CA: Digital Media and Learning Research Hub.

Ito, Mizuko, Crystle Martin, Rachel Cody Pfister, Matthew H. Rafalow, Katie Salen, and Amanda Wortman. 2018. Affinity Online: How Connection and Shared Interest Fuel Learning Vol. 2. New York, NY: NYU Press.

Ito, Mizuko, Carrie James, Amanda Lenhart, Katie Salen, and Emily Weinstein. 2021, Oct 8. “HX: Centering Youth, Equity, and Human Experience in a Digitally Networked World.” Connected Learning Alliance. https://clalliance.org/blog/hx-centering-youth-equity-and-human-experience-in-a-digitallynetworked-world/

Jagannath, Krithika and Katie Salen. 2022. “Beyond Just Rules: Server Rules for Shaping Positive Experiences in an Online Play Community for Youth.” CHIPlay, 2022. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact 6(CHI PLAY, Article 222):1-28. https://doi.org/10.1145/3549485

Jagannath, Krithika, Katie Salen Tekinbas, and Petr Slovak. 2020. "(We) Can Talk It Out...": Designing for Promoting Conflict-Resolution Skills in Youth on a Moderated Minecraft Server. Proc.ACMHum.-Comput. Interact 4(CSCW1, Article049) https://doi.org/10.1145/3392855

Klein, Howard J. and Aden Elizabeth Heuser. 2008. The Learning of Socialization Content: A Framework For Researching Orientating Practices. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management 27.

Lenhart, Amanda and Kellie Owens. 2021. The Unseen Teen: The Challenges of Building Healthy Tech For Young People. New York, NY: Data & Society.

Livingstone, Sonia, Leslie Haddon, Anke Görzig, and Kjartan Ólafsson. 2011. Risks And Safety On The Internet: The Perspective of European Children: Full Findings and Policy Implications From the EU Kids Online Survey of 9-16 Year Olds and Their Parents in 25 Countries. EU Kids Online.

Matias, J. Nathan. 2019. “Preventing Harassment and Increasing Group Participation Through Social Norms in 2,190 Online Science Discussions.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(20):9785–9789.

New_Public. 2022. The Signals: The Qualities of Flourishing Digital Spaces [Research Overview]. New_Public. Accessed April 1, 2023 from https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UAsy8ZlCoRwgwOLQNblvuV5gVdPBhS2SmZVtXWT20L4/edit#slide=id.g9c2b1f0ede_1_10

Salen, Katie, Krithika Jagannath and Remy Cross. 2021, May 19. “When the Clubhouse Doors Close: Discord Opens New Spaces to Create and Connect,” Spaces of Refuge series. Irvine, CA: Connected Learning Lab. https://connectedlearning.uci.edu/blog/when-the-clubhouse-doors-close-discord-opensnew-spaces-to-create-and-connect/

Taylor, Shelley E., Laura Cousino Klein, Brian P. Lewis, Tara L. Gruenewald, Regan A. R. Gurung, and John A. Updegraff. 2000. “Biobehavioral Responses to Stress in Females: Tend-and-Befriend, Not Fight-or-Flight.” Psychological Review 107(3): 411.

Tekinbaş, Katie S., Krithika Jagannath, Ulrik Lyngs, and Petr Slovák. 2021. “Designing for Youth-Centered Moderation and Community Governance in Minecraft.” ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) 28(4):1-41.

Salen Tekinbaş, Krithika Jagannath, Ulrik Lyngs, and Petr Slovák. 2020. “Designing for Youth-Centered Moderation and Community Governance in Minecraft.” ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 28(4):1–41.

Slovak, Petr, Katie Salen, Stephanie Ta, and Geraldine Fitzpatrick. 2018. “Mediating Conflicts in Minecraft: Empowering Learning in Online Multiplayer Games.” In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’18) 595:1-13. New York, NY: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174169