Exploring mischief and mayhem in social computing or: how we learned to stop worrying and love the trolls

Ben Kirman; Conor Linehan; Shaun Lawson

Exploring mischief and mayhem in social computing or: how we learned to stop worrying and love the trolls

Ben Kirman, Conor Linehan, Shaun Lawson

Theatre, Film, TV and Interactive Media

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the role of mischief as borderline socially acceptable behaviour within social computing applications. Mischievous activity pushes the boundaries of the implicit social contract present in all online social systems, and, we argue, is of vital importance understanding online social interactions. Using examples from games and other applications, we explore mischief as an act of appropriation, which reinterprets mechanics defined by developers in unexpected and sometimes upsetting ways. Although frequently interpreted as negative and anti-social behaviour, we argue that mischief serves a vital social role, and find surprising richness in the chaos.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	ACM International Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems 2012
Publisher	ACM
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2012

Bibliographical note

In this paper, we explore the role of mischief as borderline socially acceptable behaviour within social computing applications. Mischievous activity pushes the boundaries of the implicit social contract present in all online social systems, and, we argue, is of vital importance understanding online social interactions. Using examples from games and other applications, we explore mischief as an act of appropriation, which reinterprets mechanics defined by developers in unexpected and sometimes upsetting ways. Although frequently interpreted as negative and anti-social behaviour, we argue that mischief serves a vital social role, and find surprising richness in the chaos.

Keywords

ARRAY(0x7f06618ec260)

Access to Document

http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/4989/

Cite this

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abstract = "In this paper, we explore the role of mischief as borderline socially acceptable behaviour within social computing applications. Mischievous activity pushes the boundaries of the implicit social contract present in all online social systems, and, we argue, is of vital importance understanding online social interactions. Using examples from games and other applications, we explore mischief as an act of appropriation, which reinterprets mechanics defined by developers in unexpected and sometimes upsetting ways. Although frequently interpreted as negative and anti-social behaviour, we argue that mischief serves a vital social role, and find surprising richness in the chaos.",

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